The new digital platform of General Motors

They announced it not long ago. The company General Motors has created a new digital platform that will be placed in their new vehicles. It will have the possibility that it can be updated online as smart-phones do.

With the digitalization of the automobile and its greater autonomy capacities, in GM they needed to equip their cars with a new system that allows the enormous handling of data that the new cars will require. Its architecture will allow it to handle 4.5 terabytes of data per hour.

This new platform will be released with the Cadillac CT5 that will appear in the year 2020, and then will be applied to the rest of their models.

The idea is not new, Tesla already does. They also update the system of their vehicles online as smart-phones. These systems are called OTA (over-the-air), and cars do not have to go to an official dealer to get updated.

The digital management system of a vehicle is something important. GM has been working on its development for almost 5 years, with more than 300 engineers and more than 100 patents.

The cars that increasingly have more electronics, will have a powerful computer that manages all its functions. And when I say all, they are all without exception.

The sensors of the engine, the cameras, the radars, the connection with other cars, the communications, the connection with external systems, etc …

All its functions.

It seems clear that the dealers will have less influence in the future. The manufacturer will communicate directly with the vehicle without any intermediary. Then the business will change, that’s for sure.

After GM, other manufacturers such as Ford have also announced that they will do something similar with their vehicles by 2020. And sooner or later all other manufacturers will follow the same path.

There is no business that does not change. It is the sign of the times.