Innovation, Excellence, Transcendence
Like smartphones, the future of the development of intelligent connected cars will be another terminal.
Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, said at the media communication meeting of the 100 Forum (2022) held recently that automobiles, transportation and energy should work together to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and the development of intelligent and connected vehicles is crucial, and only cross-border integration can give birth to new forces in the automotive industry.
The report "Cross-border Integration and New Strength of the Automobile Industry" released on the same day pointed out that as the largest intelligent terminal industry in the market, the mobile phone industry is similar to the intelligent process of automobiles in terms of evolution path, industrial change rhythm, industrial division of labor, business model evolution, etc., and can provide reference for the intelligence of the automobile industry by studying the intelligent development experience of mobile phones.
That is to say, the development of China's intelligent networked vehicles is trying to "touch the 'mobile phone' across the river"!
The intelligent cockpit becomes a breakthrough, and the car "transforms" into a mobile third space
The report points out that smart phones use the screen as a breakthrough to promote human-computer interaction innovation, and promote performance improvement and function expansion through architecture upgrades, thereby promoting the upgrading of mobile phones from simple communication tools to universal scenario tools.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand. Recall that before the emergence of smart phones, most of the mobile phones represented by Nokia adopt a single core chip architecture, which is a small screen single touch, the operation is mainly based on the keyboard, the function is mainly based on communication, and there is not much software support, entertainment, consumption, and work are not strong.
In contrast, today's smart phones, the hardware has got rid of the original single core chip architecture, and to the multi-processor core architecture, to achieve chip integration, communication functions and multimedia functions separation, interactive operation has also developed touch control, voice, fingerprint and other modes.
More importantly, smart phones also carry the needs of users to meet the needs of various functions such as work, consumption, entertainment, games, video and audio. At present, smart phones are not just simple communication tools, but also scene tools covering all aspects of public life.
Drawing on the intelligent path of mobile phones, the breakthrough of intelligent networked cars has chosen the intelligent cockpit. Because the current development of smart cockpit is continuing the evolution path of mobile phone interaction, using the interaction design of "vision + touch" to shape a new experience of intelligent interaction between people and vehicles.
At present, the manufacturers of smart cars represented by Tesla have innovated the screen in the cockpit, eliminated the old-fashioned hardware buttons, and replaced it with a central control large screen, focusing on audio, entertainment, navigation, etc. The multi-touch operation mode improves the efficiency of human-vehicle interaction. The future intelligent cockpit will continue to be intelligent on this basis, increase intelligent perception technology, and further evolve to multi-mode interactions such as touch-voice-gesture.
At the same time, the architecture of intelligent networked vehicles is also being further upgraded. The development of functions in traditional cars relies on different ECU suppliers. In a distributed architecture, one ECU corresponds to one function, and with its own embedded software, the automotive hardware and software are highly coupled.
The architecture iteration of intelligent networked vehicles will be upgraded in three aspects: hardware, software and communications.
Among them, the hardware architecture will be transformed from distributed to centralized, for example, Bosch divides the vehicle into five parts: powertrain domain, chassis domain, body domain, intelligent seat domain, and automatic driving domain, and Tesla Mode 3 includes three parts: the central computing module CCM, the left and right body control module LBCM and the RBCM, and the overall has achieved a high degree of integration.
In terms of software architecture, the separation of software and hardware has accelerated, and the software architecture platform has gradually been upgraded to a computing platform. The development of domain controllers can expand the scope of decoupling from the application software layer to the entire software architecture, making it independent of the hardware, and developing into a computing platform composed of "chip-operating system-middleware-algorithm".
In terms of communication architecture, Ethernet is expected to become the backbone of the in-vehicle communication network. Because autonomous vehicles will generate more than 10T of data per day, Ethernet will be widely used with its advantages of high bandwidth, high openness and low latency.
With the blessing of the above architecture, with the intelligent cockpit as the breakthrough point, the future intelligent networked vehicle ecology will continue to be extended, through THE FOTA (firmware online upgrade) to achieve the upgrade of the vehicle controller and domain controller, strengthen the automatic driving, body control, battery management and other capabilities, so that the car from a manned tool gradually transformed into a third mobile space that integrates travel, consumption, work and entertainment.
Hardware integration, software modularization, application enrichment, the car iteration rhythm should be synchronized with the smartphone
From feature phones to smart phones, the iterative development of mobile phones' hardware and software and applications is getting faster and faster. In general, the iteration of smartphone products continues to move forward along the path of hardware module integration, software modularization, and application enrichment.
From the traditional car to the intelligent network car, the iterative thinking of the product should also be synchronized with this. Specific manifestations are:
Hardware modularization refers to the standardized design and production of each part assembly of the car in the form of modules, and the generalization of components and modules is improved through platform modularization, and then assembled according to the positioning of different models.
That is to say, car companies develop and manufacture models of different levels, different types, and even different brands based on the infrastructure with high versatility, and the platform modularization improves the versatility of parts through "modules are independent of each other", "module sharing" and "parts sharing", shortens the development cycle of subsequent models, and quickly introduces new cars to the market.
Software modularization refers to the modularization and interface standardization of ECU and its corresponding basic software functions that are originally dispersed during software development.
In the era of "software-defined car", the automobile will follow the iterative law of software upgrade in the mobile phone industry, modularize the ECU and its corresponding basic software functions and standardize the interface in the software development process by introducing middleware technology, so as to fully support the decoupling of software and hardware, and meet the requirements of application software reuse and scalable performance.
Application enrichment. With the transformation of autonomous driving to a higher level, the car as a smart terminal product will have more attributes of consumer electronics. After the car becomes the third space for mobile, the iteration speed of the application functions of the intelligent cockpit domain will be in line with that of consumer electronics, while the software will continue to iterate after the car sales service and continue to unlock more demand scene functions.
That is to say, in the future, under the continuous iteration and development of hardware, software and application scenarios, the level of automobile intelligence will become higher and higher. As a smart terminal, like the current smart phone, the vehicle will provide the public with functions such as consumption and entertainment that can be quickly iterated outside of travel, and with the development of technology, the functional attributes can be updated "anytime and anywhere" to meet the needs of consumers.
Solve the "lack of core and less brains", strengthen the supply chain and reshape the industrial chain pattern
In the era of smart phones, the upgrading of core software and hardware technology has made the industrial chain organization mode move from the terminal manufacturers to the specialized division of labor, and the coordinated development of the whole industry chain is the trend of the times, and the mobile phone manufacturers with strong supply chain integration capabilities can maintain a leading position.
Just like the smart phone industry, in the era of intelligent networked cars, the definition and attributes of automobiles have changed, and the scope of the automobile industry chain has expanded to the fields of informatization, networking, big data, and system software. New technology clusters are accelerating the reshaping of the automotive industry chain: from hierarchical division of labor to ecological collaboration.
The traditional automotive industry chain is a vertical structure, and the automaker is at the top of the industrial chain, with a mature structure and a stable supplier pattern. It is very difficult for parts manufacturers to enter the supply chain system of large global car companies, and once they enter the position, it is very stable, which is actually very unfavorable to the development of the mainland parts industry.
Although the mainland is the world's largest automobile market, there are no large parts manufacturers in China, and the localization rate in high-tech areas such as automotive electronics and key engine components is very low.
In the era of intelligent and connected vehicles, parts manufacturers have changed from simple manufacturers to "partners" who cooperate with OEMs to develop and master key production technologies and processes. In recent years, domestic and foreign OEMs have cooperated with chip manufacturers and sensor suppliers in the form of equity participation or strategic cooperation, such as GAC Capital's investment in Horizon, BYD's investment in chip manufacturer BGI Beidou, etc.
In this way, vehicle companies and suppliers are no longer directly in a buying and selling relationship, but must jointly establish an ecological collaborative supply system and face market competition together.
It is worth mentioning that the electrification, networking and intelligence of automobiles will continue to lengthen the industrial chain of parts and components, bring new market increments to the industry, bring new impetus to the reshaping of the mainland automobile industry chain, and bring new opportunities for "curve overtaking".
For example, electrification has greatly changed the structure of the car, and the core components such as the traditional engine, gearbox, intake and exhaust have ceased to exist, and instead of the "three electric systems" composed of motors, electronic controls, and batteries. The development of new energy vehicles in the mainland has been at the forefront of the world, and there is already a complete industrial chain and supply chain system in the field of "three electricity" systems.
At present, the industrial chain of intelligent networked vehicles has not yet been solidified and is still in the process of improvement. For example, the mainland lacks vehicle-grade chips and in-vehicle core software that can be applied in the market, and it is necessary to invest more in this regard if it wants to achieve transcendence.
Enterprises in the domestic automotive industry chain should increase their technical research and development efforts, seize the market of vehicle-grade chips and corresponding software, vehicle sensors and corresponding software, operating systems, intelligent driving algorithm software, etc., and strive to stand out in the global competition and win the opportunity for the development of intelligent networked vehicles.
Business model development of intelligent connected vehicles: "sell hardware" - "sell software" - "sell services"
The business model transformation of smartphones is also achieved step by step. From the upgrade of mobile phone hardware to the expansion of software functions, mobile phone manufacturers have developed from the "sell hardware" model of disposable business to the "sell software" model of sustainable after-sales charges for mobile phones, and then to the "sell service" model after the large-scale popularization of smart phones.
In the era of feature phones, the sale is the mobile phone product itself, mainly used to meet the communication. Entering the era of smart phones, mobile phone manufacturers have added another service, that is, the service of selling software (applications), starting from Apple's App Store, mobile phone suppliers have launched app stores. Through software services, it extends to the ecological scale and differentiation of products, such as Apple's launch of Apple TV+, streaming media services, credit card services, etc., from focusing on smart terminal sales to gradually focusing on ecological services.
Similar to the mobile phone industry, the degree of modularity of software and hardware of intelligent and connected vehicles in the future will be higher, and vehicle companies will also focus more on automotive product design and additional service design.
Its business model will also range from selling hardware (selling automotive terminal products), to selling software (selling functional software such as autonomous driving and the Internet of Vehicles), to selling services (providing services such as driverless travel and logistics, and data asset operation).
But it is undeniable that the evolution path of the smartphone industry is to first experience technological upgrading breakthroughs, followed by commercial transformation breakthroughs, and the automatic driving model must also follow this path.
This is because at present, the domestic automatic driving throwing is in the stage of technological innovation to be broken, domestic enterprises should clarify their own technical level and strength, focus on technological innovation and strength improvement, and rush to build a commercial model will give up the end. Government departments should also actively support enterprises to make breakthroughs in technology and data analysis, and promote the stable and orderly development of intelligent and connected vehicles in the mainland.
Miao Wei, former minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently said in public that the first half of the construction of an automobile power, that is, the electrification of automobiles, has achieved good results. But the real contest of the global automotive industry in the second half, that is, the transition from functional cars to smart cars. The construction of an automobile power has reached a critical period.
This means that the innovation ability, technical level and industrialization speed of intelligent and connected vehicles will become the core of the competition of our automobile power. Drawing on the model and law of the development of smart phones, the mainland's intelligent networked automobile industry is also constantly advancing in exploration.
The chart in the article is from the report of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association "Cross-border Integration and New Strength of the Automotive Industry"