Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) can make a connected car more useful by linking software updates, vehicle sensors, computing systems and online services into one experience. But the car alone cannot deliver it: services such as automated valet parking also depend on secure data exchange across brands and the wider traffic ecosystem. That was a central theme of EE Times executive editor Nitin Dahad’s report from discussions and interviews at the ICA Summit 2024 in Frankfurt, published August 6, 2024. Its examples are conference reporting, not current product evaluations.
How do software-defined vehicles improve the connected car experience?
An SDV approach treats software as a way to change and coordinate vehicle functions over time, rather than limiting the car’s capabilities to what was installed at the factory. The connected experience can include driving, charging, safety warnings, the instrument cluster and infotainment, as well as services that connect the vehicle to other cars or infrastructure.
The distinction is not simply “software versus hardware.” Sensors gather information; onboard computing processes it; software interprets it and controls functions; and connectivity can carry updates or information to and from other systems. Safety, security and trustworthy data handling are foundations across both SDVs and autonomous vehicles (AVs), not optional extras attached to one category.
The industry’s definition of SDV is still unsettled. Wind River principal technologist Andrei Kholodnyi said, “No one actually knows what it is yet,” in the conference report. A useful way to understand the term is therefore through the capabilities and architecture being discussed, rather than as a single, settled vehicle specification.
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Why does the connected experience extend beyond the car?
Many connected functions depend on an ecosystem of vehicles, traffic services, cloud systems and infotainment—not only on onboard software. Automakers may want distinctive services, but isolated brand systems can limit what a service does across the road network.
Automated valet parking needs coordination
Johannes Springer, director general of the 5G Automotive Association, told Dahad that automated valet parking could scale more effectively if brands collaborate and share relevant data. If each manufacturer’s service works only within its own ecosystem, customers may face fragmented coverage. Cross-brand exchange can help make a shared service practical, provided the data is handled securely.
A seamless experience has commercial appeal, but the cited figure is limited
Lotus head of cloud and cybersecurity Mondweep Chakravorty was reported as saying that 86% of customers would pay more for a seamless customer experience. The report does not name the underlying study or provide its sample, geography, date or methodology, so this should be read as a figure Chakravorty cited—not as a validated estimate for all car buyers.
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What do over-the-air updates change in a car?
Over-the-air (OTA) updates let automakers deliver software changes through a network connection instead of requiring every change to be installed during a workshop visit. They can be a way to respond to feedback and improve parts of the vehicle experience after delivery, though the interview does not establish how updates are deployed across automakers generally.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchSmart Europe product manager Xiaotong Hu described OTA updates reaching driving, charging, instrument-cluster, safety-warning and infotainment functions. Hu said they covered “more than 75% of ECUs in the car.” That percentage is Hu’s claim in the interview; it is not a fleet-wide or industry-wide statistic. Its significance is the breadth of vehicle systems Hu said were in scope, not a guarantee that every vehicle, update or manufacturer reaches the same share.
How can tire intelligence add information to vehicle systems?
The report’s tire example involves tire-mounted tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensors feeding richer information to vehicle-control systems than conventional tire-pressure monitoring alone. Goodyear algorithm lead Kanwar Singh and ZF cubix development lead Frank Schmidt described a feedback loop in which tire data, combined with other sensors, can help analyze vehicle dynamics and road conditions. Hydroplaning was given as one example of a condition the system might help identify or respond to.
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This is an integrated vehicle-system concept, not a claim that an ordinary replacement TPMS sensor provides the same data or capability. The conference interview summary does not independently validate product performance, so it should not be treated as proof of how accurately or reliably a particular system detects road conditions.
Why do software-defined vehicles need centralized computing?
Vehicles historically used many electronic control units (ECUs), each handling particular functions. The architecture discussion at the summit described a move toward consolidating computing, including a shift from hundreds of ECUs toward more centralized compute. This can make the organization of software and computing resources especially important: multiple functions may need to share fewer, more capable systems.
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Virtualization lets different software environments run on shared computing hardware while remaining logically separated. Accelerat co-founder and CEO Giogiomaria Cicero discussed workloads with different levels of criticality running on the same ECU, and hypervisor technology intended to support safety and security in zone controllers and central vehicle controllers. The goal is to manage coexistence and isolation; the interview does not establish comparative safety results for a particular implementation.
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Software reuse is an architectural goal, not a language verdict
OxidOS co-founder Daniel Rosner described a Rust-based ecosystem for safety-critical automotive ECUs and argued that portability and containerization can make software easier to reuse. That is Rosner’s position in the interview, not comparative proof that Rust is categorically better than C. The broader point is that reusable software can matter as vehicle architectures evolve, while safety depends on the complete design and assurance process.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What role do vehicle data and analytics play?
Connected vehicles can generate information from sensors and other systems, but collecting data is useful only if it can be processed where and when needed, then governed responsibly. Ocient VP of products Dylan Murphy described keeping data close to compute on NVMe drives and an analytics platform designed for always-on reads. He characterized the aim as interactive performance at “trillion-plus record scale”; this is a vendor representative’s description, not an independently assessed benchmark in Dahad’s report.
Data preparation is also part of the pipeline for AI-assisted driving systems. Digital Divide Data VP for EMA Victor van Baal described preparing training data for autonomous-driving AI and employing trained local staff in Cambodia, Laos and Kenya. This example concerns the work behind training data, rather than an in-car connected service by itself.
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Why do security and data governance matter?
More connected services create questions about who owns vehicle data, what can be shared, how privacy is protected and who is responsible for securing the exchange. VxLabs CEO and co-founder Mostafa Elkoumy discussed data authenticity, governance, prioritization, monetization and connected-car security. These issues affect whether information can be trusted and whether cross-system services can operate safely.
Dahad’s report also relays Elkoumy’s concern about attacks through voice-recognition and infotainment systems. It gives no incident count or dataset, so it supports the existence of a security concern raised at the summit, not a quantified claim about how often such attacks occur. For drivers, connectivity is not automatically a benefit: the service’s data practices and security design are part of the experience.
What the summit examples do—and do not—show
The interviews illustrate different pieces of the SDV path, but they are not a product comparison or independent performance evaluation. Their claims should be read according to who made them and what evidence the report supplies.
| Area | What was discussed | Evidence status in the report |
|---|---|---|
| OTA updates | Updates spanning driving, charging, displays, warnings and infotainment | Smart Europe product manager Xiaotong Hu’s account, including the “more than 75%” ECU figure |
| Tire intelligence | Richer tire-mounted TPMS data combined with other sensors to analyze dynamics and road conditions | Conference interview summary; no independent performance validation |
| Centralized compute and virtualization | Consolidating computing and managing mixed-criticality software on shared systems | Interviewee descriptions of industry direction and technology goals |
| Vehicle analytics | Processing sensor and vehicle data near compute, with an interactive analytics ambition at “trillion-plus record scale” | Ocient representative’s characterization, not an independently assessed benchmark |
| Cross-brand services | Data sharing to help services such as automated valet parking work across brands | 5G Automotive Association director general Johannes Springer’s conference comments |
SDVerse CEO Prashant Gulati also presented a vehicle software marketplace backed by General Motors, Magna and Wipro as a way for automakers and tier-one suppliers to find software—for example, an emergency-braking system for a particular system-on-chip (SoC). His “Google for automotive software” description is a metaphor for discovery, not a neutral classification of the market.
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