Connected car, tracking, autonomous driving and predictive maintenance, the Internet of Things is in successful use throughout the automobile industry.

Need to give your presentation a few quick tweaks in the car on the way to an appointment? If the laptop doesn’t a SIM card you can only work offline – unless you are being driven by a colleague in his new company car, as I was recently. The car comes with our HotSpot Drive System, a WLAN hotspot that everyone in the car can use to go online on the move. So I was able to work on the presentation with colleagues in Bonn using Microsoft Teams. 

IOT FOR THE CONNECTED CAR

Free in-car Wi-Fi is a fine thing, but in future much more will be available. When I get in the car the infotainment system will automatically load my smartphone’s Spotify playlist. As we drive on it will show me free fast-charge charging points for my EV – and their current charge per kilowatt. When I reach my destination the car will navigate me to an empty parking space in the vicinity and I will use a smartphone app to pay for the parking.

All of these functions make my car a part of the Internet of Things (IoT). Vehicles, smartphones, parking spaces, charging points – everything is connected with everything else. And if autonomous cars are ever able to drive in the Smart City, traffic lights and road signs, street lighting and construction sites, pedestrians and cyclists will be included in the IoT. That will require digital technologies like fast 5G cellular networks, edge computing and sensor systems that deliver smart, connected mobility.

IOT FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The Internet of Things is indispensable, and not just for the connected car. The entire automobile industry benefits from networking. Manufacturers and suppliers make their supply chains transparent with IoT trackers, optimize transportation routes for their drivers, monitor their production with IoT sensors and prevent machine downtimes. You can read in our new trendbook “Full Speed into the Digital Future – Digital Trends in the Automobile Industry” (download here free of charge) how companies in the automobile sector are meeting current challenges with technologies like the Internet of Things. It deals with present and future use cases and issues such as e-mobility, in-car digital services, autonomous driving, digitization in the auto industry, new business models for automakers, networking, connectivity, in-car software, predictive maintenance, 5G, campus networks for the automobile industry and much more. Enjoy reading it.

Further information:

• Boers forestry company: Coordinating the vehicle fleet efficiently
• IoT Helps Combat Fine Dust Pollution in the City
• A smart campus network in Swabia