Siemens to equip StreetScooter EV with innovative electronics and software

Siemens' central research department and electric vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter are to equip an electric car with an innovative electronic and software architecture as part of the Robust and Reliant Automotive Computing Environment for Future eCars (RACE) project. For the first time ever, the architecture will make it possible to retrofit functions such as electrical brakes and systems such as lane-keeping assistants using a plug-and-play process like on home PCs. The two companies plan to incorpora
July 30, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

189 Siemens' central research department and electric vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter are to equip an electric car with an innovative electronic and software architecture as part of the Robust and Reliant Automotive Computing Environment for Future eCars (RACE) project.

For the first time ever, the architecture will make it possible to retrofit functions such as electrical brakes and systems such as lane-keeping assistants using a plug-and-play process like on home PCs. The two companies plan to incorporate the RACE architecture into an electric delivery vehicle by December 2014. The work will be conducted at Siemens' research centre in Munich, Germany. The partnership's aim is to test the new technology in practice for the first time.

The partners of the RACE project are Siemens, AVL Software and Functions, fortiss, the Fraunhofer Society, 601 TRW Automotive, RWTH Aachen, TU Munich, and the University of Stuttgart. The approximately US$27 million project, which receives funding from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, is led by Siemens. It was launched in 2012 and will run until the end of 2014. The project aims to substantially simplify cars' increasingly complex electronics architecture.

"We think that RACE has huge potential and that it could revolutionise car design in the future," says Professor Armin Schnettler, who manages the project at Siemens central research department Corporate Technology. "We expect standardised hardware and flexible apps to be used in the future. This will greatly reduce development times while at the same time increasing customisation — not only in the automotive industry but also elsewhere." StreetScooter hopes RACE will help it to develop and adapt new functions for its cars quickly, flexibly, and inexpensively. "We want to be able to integrate updates and individualise pioneering developments for our customers," says Professor Achim Kampker, managing director of StreetScooter. "Our modular and adaptable concept makes us the ideal platform for the RACE technology."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Open communication platform to support cooperative infrastructure
    July 23, 2012
    Within the European Commission's CVIS project, work is going on to shrink the open vehicle communication platform to make it more market-ready and to remove barriers to the creation of appropriate applications by those external to the project. Here, ERTICO's Zeljko Jeftic and Paul Kompfner and Q-Free's Knut Evensen discuss progress. Development of the open communication platform which will support the various applications developed by the European Commission's (EC's) Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Syste
    Read More
  • Towards pan-European electromobility services
    November 2, 2012
    Europe’s Green eMotion project has announced the test phase of a project that will demonstrate Europe-wide roaming in an interoperable electromobility system and will provide access to new added-value services. Green eMotion will also support the promotion of cross-sector ICT standards for interoperability of electric vehicle (EV) services. Green eMotion is a major EU funded electromobility project; one of its objectives is to develop an IT system that defines the interfaces needed for pan-European electro
    Read More
  • Tactile Mobility's virtual virtuous circle
    January 25, 2021
    Virtual sensors will allow a safer driving experience and reduce road maintenance costs. Tactile Mobility’s Eitan Grosbard talks to David Arminas about what once seemed 'pure sci-fi'...
    Read More
  • euroFOT study demonstrates benefits of driver assistance systems
    June 26, 2012
    Today, the euroFOT consortium published the findings of a four-year study focused on the impact of driver assistance systems in the Europe. The €22 million (US$27.5 million) European Field Operational Test (euroFOT) project which began in June 2008 and involved 28 companies and organisations, was led by Aria Etemad from Ford’s European Research Centre in Aachen, Germany. The study looked at existing technologies and their potential to both enhance safety and reduce environmental impact. euroFOT also reveale
    Read More

Highlighted Content