Intel Automotive presents technology for more fuel-efficient electric cars
According to Intel, e-cars are where laptops were in the early years: with large, heavy batteries and short battery life. New processors are set to change this.
Chip manufacturer Intel is developing components for the software-defined vehicle. Among other things, they are intended to reduce the energy consumption of electric cars.
Car manufacturers who have successfully built combustion engines for decades are struggling with electric cars. This is demonstrated not least by the Volkswagen crisis. Intel's automotive division sees the main problem in the fact that many manufacturers have not yet fully embraced software-defined vehicle architecture, a vehicle design that is primarily conceived in terms of electronics.
Instead of electrifying a combustion car, developers should completely rethink the electric car in order to reduce costs and increase range, said Intel Automotive boss Jack Weast at the CES in Las Vegas. The most important thing about the e-car is energy efficiency. This applies not only to the size and weight of the battery, but also to its cost.
Following the acquisition of Silicon Mobility in January 2024, Intel now apparently sees itself in a position to offer a comprehensive platform for e-cars and is thus competing with established companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm and Mobileye.
Intel Automotive is focusing on three pillars: software-defined vehicle architecture, intelligent energy management and software-defined zone controllers that divide the car's functions into areas, for example left and right, both at the front and in the rear.
Hardware for more economical electric cars
Weast sees a core problem in many autonomous systems that consume energy unnecessarily because not all of them are needed all the time. Intel Automotive's technology platform is intended to unify the traditionally fragmented approaches to vehicle architecture and thus make them more efficient.
With a holistic approach, the car can switch off individual functions, such as the air conditioning in winter or the screens when nobody is in the car. Functions that are on standby work more energy-efficiently on a central computing unit than on many distributed systems.
(Image:Â Intel)
Adaptive control unit for the drivetrain
The Intel chip family of the "Adaptive Control Unit" ACU U310 is designed to monitor the drivetrain systems and make them more efficient. It replaces five to seven microcontrollers.
Currently, 3 to 15 percent of the energy is lost during charging at various stages, meaning that around 40 percent is ultimately lost from the electrochemical charging of the battery via DC/DC converters to the motor.
If the energy is used more efficiently, the vehicle also produces less heat during charging, which in turn does not have to be dissipated by a cooling system.
Intel SoC calculates range based on context
Intel's System on a Chip (SoC) controls the entire IT in the vehicle. The SoC is also designed to reduce the vehicle's hunger for energy by dynamically adapting the voltage and control frequencies to the individual driving style and road conditions.
According to Intel, energy management uses contextual information to calculate the range. For example, uphill or downhill stretches, the number of people in the vehicle and objects in the trunk as well as the outside temperature all influence the range.
Intel Automotive in the cloud
The Intel technology in the vehicle will work together with a compatible architecture in the AWS cloud. Cloud access to Intel Automotive's virtual development environment will allow developers to work on their software from the comfort of their laptop instead of in the lab or office on soldered-together components that are later installed in the vehicle.
System-on-chip for AI in the vehicle
Finally, the AI trend is not stopping at the automotive industry. For example, Volkswagen presented ChatGPT integration in the Golf, Tiguan, Passat and ID.3 to ID.7 at CES 2024.
The second-generation Intel Arc B-Series chip is designed to execute LLMs locally, provide generative AI functions and calculate advanced game graphics, for example to keep the children entertained in the back seat during a long car journey. Intel is working with Epic Games to bring the Unreal 5 engine into the car.
Intel Automotive plans to deliver the new chips in the first quarter of 2025.
Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.
(akr)
