The car world is kind of split right now . There are the legacy automakers — the 1 you know and make out — but there are also the young startup build all - new kinds of car . The first of that new generation of car companies was Tesla , and obviously by now it ’s certainly not a startup . But over the past decennium or so others have popped up . There’sLucid , which builds ultra - premium electron volt , and , of course , there ’s Rivian , which has fasten its post as the go - to for those who want a more broken EV .
I was recently capable to tour Rivian ’s Palo Alto fix and one thing became clear . The water parting between traditional carmakers and the new inauguration is much deeper than just when they were founded . Companies like Rivian , in fact , areactuallytech companies , that built high - quality computers that happen to have wheels on them .
It sounds like a put - down , but it ’s not . For all the problem with computers , and all the risk of bringing those problems into such a vital surround , computers are distinctly the futurity of personal DoT — and until legacy auto maker contain thinking about their car as cars , and more as computing gadget , they ’re doomed to lag behind the new Kyd on the block .
Computers…but not too many computers
Rivian ’s first - coevals vehicle were hailed for their quality and carrying out , but earlier this year , the company shifted to itssecond - generation architecture . The nitty-gritty of that modification ? More feature and smarter software . You ’d retrieve this would require more computers under the hood , but on the opposite , Rivian managed to shrink the number down , by a important gross profit . While its first - generation weapons platform was made up of 17 Electronic Control Units ( ECUs ) , second - gen models only have seven .
The key to that change comes down to a switch to a zonary architecture , instead of a domain - free-base architecture . The general gist is that rather of different functions in the railcar being handled by different ECUs , differentareasof the automobile are manage by different ECUs . Three of the seven ECUs in current Rivian vehicle are zona - base , call the west zone , east zone , and south zona . These ECUs handle all the canonical labor of the fomite , with the other four handling more delegation - vital tasks , like infotainment and liberty .
This results in some pretty major improvements . For starter , a zonal architecture means wires do n’t needfully have to be endure back and forward between all the dissimilar ECUs , and Rivian says that it was capable to shrivel down the wiring in its second - gen fomite by a massive 1.6 mile , and 44 pounds . The different is obvious in person — just far less wires wanderer - web their agency around the inning of the car . And , fewer telegram and computers intend fewer points of nonstarter , which is always helpful .
Of course , the computer in the fomite are more herculean , too . Rivian source cow dung from both Rivian and Qualcomm for different aspects of its cars , direct for both fast and responsive software now , and enough headroom for profligate and responsive software after year of updates .
Software in a pretty box
At theAll Things D group discussion in 2010Steve Jobs explain that essentially , Apple is a computer software company , and that while it puts its software in a beautiful box , its most successful products are successful because of the software . Arguably , Rivian , like other modern EV manufacturers , is the same .
Now , of course , modern cars are a small more complicated than that . software system ca n’t give the tri - motor Rivian R1 metric ton 850 horsepower , after all . But , it ’s hard to imagine Toyota being able-bodied to deliver the same experience as Rivian , even if it did come up with the exact same design and have the same powertrain .
To be clear , software in a vehicle likethe R1Sor R1 T ismuchmore than just infotainment , though offer near infotainment software is important too . There are slew of things I like about Rivian ’s infotainment software , like the simple interface , the New conception , and the decent smartphone integration despite the want of CarPlay and Android Auto . There are also things Idon’tlove about it — I wish you did n’t have to open up fare to get at climate configurations , and the want of CarPlay or Android Auto means you might have to rely on canonical Bluetooth for some rain cats and dogs apps . But you ca n’t traverse that Rivian and Tesla ’s infotainment software is head - and - berm aboveanylegacy automaker .
The software also obviously relates to what ’s materialise in the background , using data from all the sensing element and camera stud around the vehicle . For now , thatsoftware is close to what the legacy automakers offer . The autonomous characteristic are capped at the power to drive script - free on the main road , unreasoning bit monitoring , and so on — feature that others pop the question too . But , Rivian has announced “ eyes - free ” highway driving for 2026 , and apparently , its switch to a zonal computer architecture could avail it accelerate its autonomy - related goals too . We ’ll have to see though .
Setting the stage
Competition is ultimately coming though . EV ship’s company like Rivian and Tesla have been ahead of the game from a tech perspective for some meter now , but the thought - cognitive process at the bequest carmakers is lead off to change . That ’s perhaps easily embody by Volkswagen ’s decision to spouse with Rivian , which will see succeeding Volkswagen fomite , like the unexampled ID.1 , get package that ’s free-base on Rivian ’s . Other carmakers are leaning into software system more too , though to be bonnie , most of them still seem to think they can build enough software system on their own ( so far , it has never been better than “ okay ” ) .
But the shift will come . Rivian may be small , but Tesla is another software company , and the marketplace share of these young companies is likely to keep on to produce . Hopefully the result of this press will make traditional carmakers seriously abuse up their secret plan .
