Ready or not, the Internet is creeping back into the vehicle.
This time, we're not talking in-car PCs. Drivers won't be Googling as they tool down the road.
But the Internet is coming, just the same. This time, it has a lot to do with smartphones, low-cost navigation, fleet operations, and vehicle tracking, as well as an office-in-the-car, Facebook-in-the-back-seat kind of mentality. Nothing's more chic than mobile Internet connectivity, and the auto industry isn't about to let that opportunity pass unfulfilled.
"These days, along with computing, wireless communication seems to be the center of the innovation universe," says Don Butler, vice president of marketing for Cadillac. "This is the place where the cool stuff is happening."
Nokia's Car Mode simplifies access to voice-guided car navigation, traffic updates, music, and voice calls
through the company's smartphones.
Automakers know what's cool, and they want to offer cool stuff to their customers. In September, a powerful consortium of auto companies, cellphone makers, and electronics manufacturers unveiled an open standard to make it easier for a car's head unit to communicate with Internet-enabled smartphones. Days later, Cadillac rolled out an infotainment system that lets users control in-car devices, such as smartphones, with the touch gestures that have become familiar to users of iPads. Manufacturers of cars, trucks, and even buses have installed router-like devices to deliver Internet connectivity to contractors, salespeople, and students.
"Manufacturers now know they have to deliver apps and services to their vehicles," says Sterling Pratz, CEO of Autonet Mobile, a maker of vehicle-based Internet routers. "Not only do these technologies support the consumer. They also drive sales."
That hasn't always been the case. On the road to in-vehicle nirvana, automakers and suppliers have occasionally misread the signals. In 2000, for example, Cadillac rolled out an in-car PC that intertwined such services as email, Internet browsing, navigation assistance, and cellphone capabilities. By late 2001, the luxury car manufacturer had pulled the plug on the technology. Several other manufacturers considered such efforts, and one supplier even rolled out an after-market in-car PC, but the demand for such systems was tepid at best.
Today, the demand has clearly changed. Many smartphone owners want to bring their device into the vehicle and access it through their center console, or even through steering wheel controls. They say they don't want an in-car PC, but they do want connectivity.
"People get scared of the Internet-in-the-car idea," Pratz says. "They think about texting and driver distractions and crashes."
In truth, the auto industry wants connectivity in the car. It just wants to supply that connectivity responsibly. The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) -- which includes Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Delphi, Alpine, Clarion, Denso, Garmin, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Panasonic, Renesas, Samsung, and Sony -- recently took a step in that direction. It rolled out an open standard that enables the majority of automotive head units and smartphones to communicate.
I recognize that auto makers clearly have to embrace the times and to ignore consumers' flat-out demand for smart phone and mobile accessibility would be bad business. But after reading through the various advancements and standards that Chuck so aptly summarized, I'm still missing the part where in-car connectivity is safer than ever.
The GPS and fleet applications--okay, I think there is great potential there and little concern for driver distraction. But how does the latest standards change the distraction factor when drivers are easily able to integrate their smart phones with the vehicle's main dashboard console, allowing them to text, check email, or browse online for local destinations? Making it more convenient doesn't change the fact that the driver is focused on the task, not the road. I, for one, can't concentrate on what my child or office mate is asking me when I'm engrossed in an email or reading something online. If I'm doing that in my car, I'm not engaged enough to stay on top of lane changers or sudden stops for traffic. An accident waiting to happen in my book.
With the increasing communications capability in the modern auto, via both infotainment and telematics (not to mention GPS and the dozens of other on-board processor), I keep hoping that we'll see a revival of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System effort of 20 years ago. That's the electronic version of "leave the driving to us," where cars are automatically separated on highways and properly staged on the entrance and exit ramps. It's actually a lot more practical than autonomous vehicles (though not as sexy), and would also constitute a huge infrastructure jobs program.
Actually it makes sense for car connectivity to shift from the PC to the cell phone. Most smatphones have most of what you would need in connectivity, less the office tools like Word and Excel -- which wouldn't be used in a car at any rate. The cell phone is the logical solution -- especially with its app-heavy set of tools.
I agree with Beth here. The distraction factor is huge, even just from someone talking to you when you're driving. And there's a big difference between occasionally glancing at the dashboard to monitor speed or heater/A-C controls and trying to insert a CD while driving, let alone looking at a screen.
Perhaps what would make the most sense is to put all the user interface electronics in the back seat, or make it only accessible from the front seat when the car is stopped or in park gear.
Beth: During the next decade, there's going to be a constant tug of war. Automakers will want to offer features that sell cars, but then those features are going to be questioned from a safety perspective. The truth is, safety will always be a step behind, largely because so many consumers want to bring their electronic stuff into the vehicle. Alex makes a good point: The ultimate solution is some form of autonomous driving. As much as we protest about driver distraction, the number of distracted drivers is going up, not down and that's going to continue to be the case.
I'm not sure I really get what autonomous driving is and how realistic that could be as a solution in terms of widespread adoption. The idea of putting your car on some sort of automated track sounds good on paper or in the movies (and I do like Alex's point about sparking some pretty major infrastructure projects), but how likely is that to happen on any kind of broad basis where it could really make an impact?
It would be great to see the IVHS (or some reasonably drawn facsimile) finally make an appearance after so many false starts and promises. Today's vehicles and systems are more than capable. I question whether this should be a government effort or (led by) private enterprise. Privately owned toll highways can dictate their own usage and vehicle requirements, as well as systems infrastructure. Working with vehicle manufacturers, integrators, and industry experts, they are in the best position to actually roll out a trial system.
That is a really good idea, Ann. Most in-dash GPS will not let you set a new location while driving for fear of distraction. This same concept would work well because you would not be distracted while driving, but the people in the backseat could access the internet.
It's hard to believe, Beth, but autonomous driving doesn't involve a track or a so-called smart highway. In autonomous driving, the vehicle would drive completely on its own over a conventional road. The idea is theoretically possible; Google has one autonomous car that has already logged 140,000 miles on all kinds of different roads. GM claims the technology will be ready by 2020, but I think it will take a lot longer than that for consumers to warm up to the idea.
If that's the case, there will likely be even bigger trust issues surrounding autonomous driving compared to very real concerns and hesitations with new features like back-up cameras and driver alert systems. As a result, I agree Chuck. It will likely be years before consumers, en masse, warm up to the idea of a car that can drive itself.
Tesla Motors plans to roll out a “compelling, affordable electric car” that will sell for about half the price of its high-profile Model S by the end of 2016, company chairman Elon Musk said last week.
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