Despite the huge advances in electronics, there is still no ‘one size fits all’ for mobile telephones in cars.
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No car maker has yet come up with a ‘universal’ fit to allow drivers to plug-in their mobile telephones to a hands-free system.
The problem, according to Bruno Praunsmandel, the man in charge of advanced electronic engineering at General Motors Europe, is that there are two industries, and different technologies, which are out of kilter.
“In the automotive industry we have three or four year design to production periods and a lifecycle of 12 to 14 years. While mobile phones’ design time is around nine months and the product lifecycle is between 12 and 18 months.”
He added: “It is just too difficult for the automotive industry to keep pace. We do need to find a robust interface but the technology is never stable for long enough.
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By GlobalData“There’s Bluetooth technology, then it’s blacktooth – we are working on solutions, but they are still some time off.”
Praunsmandel said that finding a way to solve the problem was important in terms of road safety.
He was speaking at a General Motors roadshow in the UK, showing off upcoming technologies designed to make the roads safer.
Existing electronic technologies, such as satellite navigation, anti-lock brakes, radar and stability control can be used to communicate with other road users and help avoid accidents in the future.
These can be linked to let other drivers know if you are coming up to a traffic jam, that cars in front are braking sharply or that someone is overtaking in your mirror ‘blindspot’.
The technology will also let you know where emergency vehicles are and how they will be passing you. It will also let you know if another car is going in danger of pulling out in front of you at a junction.
Praunsmandel said that carmakers are pooling their resources on the safety technology which will be available soon. “The important thing is that we are able to make it available without any additional cost to customers.”
He admitted, however, that it would be up to 10 years before sufficient vehicles were equipped with the technology for it to make a significant impact on road safety.
