Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies have an initial focus on road safety and traffic efficiency applications, and Detroit’s General Motors Co. and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. already have equipped their vehicles with V2X technology, according to a new report by SNS Telecom, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based global market and intelligence firm.
The technology allows vehicles to communicate with each other, roadside infrastructure, and other road users. It also is paving the way for fully autonomous driving through its non-line-of-sight sensing capability, which allows vehicles to detect potential hazards from longer distances and sooner than other in-vehicle sensors such as cameras, radar, and LiDAR.
Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technologies are currently in operational use worldwide for electronic toll collection and other simple applications, and advanced V2X systems capable of supporting vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), V2I, and other forms of V2X communications are beginning to gain commercial acceptance.
Two competing technologies, the commercially mature dedicated short-range communications standard, and the newer cellular V2X technology, which has a forward evolutionary path toward 5G, could be used in V2X technology.
GM and Toyota use dedicated short-range communications V2X technology on vehicles, and Germany’s Volkswagen will begin using the same on volume models in Europe starting in 2019. China’s Geely and Dearborn’s Ford Motor Co. plan to integrate the cellular V2X technology in their vehicles by 2021 and 2022, respectively.
A number of luxury automakers, including BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen’s Audi, and Volvo Cars, already deliver V2X-type applications through wide-area cellular connectivity and supporting infrastructure such as roadwork trailers.
Regional markets are divided – the Chinese government backs cellular V2X technology, while Europe is leaning toward the short-range communications standard. Debates are ongoing in the U.S. as a result of the 5GAA’s waiver request to allow cellular V2X technology deployments in the 5.9 GHz band.
As a result, some automotive OEMs are beginning to adopt a flexible approach to deploying different technologies in different regions.
The 5.9 GHz band remains the preferred spectrum for V2X technology with the exception of Japan. Early discussions for the potential use of new bands are ongoing.
Global spending on V2X communication technology is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 170 percent between 2019 and 2022. The V2X market will account for a predicted $1.2 billion with an installed base of nearly 6 million V2X-equipped vehicles worldwide.
The report is called “The V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) Communications Ecosystem: 2019-2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, and Forecasts.” It is available for purchase here.
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