Internet Cars Coming(Future Communication Cars)

STUTTGART -- Ralf Lamberti, manager of the connected-car area at Daimler AG, says the car is
becoming "a part of the Internet," meaning it will be"able to communicate with its environment and other vehicles."
Lamberti was interviewed here by
Automobilwoche, a sister publication to Automotive
News.

Q: What will the car of the future look like?
A: Everyone would like to know that. Our focus is on three aspects at the moment: First of all, the
powertrain will change, moving from the internal combustion engine to more and more electric
propulsion.
Second, the vehicle will be gradually automated.
And third, we are not just bringing the Internet into the vehicle. We are making the vehicle a part of
the Internet. That means that the vehicle will be networked in many different ways and will be able
to communicate with its environment and other
vehicles.

°•°How autonomously will we drive in the future?

At the moment, we do not see the driver wanting automated systems to drive him everywhere all
the time. There are too many situations where driving is just fun. And there will continue to be
situations in traffic where the driver must be in a position to take control.

•°•What scenarios can be developed from the car-to-x theme, meaning the communication of the vehicle
with its environment?

"Swarm intelligence" is a good catchword: How do vehicles behave when they can cooperate with one another? What will become possible that has been
impossible until now? Can you forecast certain scenarios based on vehicles and their communication with one another? How do you best respond to this? I am including aspects such as
complex traffic situations and infrastructure problems.

°•° Will a future without traffic fatalities be achieved
with swarm intelligence?
There are a great many prerequisites for this to
happen. For one thing, you need the behavior of all
the traffic participants to be calibrated to one
another. Every moving object, including cyclists
and pedestrians, must know what the other
objects are doing and where they are going next.
For another, it requires much greater sensor
precision and greater processing potential than the current technology permits. The further
development of the technology will take a few years.
You described the car as a part of the Internet. Has
the status of the car changed within society?
In many media, and even in studies, the notion has
become widespread that young people really don't
want and don't need a car anymore. But we see
sharp differentiations. In many countries, people
rely on individual mobility, and the car is a part of
that, as is the case for us in Europe. The situation
is different in Asia. In Asia's megacities, mobility is
multimodal. America moves to a different beat.
There, the philosophy is "the car is king." People
live in suburbs and drive their own cars
everywhere. We have to keep these varying needs
in mind.
How does Daimler see the future of networking?
We have just introduced "Mercedes me," a portal
that bundles various services for Mercedes-Benz
customers under one umbrella. It makes it
possible for the user to obtain information on the
vehicle's condition in the "connect me" area. How
full is the gas tank, how charged is the battery,
what is the tire pressure, and when is the next
service due?
Is there an app for this?
No, we deliberately decided against an app. The
user accesses all of this information by means of a
secure browser. In this way, we have achieved a
new level of data integration into the vehicle. Now,
a great many other services can be offered, and
highly current information can be delivered into the
vehicle.