A New Giant Software Market: The Rise Of Software Defined Vehicles And The End Of Car Ownership
When General Motors launched the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1977 it was the dawn of the era of embedded automotive software. The Toronado was the world’s first vehicle with an Engine Control Unit or ECU in short. Its microprocessors controlled the spark timing to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. More advanced software would follow and lead to today’s trend of Software Defined Vehicles (SDV). In this article, we’ll take a dive into the software that makes SDVs, look at the future of automotive software, its consequences for developers, consumers, dealers, repair shops and how it ends vehicle ownership. We’ll look into a newly emerging giant software market on wheels.
Before the arrival of ECUs, cars were merely mechanical machines. Pushing a pedal of a 1960s car resulted in an immediate response of that mechanical vehicle. Inexperienced and aggressive drivers could easily damage the vehicles by overstressing the engine or clutch. Software in ECUs would evolve into protecting the vehicle from damages resulting in the driver having less control over the vehicle. A loss of control that would only grow over time when software starts to be fully in control.
