Auto innovations in 2015 + EU/US statistics

as presented during the recent retrospective:

Tesla Model X (~80 000$)

• 0 emissions
• 500km travel
• 5stars safety in each category
• Free charge
• Expensive
• Longtime recharge
• Not enough recharge stations
• (38 000$ for the model S in 2017 foreseen)

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Tesla Model X infotainment

• 17-inch LCD touchscreen
• The NVIDIA Tegra system on a chip (SoC) integrates eight specialized processors, including a multi-core ARM CPU, a GPU, and dedicated audio, video and image processors. Nvidia claimed that it consumes 2% of the energy of a typical CPU.
• Uses Linux - Ubuntu

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2016 Toyota Mirai (58 000$)

• Hydrogen – emits only water
• Only in California
• 500km travel
• Refuel in 5min
• Free fuel for 3 years (15 000$)
• Tax reductions
• Expensive
• Few hydrogen fuel stations

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Google driverless car ~ expected in 2020

• Laser range finder
• Front camera
• Radar sensors
• Ultrasonic sensors (wheels)
• Software to combine data
• Looking for auto partners to produce the vehicles and mass production
• Legislation is an issue

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Porsche Mission E ~ expected in 2020 (cluster instrument)

• OLED technology 
• Eye tracking system cluster instrument
• Charging by simply parking over coil embedded tile – 15mins

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AUDI TT 2016 (cluster instrument)

• Display resolution 1440x540px at 60fps  
• Tegra 3 NVIDIA CPU

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In the end, the top auto models sold in EU and USA in 2015

Cars sold in EU	Make & Model	2015
1	Volkswagen Golf	533,584
2	Ford Fiesta	314,432
3	Renault Clio	305,305
4	Volkswagen Polo	301,817
5	Opel / Vauxhall Corsa	269,765
6	Ford Focus	234,442
Cars sold in USA
1	Ford F-Series	780,354
2	Chevrolet Silverado	600,544
3	Ram P/U	451,116
4	Toyota Camry	429,355
5	Toyota Corolla	363,332
6	Honda Accord	355,557

Proudly most of the automotive manufacturers presented in the charts are clients of Continental AG and the teams I work with deliver the software for the cluster instruments.

Hire ‘milkshake’ to do the job

I’ve been attending a ‘Product Development’ course and a memorable video was presented yesterday:

Clayton Christensen is looking at a product from a different and magnificent (at the same time) perspective. It seems one of the major parts in product development is to find out – 'what sort of job the clients are expecting to be done by the product'. Truly ingenious…

I searched and read some articles, and also gathered some of the best quotes from Professor Clayton M. Christensen. Enjoy:

“Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time.”

“I had thought the destination was what was important, but it turned out it was the journey.”

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”

“It's easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time.”

“Because if the decisions you make about where you invest your blood, sweat, and tears are not consistent with the person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person.”

“In our lives and in our careers, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly navigating a path by deciding between our deliberate strategies and the unanticipated alternatives that emerge.”

“Resources are what he uses to do it, processes are how he does it, and priorities are why he does it.”

“You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is nothing but good intentions unless it's effectively implemented.”

“In order to really find happiness, you need to continue looking for opportunities that you believe are meaningful, in which you will be able to learn new things, to succeed, and be given more and more responsibility to shoulder.”

“…I came to understand that while many of us might default to measuring our lives by summary statistics, such as number of people presided over, number of awards, or dollars accumulated in a bank, and so on, the only metrics that will truly matter to my life are the individuals whom I have been able to help, one by one, to become better people.”

“If you defer investing your time and energy until you see that you need to, chances are it will already be too late.”

Evolution of auto dashboards & clusters

Ever since I started supporting teams developing software for the automotive industry I became obsessed with auto clusters and dashboards. In this post I will upload short visualization of the evolution of the auto dashboards and clusters. I preselected a couple of the most interesting dashboards I dug in the internet and the collection is just amazing. Have a look and let me know what you think in the comments.

1909 Ford Model 'T' Touring Car

 1913 Ford Model 'T' Speedster

(the first auto 'dashboard' ever)

 1913 Ford Model 'T' Touring

 1928 Chrysler Plymouth Model Q

1928-1932 Ford Roadster Pickup

 1930 Bentley 8 Litre

1931 Bugatti 51

1933 Pierce Arrow Unbridled Good Taste

1937 BMW 328

1940 TATRA T87 Sedan Czechoslovakia

1950 Oldsmobile Futuramic 88 and Gauge Cluster

1956 Mercedes Benz 300SL

1957 Chevrolet

1960 Ferrari 250GT Cabriolet

1963 Chevrolet Testudo

1963 Maserati 5000 GT

1965 Ford Thunderbird Center Console

1967 Sunbeam Tiger

1972 Maserati Boomerang

1976 Rover SD1 Vitesse V8 3500 Twin

1980 Ford Replica Truck

 1982 Lancia Orca

1983 Citroen GSA Pallas

1985 Citroen BX

1998 Toyota Supra Turbo Triplets

2001 Spyker C8

2003 Honda Civic (custom)

2009 Lexus LFA

2009 Toyota Yaris Sedan 4 SPD

2012 Audi A7 Sportback (Night Vision Assistant)

2012 Pagani Huayra

2013 Mercedes Benz S Class

Future: Lexus Concept

Future: Mercedes Head-Up Concept

Future: Mitsubishi Concept

Future: Panasonic Concept

Future: Suzuki Maruti R3 Concept

Future: Toyota Concept

Future: Volvo Universe Concept

Some of the future concepts might actually be already implemented or in production. If you are interested in specific models or technologies related to the clusters let me know and I'll research them.

p.s. All images are copyright to their respective owners