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Hello and welcome to SAE Unplugged, I'm your host Grayson Brulte. Why should we have to look for our car keys? Why should we even need keys? Why does a car need to have a start button after all? Or, why do we have to turn a car on or turn it off? Why on a sunny day should the interior of the car be hot?
Shouldn't the car already be smart enough to anticipate our desires to drive before we enter the car? It should, and it's happening today. But the experience, unfortunately, is this not widespread yet. Once you move to the future and you stop worrying about having to find your car keys and think about what the temperature of the car is now and what you want it to be, you become free.
You become unburdened from the tasks that you used to be accustomed to. In the future, the car will do everything for you automatically. You will no longer have to worry, stress, or worry. Or even lift a finger. Your phone becomes a smart key. It knows how you like your seat. It knows the music you listen to.
It knows the temperature you like the car, and it knows where you were going all based on your calendar. Think this is impossible to create today and that it's not available? Think again. It's here and it's called Tesla and the Chinese EV manufacturers. How is Tesla and the Chinese EV manufacturers able to create this magical experience?
Software and a vision. Without the right software, the vehicle of the future will simply not be created. Just, unfortunately, ask VW. VW, over the last four years, has spent over 12 billion euros creating their own internal software program called Cariad. Unfortunately, the Cariad experiment didn't pan out.
Now, VW is pivoting away from Cariad, cutting costs and joining forces with Rivian through a joint venture for software development. Will this pivot work? Who knows? That is yet to be seen. But what has been seen is that integrating the development of hardware and software together from day one is the right path forward.
Just look at Apple and also look at China and what the Chinese OEMs are building. They are building sub-$30,000 vehicles. They are building them all around the user experience Chinese made electric vehicles are built on a foundation of Really great software unlocks magical user experiences.
This is what a majority of global OEMs Unfortunately do not fundamentally understand the software of today is not the software of tomorrow. And it is not the software that consumers want to use on a daily basis. Consumers want simplicity. They want software experiences that integrate into their personal technology ecosystem.
Why should one have to think about opening or closing the garage when they leave home? Shouldn't the software paired with a sensor just know that you are leaving or arriving home? Mine does. Then shouldn't the doors in your home unlock as well? In China, they do. Why should you have to think about all these things when software can handle it all?
After all, the car today is a computer on wheels. Today you drive it, tomorrow it will drive you, because it will be autonomous. Every task that can be automated in the future will be automated. But to get here, global OEMs have to go back to the drawing board and rethink how they design and build cars.
Cars are no longer about who has the best interior design or who has the most horsepower. The days of the roaring v8 and v10 and v12 and unfortunately, they're coming to an end. Some individuals can have them, but it's unfortunately coming to an end.
The cars that consumers want today are all about the software experience.
Can your vehicle update over the year without having to go to the dealership to update? Yes. Then, if you can, you have a great user experience. No. Then you have a poor user experience. This is a simple decision that the OEMs can make when a car is being engineered. Yet, unfortunately, some OEMs choose the path that hampers the user experience.
Why? A corporate legacy structure. And a way of doing things that they're set in their ways. If you watch grumpier old men with Walter Matthau, you'll understand they’re set in their ways of doing things Sometimes you get too close to the product to really understand the market and what the consumer truly wants How can OEMs avoid the situation and look to the future?
Simple. Remove yourself from the process. Spend time speaking with consumers. Stay up to date on the latest trends. And tap into the brain known as Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is building software that is changing the world. AI is coming and it is already in some cars. But not all, but some. The cars that have over the air updates can easily be updated today to incorporate these new AI features through software.
Those without the over the air updates cannot incorporate AI into their vehicles, because they were not designed that way. Unfortunately, a car should be built around software, not around nuts, bolts, and metal. China's taking this approach and they're scaring global OEMs such as Ford. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, CEO of Ford, Jim Farley, said China was scaring him.
One has to give credit to Mr. Farley. He understands what's being built in China and by Tesla and he does not want Ford to be left behind. Mr. Farley recently visited China and he saw how the Chinese are making cars and they're using artificial intelligence and other forms of technology in cars. Unlike anything that is currently available in the United States and that includes Tesla today.
The vision of what I described earlier It's all happening in China with a price point consumers could appreciate. For example, a $30,000 Xiaomi car has an infotainment system that connects devices inside the home. And when your car approaches home, it turns on your home lights. It turns on the air conditioning, all for roughly $30,000.
Who can compete with an AI car for $30,000? Nobody. Hence the global tariffs against the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. Then, how can an OEM that is not thinking about software compete with the 6-person price point? Simply, they cannot. So where do they go and how do they get there? By starting over.
By throwing out everything they thought they knew about cars and starting with the development of software. Forget the design. Forget the nuts and bolts. Forget the welding. Forget the metal. Google. Start with software. Software will define the car of the future. The car of the future will not be defined by creature comforts.
Individuals will opt to buy the AI enabled car over the car with the big comfy seats. I did, and I'll never go back. After all, the AI can adjust the seats and make them more comfortable. Freak you. The AI can turn on the heat or lower the temperature all without having to think about it or fumbling.
Defined a button. The car simply knows your habits. The car is smart. The car is an extension of your lifestyle. That's the car of the future. And that is the car that's going to do to find the benchmark for what the consumer experience is in the future without the right software. There is no wonderful user experience without the user experience.
Cars will simply not sell. It's time to build the future. Today is tomorrow. Tomorrow's today. The future is AI powered cars.
SAE international makes no representations as to the accuracy of the information presented in this podcast. The information and opinions are for general information only. SAE International does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this podcast.
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