Electronics is right now at the heart of the automotive industry. Advanced Driving Assistant Systems (ADAS) are considered as the leading groundbreaking technology within the emerging automotive electronics segments. ADASs have become a salient feature for safety in modern vehicles and is expected to continue to drive the need for more sophisticated EMC designs and test scenarios for the automotive industry. Automotive manufactures are spending a huge pile of money in developing new, lightweight components that enhance advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) features even more. NXP in partnership with Delta Electronics developed platforms for future automobiles with an aim to improve electrification alternatives and implement real time products based on NXP S32E and S32Z processors. Moreover, a chip fuse, the MFU 0603-FF, has recently been invented for electric and hybrid electric vehicles which can provide current ratings from 0.5 A to 5.0 A. Moreover, artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques combined with IoT technologies are considered as blessings for the automotive industry to offer vast opportunities to inventively create, develop, and improve continuous services for the comfort of the users.
Vehicle electronic systems including automatic ride controls, engine management, power windows, changing ride modes, lighting, safety bags, telematics, carputers, entertainment system, and other such functionalities are all referred to as automotive electronics that altogether holds the largest portion of an automobile. Automotive electronics have minimized the need for human drivers and transformed the way for everyday transportation.
Previously in the automobile sector, electronics were used only for controlling the vehicle engine. But today, almost one-third of modern electric cars rely on power electronics and are fully equipped with smart technologies that do everything from monitoring fuel to diagnosing problems. Automotive electronics has enhanced security, comfort, energy efficiency, and so many other car features in modern vehicles.
Electronics is right now at the heart of the automotive industry and will be increasingly so with the rise in demand for electric vehicles. Electric cars are becoming popular, with their eco-friendly features in terms of quality, functional simplicity and, above all, energy efficiency. Future autonomous cars are expected to rely on strong computer systems, a wide array of advanced sensors, satellite navigation and networking, thereby, will require a huge bunch of electronics systems.
Advanced Driving Assistant Systems (ADAS) are considered as the leading groundbreaking technology within the emerging automotive electronics segments. Along with that, light detection and ranging (lidar), radio detection and ranging (radar), and other advanced-sensing technologies are also becoming popular. Also, Tesla, Honda Prius, Waymo, Nissan Leaf etc. are a few of the latest automotive electronics launched by different companies across the world which are designed in accordance with environmental and customer requirements.
Market Forecast and Driving Factors: –
With the automobile industry evolving towards lightweight, miniaturization, intelligence and electrification, the market of the automotive electronics has grown rapidly. According to a report published by Allied Market Research, the global automotive electronics market size is anticipated to reach $382.16 billion with a considerable CAGR from 2020 to 2026. The growth of the market is driven by various factors such as adoption of IoT and AI in the automobiles, surge in demand for infotainment features, consumer demand for in-vehicle safety features, rise in vehicles equipped with automated driving, government safety norms, increase in investment towards autonomous driving of vehicles in smart grids, and others.
In addition, major initiatives by automotive companies and governments to promote the sale of electronic vehicles are driving the growth of the global automotive electronics market in more than one way. The eco-friendly factor of electronic cars has increased its demand and hence, the demand for charging stations has increased. Government incentives offered the required kickstart for the rapid adoption of electronic cars in emerging economies like China & India.
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the market: –
However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a negative impact on the growth of the global automotive electronics market. This is attributed to the implementation of lockdown across several nations, which led to closure to manufacturing facilities of automotive electronics industries temporarily, especially in the initial period. The pandemic also caused severe disruptions in the supply chain, due to which, both the demand and supply of electronics in the automotive sector got hampered.
In addition, the sale of cars was reduced on a global level during the pandemic, as all car manufacturing was stopped, and the showrooms were closed in order to maintain the social distancing norms. This factor significantly affected the growth of the automotive electronics industry. Nevertheless, the market has already recovered in the post-pandemic, as the manufacturing facilities are back with full production and operation capacity since the beginning of 2022.
Types of Automotive Electronics Systems: –
It is essential to gather knowledge of electronic parts that are used in automotive industries to manufacture automobiles. An embedded system plays an important role in automobile architecture as it controls the car operations digitally.
- Engine electronics: The engine control unit (ECU) is the most demanding electronic part of an automobile. It is used to tackle rate of fuel injection, turbocharger, cooling systems and others. It is extremely fast & complex and can order highest real time goals. Modern vehicles contain nearly 100 ECUs and the computing power of each ECU is 32 bit processor.
- Driver assistance: It includes an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that is designed with a secure human machine interface (HMI). It enhances automobile safety and road safety during driving the vehicle by controlling lane, speed, blind spot detection etc. ADASs have become a salient feature for safety in modern vehicles and is expected to continue to drive the need for more sophisticated EMC designs and test scenarios for the automotive industry. Automotive manufactures are spending a huge pile of money in developing new, lightweight components that enhance advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) features even more.
- Passive safety: This system includes sensors that can prevent a dangerous situation by getting activated before a collision. For example, airbags, hill descent control, emergency brake aid system, and others. Airbag systems are standard in most cars and are mandatory equipment in many countries. Thus, the electronics automotive industry is actively contributing to road safety by limiting the number of road accidents.
- Passenger comfort: It includes automatic climate control, automatic headlamps for beam adjustment, automatic wipers, automatic cooling, and others.
- Chassis electronics: This refers to all the electronic subsystems in a vehicle including anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake distribution (EBD), electronic stability program (ESP), parking assistance (PA), traction control system (TCS), and others.
- Transmission electronics: It controls the transmission system, usually while shifting the gears for better comfort. The ECU and the transmission control system exchange information and control signals for their processes.
- Entertainment systems: It mainly consists of three technologies i.e., vehicle audio system, navigation system, and data access. Various tools are used for both hardware & software development and the development methods can be change based on the manufacturer.
Strategic Initiatives by Major Market Players: –
With this drift on board, numerous key market players are adopting strategies such as new product development, new product launch, partnership, collaboration, acquisitions, joint ventures, and others in order to stay competitive in the market. For instance, NXP in partnership with Delta Electronics developed platforms for future automobiles with an aim to improve electrification alternatives and implement real time products based on NXP S32E and S32Z processors. Bosch Engineering, on the other hand, launched a high-voltage Lab Rig (HVLR) that can be used to test the power electronics of electric vehicles efficiently.
Moreover, a chip fuse, the MFU 0603-FF, has recently been invented for electric and hybrid electric vehicles which can provide current ratings from 0.5 A to 5.0 A. The construction of this thin film chip fuse is extremely durable as it is made of a homogenous metal alloy film charged on a high grade ceramic substrate. Fuse components are bounded by a protective layer that is resistant to electrical, mechanical, and climatic circumstances. This AEC Q200 qualified device offers protection to the circuit for tiny loads and safeguards voltage sensing circuits in battery management systems.
Furthermore, recent estimates have stated that nearly 50% of the demand for automotive electronics comes from ADAS, airbags, safety and infotainment. This is due to the fact that the mid & small segment carmakers and two wheeler companies are focusing on advancements of their automotive car features through major applications such as powertrain, infotainment, lane departure warning, automatic emergency breaking, etc. This factor, in turn, is surging the demand for electronic components like ECUs processors, microcontrollers, sensors, actuators, body control module, and others in the automotive sector to a broad extent.
At the same time, major manufacturers of the automotive industry are making huge capital investments in R&D activities in order to come up with storage technology and high performance electronics at a suitable cost, as people have always been inclined toward increasing convenience that comes at an affordable price. This factor is further helping the business stay competitive in the market.
Meanwhile, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques combined with IoT technologies is allowing automotive companies to upgrade their fleets, establish the conditions impacting performance, and enhance passenger safety & experience, and automate as much as possible along the way. These emerging technologies have changed the way automobiles operate. With advancement in AI, ML, and IoT, driver connectivity with the vehicle has increased and the ride assistance features has improved.
Most importantly, the powers of AI, ML, and IoT hold the potential to push the boundaries of personalization and therefore thoroughly transform the consumer experience through connectivity. Also, IoT data analytics in automotive helps organizations keeping up with advances in lean manufacturing, optimizing product design, addressing safety and performance concerns through anomaly detection, then entirely to supply chain or sales quandaries, and, finally, innovative product development. Machine learning algorithms help with security concerns and operationalization issues along the way.
In a nutshell, artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques combined with IoT technologies are considered as blessings for the automotive industry to offer vast opportunities to inventively create, develop, and improve continuous services for the comfort of the users. Here, it is worth mentioning that the global automotive electronics industry is anticipated to gather immense growth prospects in the years to come.
Author’s Bio – Suchita Gupta is an explorer, musician and content writer. While pursuing MBA, she found that nothing satisfies her more than writing on miscellaneous domains. She is a writer by day, and a reader by night. Besides, she can be found entertaining her audience on social media platforms. Find her on LinkedIn & Instagram.