Interesting read: Could it reach 40%? WOW.
How much does software add to the cost of today's vehicles? How about tomorrow's electric cars?Back in 2005, the Center for Automotive Research, with help from other groups, conducted a study that predicted that electronics and software would make up almost 40 percent of a car's total value by 2010 (PDF). Yesterday, IBM used this number in a press release when discussing the way that the computer company wants to work to simplify the millions of lines of code and the way all the electronic systems in a car work together. The number really stood out. After all, if 40 percent of the value of your car is in the electronic gizmos, what's going to happen in the near future? On the one hand, more and more electronic systems (plug-in hybrid powertrains, to name just one obvious example) will be introduced into vehicles. On the other hand, the long-term trend in electronics pricing is down, down, down (compare the computer you get for $500 today with what you got for $1,500 five years ago). To find out more, we spoke with IBM's Meg Selfe, Vice President, Complex & Embedded Systems, IBM Rational Software and it turns out that nothing is guaranteed or simple in this industry.
The issue is that all of the telematics, entertainment and other electronic systems in a vehicle are being developed by a lot of different companies. As Selfe said, the electronics reside on the chips and modules, and these come from different suppliers and the modules are not architected together, which all adds complexity. IBM's release says it wants to integrate these processes "to better manage these smart vehicles across their lifecycle." To do this, Selfe said, "We feel there has to be a decoupling of the software hardcoded into the hardware. Right now, we can't manage the complexity." Read on after the jump to find out how this might happen and what it might mean.
Selfe said IBM used 40 percent not as a specific and totally accurate number, but that it was "most representative of the current industry." Also, it's an indicator that the amount of electronics in vehicles are increasing because it had been pegged at 16 percent of a vehicle's total value in 1990 and was 25 percent in 2001. She said IBM has been talking to its clients about this, and feels that whatever the actual number is, it's higher than it was and less than it will be.
There's more.
Can't wait to be able to hack into this thoroughly (minus safety issues, like accelerators...but you know, A/C, media, nav, etc). I should learn more, but I'm getting old.
