GM Developing Wireless Vehicle Upgrade Technology

General Motors plans to develop technology that will allow new features to be downloaded wirelessly, according to a statement by the automaker’s head of vehicle development.

Mark Reuss, GM global product development chief, said that the company is developing a new electrical architecture for its vehicles, which he called “Global B,” that will move a significant portion of a car’s computer power to the mobile Internet, or cloud.

Reuss explained that “it will become cloud based,” adding that the new architecture will allow future GM cars to have new features downloaded wirelessly. The automaker has consulted with aircraft maker Boeing as well as military contractors to source ideas on how to develop network security for the systems. Although Reuss didn’t provide a specific timeline for deploying the new, upgradeable electrical and data systems, he did indicate that it would be soon.

Many automakers, including GM, have been slow to enable over-the-air upgrades for vehicles. By contrast, electric carmaker Tesla Motors designed its Model S sedan to accept new features and functions through wireless upgrades, in a similar manner to a smartphone. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has stated that properly equipped Model S sedans could be upgraded to have new features such as automated parking or limited hands-free driving.

Although GM’s plans seem far behind those of Tesla, the automaker does appear to be making moves toward enabling wireless upgrades to its cars in the future, and it will be interesting to see how this story develops in the coming period.