Regulatory Reach into Driving Continued
Several Weeks back, EkaLore posted about regulatory rules affecting the move from ICE to EV. These include the familiar environmental concerns but also acknowledged that the push for greater safety is also pushing car makers towards more sophisticated designs.
Regulators and manufacturers have different somewhat different motivations when it comes to vehicle design. Regulators are keen to have data and the best safety features. Manufacturers want to balance these desires with the cost of implementing them.
The importance of this tangle is the effect it will have on all customers using a computer and communications-enabled "things.” Almost every commonly used smart device, from smartphones to vehicles to energy-consuming home appliances, will feel the effects of this evolution in regulation. Every manufacturer of goods with any "smarts" will be impacted.
Multiple ugly cases have convinced the public to accept regulators to act for their safety and improve vehicle transportation safety. A newer and uglier set of cases have reinforced regulators' need to preserve longer term health and safety by regulating pollutants and transportation contributions to critical energy utilization. The newest set of cases mandated changes in the new vehicle technology of embedded software and features.
Here are a few important examples in key markets affecting regulator thinking and actions. The need for vehicle design, production manufacturing, and usage in service can be quickly illustrated with software-based "recalls." The term "recall" originated in the vehicle industry as a change (voluntary or not) to affect the operation of a vehicle to make it safer. Software-related recalls affecting many thousands of vehicles with similar software have occurred in Volvo (software shutdown vehicle while in motion), Honda (parking brake software), GM (airbag controller software), Audi (lighting), Ford (ignition controls), and Toyota (regenerative braking software). A key process was the requirement to bring these vehicles into a manufacturing dealer location for the software update (usually a replacement part or upload).
As the Alien Invader Tesla took unprecedented features to EVs on public roads in production vehicles, new "recalls" were needed. Playing video games while the Tesla was in motion was restricted. Multiple manufacturers were found to be vulnerable to "hacking" across networking connections and in-car network ports. Features in Tesla FSD (autonomous driving features) were found to be inadequate. The change for regulators was that the required 'recall' could be accomplished with "over the air" (OTA) updating.
Social movements like MADD may require all vehicles to be equipped with a Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety. In the EU and China, vehicles will be mandated to have features for Driver Monitoring and Assistance Systems. Australia is also testing similar technologies. A key feature is the vehicle's instrumentation (sensors) and controls to restrict drivers from starting the car or continuing if impaired.
Embedded navigation and driving assistance for drivers and autonomous driving are related features that regulators are considering requiring in cars. A key enabling feature is the use of positioning systems, like GPS, that 'know' where the vehicle is located. Law enforcement has seized upon this feature to demand that manufacturers and service providers deliver this dynamic location data upon request. Initial use of this feature included automated crash/accident notifications to first responders (GM OnStar). Ugly criminal incidents of child abduction and violent criminals have added to public calls for this to be easily accessed by responsible authorities. The ongoing global deployment of 5G (and embedded OTA features with two-way vehicle communication without human intervention) complete this capability for governments.
The marketplace is thus set for features, under the control of governments or manufacturers, for vehicles to operate where, when, and how controls are set.
In a separate release, EkaLore will look at the marketplace and related driving issues this change brings to more than a century of driver behavior. If you’d like to read other features on changes to the vehicle marketplace, you can find them at www.ekalore.com/alien-invaders
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