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Stellantis, the parent company of Dodge, Ram and Chrysler are a huge step closer to creating a virtual cockpit for their new vehicles. The company unveiled the cockpit concept at last year’s CES 2022. Although Stellantis didn’t exhibit at CES 2024, its partners Blackberry QNX and AWS did. Blackberry says the new cockpit will revolutionize in-vehicle software engineering.
How the New Cockpit Can Revolutionize Infotainment Development
This industry leading innovation could accelerate Stellantis' development cycles up to 100 times, speeding up delivery of infotainment tech to customers
Stellantis pioneered the world’s first virtual cockpit platform as part of its Stellantis Virtual Engineering Workbench (VEW). The new software will enable the delivery of infotainment tech to customers 100 times faster than previous processes. The new platform uses the QNX Hypervisor in the cloud from BlackBerry. The platform, which is cloud-based, is now on early access release via AWS Marketplace. Stellantis claims it can now create realistic virtual versions of car controls and systems, making them behave just like they would in a real car, but without needing to change the main software that runs them. That development could transform what used to take months down to 24 hours in some cases.
"Software is becoming increasingly crucial in vehicles, leading us to innovate in how we develop and validate it," said Yves Bonnefont, chief software officer at Stellantis. "With our virtual cockpit, we're revolutionizing not just our approach, but also that of our suppliers and partners in the industry. Essentially, we’re able to get closer to our customer’s needs through this technology with faster development cycles, faster feedback loops, and quicker delivery of the technology they use and love. It’s a leap toward customer-first innovation and efficiency in the automotive world."
Why Software Development is So Important
Software is a key building block for Stellantis to deliver clean, safe and affordable mobility, as outlined in the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan. Software is the key behind the AI-powered STLA Brain, STLA SmartCockpit and STLA AutoDrive technology platforms. Using the cloud-based software, Stellantis can accelerate customer feedback sessions. The company can then make changes in real time to improve the experience for the driver. This real-time feedback allows Stellantis to fix problems or improve the customer’s experience almost instantaneously.
“We’re delighted to introduce early access availability of our trusted QNX Hypervisor platform in the cloud, leveraging the vendor and platform-neutral VirtIO standard that QNX has long-supported for its importance in creating a true-to-life virtual development environment for embedded software,” said Mattias Eriksson, president, BlackBerry IoT. “Working with Stellantis to launch the world’s first commercial hypervisor in the AWS cloud helps to reduce complexity, accelerate innovation and cut costs on in-car software development throughout the entire product lifecycle.”
I remember doing a story on Computer-Aided-Design or CAD decades ago at the Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The designer at the time explained how being able to change engine designs or other components under the hood on the computer could speed design by months, because engineers didn’t have to actually build and test out models. This type of improvement in software design could have a similar effect.
“Software virtualization and abstraction in the cloud is vital to accelerating development and maintaining feature delivery on-pace with consumer demand,” said Wendy Bauer, vice president and general manager, automotive and manufacturing, AWS. “With BlackBerry’s QNX Hypervisor on AWS Marketplace, Stellantis can easily harness the power of the cloud to reimagine research and development processes, architect more insightful ways to solicit and integrate feedback, and deliver functions faster than before that delight drivers and further the industry.”
When We Will See the New Virtual Cockpit
Stellantis suggested last year that the virtual cockpit could debut on the Chrysler Airflow EV. The Airflow has since morphed into a different EV, but we could still see the virtual cockpit debut on the Airflow’s replacement EV next year.
Chrysler Photo
Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.
Follow Mary Conway at @MaryConwayMedia and send her car news tips for future stories.
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