The automotive industry is moving increasingly towards software-defined mobility, where vehicle functions and user experiences are shaped more by software than hardware. To enable this, vehicles require a flexible and modular electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture, which looks to be a zonal design. It is the E/E architecture that will either enable or hinder the numerous functions that determine how a vehicle performs, the occupant experience, and the use cases for which it is suitable.

At its heart, a good E/E architecture will ensure that the vehicle can meet the demands of drivers today and in the future, offering a connected, flexible and future-ready platform. In most cases, that will allow the seamless integration of numerous complex systems, facilitating the use of advanced software to control multiple systems simultaneously. It should also support AI algorithms implemented directly within the vehicle. With the industry move towards electric vehicles, the architecture needs to allow for more effective energy management.

That’s a big list of asks from the architecture side, and to date, the bulk of the models that could arguably be described as software-defined—the Teslas, Lucids, BMW’s upcoming Neue Klasse—fall into the premium or luxury segment.

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