Qualcomm and Renault Group announced today they would extend their “strategic cooperation” to the automaker’s new electric and software company, Ampere, to co-develop a centralised platform architecture for software-defined electric vehicles powered by the supplier’s Snapdragon digital chassis.
As part of the plan, Qualcomm Technologies, or one of its affiliates, would invest in the Renault dedicated electric and software company Ampere.
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High performance platforms, known as “software defined vehicle platforms” were expected to be available in 2026 and also made available to Qualcomm Technologies’ other automotive OEM customers.
A commercial agreement covering Snapdragon digital chassis products underpinning the Renault software defined vehicle platform has already been concluded.
Snapdragon digital chassis software will be used for digital cockpits, connectivity, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in Renault EVs.
“The software defined vehicle is the future of the automotive industry: it is about meeting expectations in terms of functionality and services while controlling complexity and costs, said Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo.
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By GlobalData“Renault is strengthening its strategic collaboration with Qualcomm to bring the first open and horizontal software defined vehicle platform to the automotive market.
“The combination of group expertise in automotive technology and Qualcomm Technologies’ proven leadership in high performance, low power semiconductors, software and systems platforms will enable us to provide a scalable, competitive, and innovative platform foundation to drive the services ecosystem and deliver value to our customers.”
The two companies plan to deliver next-generation SDV architecture which “leverages extensible and flexible solutions to address the evolving needs and requirements for vehicles”.
From 2026, Renault vehicles would be built on the SDV platform with the latest Snapdragon digital chassis designed to power new Android cockpits and “make the on-board experience more immersive and personal”; centralise other vehicle functions, such as advanced driver assistance (ADAS), body, chassis, telematics, connectivity, power line communications (PLC), plus safety and cybersecurity in the physical computer unit (PCU).
This would optimise hardware and software costs, allowing connection to the physical interface unit (PIU) which provides zonal interface with the vehicle’s actuators. In parallel, the SDV architecture was designed to be open to other vehicle manufacturers.
By working with Qualcomm Technologies, said to be one of the world’s leaders in semiconductors and software, the group aims to optimise its development and commercialisation plans through a co-development approach, which provides the right system level platform capabilities for hardware, software and services.
The growing technological collaboration between Renault Group and Qualcomm Technologies started in 2018 and the automaker already uses Snapdragon cockpit platforms in the new Megane E-Tech Electric’s OpenR Link multimedia system and plans to use digital chassis software to “deliver seamless connectivity and intelligent in-car experiences to their drivers and passengers”.
