Yesterday, on the first day of the first Shanghai CES, Ford brought updates to the in-car infotainment system including SYNC3.0 and Applink's latest applications as promised. SYNC3.0 gave up Microsoft Auto, and the QNX operating system replaced it. Applink adaptation applications increased from the past 12 to 15, and the openness of the system platform has also been further improved.
But in Che Yunjun's opinion, the in-car entertainment system is not the biggest highlight of Ford's exhibition. In contrast, several "small and beautiful" experimental projects and a newly implemented cooperation plan, while stunning the audience, reflects the transition from Ford's relatively micro-level thinking with the on-board system as the entry point to the relative macro-level thinking with the vehicle-derived intelligent lifestyle as the main line, and therefore it is more interesting.
Ford's "smart suit"
Two "small and beautiful" experiments
Cheyunjun refers to the two small and beautiful experiments - GoDrive test project and mobile travel test project . Specifically:
GoDrive pilot project: Ford will provide 50 Ford cars at 20 pick-up points in London, providing vehicle sharing rental services for up to 2,000 people. The project, once called "City Driving On-Demand" when it was launched in 2013, is a vehicle-sharing test limited to Ford's internal participation.
Mobile travel test project: mainly refers to remote remote control positioning test and parking space information sharing test. Among them, the model used in the remote remote control positioning test is a smart golf cart developed by Georgia Tech, a partner of Ford's test. The cart can give way for staff in remote locations to read real-time video information through the LTE system and control the cart. The parking space information sharing test project uses the sonar and radar technology already equipped by Ford to continuously mark available parking spaces using the collected data so that others can find it. After the
press conference, Che Yunjun tried to learn more about the relevant information from Ford Automobile Electronics and Electrical Systems Engineering Director Buczkowski.
It is understood that in the parking space information sharing test, the specific working mode of the test vehicle is to drive around at a speed of no more than 16 kilometers per hour and search for available parking spaces, and then upload the collected parking space-related information to the cloud to facilitate other drivers looking for parking spaces. In addition, remote remote control positioning test can now enable the driving of golf carts to designated locations through remote control from the parking station. Once this technology is applied to actual products in the future, it can facilitate users in some specific situations, such as picking up the car in heavy rain and not getting wet.
Buczkowski also told Cheyunjun that judging from the early stage of the GoDrive test project, users prefer to choose one-way, convenient parking and convenient payment of vehicle sharing services. Electric vehicles or the latest models are the first choice for consumers. In addition, in addition to London, in Bangalore, India, Ford is also working with ZoomCar to find a "vehicle sharing" model - establishing a sharing mechanism for multiple drivers to share a car within small groups such as company colleagues, apartment neighbors and family members.
Projects involved in the "Ford Smart Mobile Project"
It is worth noting that these two small experimental projects are affiliated with the "Ford Smart Mobile Project". Ford hopes to launch 25 experimental projects first, which focus on four major global trends, including explosive population growth, increasing middle class, air quality and public health issues.
But unfortunately, when asked when these experiments will be truly implemented or even entered the Chinese market, Buczkowski's answer was: "There is no timetable."
A newly implemented cooperation
In addition to the two latest experimental projects, Ford has also launched a Chinese version of its North American "Smart Life" program at CES.
Let’s first popularize science. Ford Smart Life was originally designed by Georgia Institute of Technology for American homes in 2013. Its purpose is to reduce household energy consumption by combining renewable energy, smart home appliances and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Unlike the goals of the US market, Ford's main vision for launching smart life in China is to minimize carbon emissions. To this end, Ford announced at CES that it would join hands with local companies Trina Solar, Haier and Delta Group to jointly create the "Ford Smart Life" China pilot project, hoping to integrate electric vehicles, smart home appliances, and residential solar power generation systems.
So, at the Ford booth at this CES, in addition to the "edge ball" such as solar panels, Cheyunjun also saw a number of products that are "unrelated" to cars, including refrigerators, microwave ovens, air conditioners, and even air purifiers.
Haier Smart Home
In fact, smart home products and Ford electric models do not exist in isolation. For example, in the future, through the interconnection of Ford SYNC in-vehicle intelligent system and home smart home products, users can remotely turn on the home air conditioner, remotely manage the working mode of the air purifier, and other functions.
According to Buczkowski, Ford Smart Life Plan has selected a family in the center of Beijing. In life, it uses the "four-piece set" built by the Ford Fusion plug-in hybrid vehicle + Delta vehicle charging pile + Trinna Solar System + Haier U + smart home appliance to facilitate monitoring of its household energy consumption expenditure and carbon emission data before and after use.
According to Ford's estimates, the system will reduce energy consumption and expenditure by 63% per household every year - approximately RMB 9,400 and 45% of carbon dioxide emissions. These energy and carbon emission forecasts are based on Georgia Tech’s model built using a Ford Fusion plug-in hybrid model, 3,000 watts of household solar power, 170 square meters of housing and 525 kWh of energy consumption per month.
At present, Ford has begun looking for a second pilot family in Shanghai.
However, there is still resistance to the problem of large-scale transformation of this experiment in the future. The most worrying issue for Ford is not technology, but the support of relevant policies. For example, the installation of solar panels in many residential buildings in China currently requires the consent of all owners and properties, which will delay the speed of product advancement at some level. In addition, Delta Group's coordination with Ford products on charging issues is also worth paying attention to. After all, after the number of users increases in the future, the demand will be much more complicated than that of a single user at present.
Car Cloud Summary:
Among all the six participating car companies, the products exhibited by Ford seem to have the least relevant to the brand itself. Some people even joked that Haier had implanted them on the Ford booth. But in Che Yunjun's view, Ford's journey in the field of smart technology has gradually transitioned from a single product level to a complex organizational structure, assuming that its innovation at a single point will continue to accumulate and implement in a concentrated manner in the future, its explosive power will definitely be very amazing.
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