By Jason Currie, Chief Commercial Officer
Endeavour Team at AutoTech Detroit 2024
The connected car industry is evolving rapidly, presenting exciting opportunities for car makers and their partners. Recently, Endeavour had the incredible opportunity to participate in WardsAuto’s AutoTech Detroit – a premier event for automotive technology that attracted over two thousand attendees and numerous exhibitors. In this blog post, we’ll share our experiences from the event, highlight key industry trends, and shed light on the evolving needs and preferences of consumers.
AutoTech Detroit 2024 was an excellent platform to connect with other industry players, engage in meaningful discussions, and understand their unique challenges. We received positive feedback on our flagship product, nSpireAuto, reinforcing our belief in its value for the connected car ecosystem.
Current and Future Industry Trends
Meeting with major connectivity carriers, auto OEMs, tech companies, telematics providers, and data analytics firms allowed us to gain insights into the latest advancements and to develop potential partnerships. We learned that the future of connected cars looks promising, with connectivity playing a crucial role in managing the explosive growth of automotive data.
A key takeaway from AutoTech Detroit was the importance of connectivity in managing the explosive growth of automotive data. By 2030, monthly data usage in vehicles for front seat and backseat services, software updates, video and sensor uploads, etc. is predicted to range from tens to hundreds of gigabytes. This surge in data usage highlights the need for reliable connectivity that can support these demands.
Key Insights from the Conference
Throughout the conference, several key themes emerged that are shaping the future of the automotive industry:
- Connectivity Continuity: This was the most common topic discussed as we met with existing and potential automotive partners. Many OEMs expressed a desire to utilize cellular, satellite, and Wi-Fi to maintain ubiquitous coverage. Endeavour’s Automotive Ecosystem allows OEMs to monitor the signal strength and availability of all technology types and utilize preset thresholds to automatically switch between technologies when certain conditions are met.
- Connectivity Redundancy: Every OEM we spoke with highlighted the need to provide connectivity 100% of the time. Many discussed the necessity of onboarding a second and potentially a third wireless carrier to guard against both outages and coverage gaps. We were surprised to hear that MVNOs are gaining mind share with OEMs as a way to add carrier redundancy.
- Connectivity-Driven Revenue Models: Discussions highlighted how connectivity is reshaping automotive revenue models. This shift opens up new opportunities for monetization through subscription services, data-driven insights, and enhanced customer experiences.
- The Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Future: One of the most compelling discussions was around the future of software-defined vehicles. This shift is driving new partnerships within the industry, as automakers and technology providers collaborate to develop and deploy new software solutions.
- Managing Connectivity Technologies: The transition to software-defined vehicles brings with it the challenge of managing different connectivity technologies such as 5G, C-V2X, and satellite. Balancing these technologies while controlling costs is crucial for future success.
- Connectivity Consumption: Data consumption continues to rise. Endeavour’s Automotive Ecosystem provides insight into data consumption, app performance, and technology availability, allowing OEMs to fine-tune data consumption to ensure low-priority data needs always take place on the least expensive technology available, like Wi-Fi.
How nSpireAuto Addresses These Needs
Endeavour’s Automotive Ecosystem was recognized as a solution to assist OEMs in both connectivity continuity and redundancy. For OEMs with multiple carriers, they appreciate the flexibility to switch carrier profiles in cases where a vehicle owner may experience coverage challenges with one carrier and strengths with another. Those OEMs who opt to go the MVNO route appreciate the single pane of glass view of coverage anywhere in the world, even in situations where recredentialing is necessary.
nSpireAuto provides a unified ‘single pane of glass’ view of connected services across any technology, independent of network provider, anywhere in the world. We offer actionable insights through intuitive dashboards, APIs, and real-time alerts, helping OEMs reduce data costs, troubleshoot issues, and deliver quality services. This aligns perfectly with the needs highlighted at the event, particularly in managing the growth of autonomous data uploads, fast downloads for over-the-air updates, and low latency for autonomous and voice services.
- Connectivity Redundancy: Ensuring that if one connection or network fails, another can take over without interrupting the service, enhancing the reliability and safety of the vehicle.
- Connectivity Continuity: Maintaining a stable and ongoing connection to necessary communication networks, ensuring services relying on connectivity—such as navigation, remote diagnostics, real-time traffic updates, and entertainment systems—function seamlessly without disruptions.
Looking Forward
Attending AutoTech Detroit was an enlightening experience that highlighted the immense potential and exciting developments in the connected car space. As the number of connected cars and data usage continues to grow, there is a pressing need for reliable connectivity solutions and granular visibility into usage and costs. Consumer expectations are evolving, and the industry must adapt to provide flexible and feature-rich connectivity solutions, such as Endeavour’s nSpireAuto.
To learn more about Endeavour’s nSpireAuto, click here.