How data is fueling the growth for Electric Vehicles in India – EQ Mag
EV is the new sunrise sector and to fuel its growth, the sector is being propelled by the ever-burgeoning data industry
The Indian Electric Vehicle (EV) industry is the newest sunrise sector in the country due to its rising appeal as an alternative to internal combustion vehicles. This rise in popularity is helping as government regulations are encouraging wider EV adoption to help meet emission targets by 2030.
Today, India is the fifth-largest global automotive market, which includes both ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) and electric vehicles, and is predicted to grow to be the third-largest market by 2030. The sector has already attracted equity inflows from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of $ 32.84 Bn between April 2000 and March 2022 and the Indian EV market isexpected to grow at a whopping CAGR of 90 per cent in this decade to touch $150 billion by 2030.
The government’s push for clean energy has prompted the growth in the adoption of EVs resulting in the beginning of a change in consumer preferences. According to data on the government’s Vahan website, approximately 9,89,000 EVs were registered with regional transport offices in 2022 alone, indicating a more than threefold growth from 2021 already. These figures make it clear that EVs may likely to become the norm for automobiles in the future.
Electric cars are feature-packed, battery-powered vehicles with innovations that have made them appealing. The EVs of today come packed with technologies and software capabilities like navigation, infotainment, and other safety and sensory diagnostics. In simple terms, EVs are particularly well-suited for incorporating capabilities similar to that of autonomous vehicles (AV). Hence, as the EV industry booms, data storage innovation will also have to keep pace with the sector’s increasing data needs.
Why is data crucial to EV machinery?
One must understand that the E-mobility space as an ecosystem is completely different to the current automobile setup.
Electric vehicles provide a boost to IoT, as they form a large, connected network of things, including automobiles, charging stations, smart meters, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), and phasor measurement units (PMUs). Numerous sensors found in EVs collect data on user driving habits, battery security through a battery management system (BMS), and grid charge management through charging stations. The charging and discharging patterns are closely correlated with the functionality, security, and effectiveness of the smart grid in the case of EV grid integration (EVGI). Data analytics are therefore essential to EVGI, green smart cities, and other green infrastructure. Particularly, efficient and dependable data analytics methods are needed for EV synchronization and charging planning to sell power back to the grid.
In addition, connected and semi-autonomous EVs need data to operate safely and effectively. And with millions of EVs predicted to be on the road over the next ten years, “highways of data” are being built.
Data is also crucial to improve the user experience and that is why original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) collect data generated by the vehicle. This is comparable to how apps and search engines get better over time as they collect more user data. The majority of the data consists of driving-related sensory and diagnostic data, but the integration of more mobility and digital services has led to an increase in the amount of extra data that the automobile is gathering. As the auto industry grows, automakers are using and analyzing that data to design and integrate advanced technology to ensure a seamless and next-generation driving experience.
Capturing, evaluating, and storing data will be key
Counterpoint Research projects that a minimum of 2TB to up to 11TB storage over the next decade will be needed to support in-vehicle storage at different autonomy levels. It’s crucial for OEMs to carefully assess their data strategy in advance in light of the EV revolution and avoid treating storage as an afterthought.
For various use cases, there are a range of demands and difficulties related to car storage. Data storage, for instance, must be able to function irrespective of the weather or temperature, be it freezing winters or broiling summers. An automobile’s dashboard and safety systems must work properly no matter the conditions, including weather, climate, or road surface. Additionally, certain data in the connected automobile is only maintained for a brief period, whilst other data must be kept for days, months, or even years. As a result, there is a need for various storage interfaces, performance, and endurance levels, including removable SDTM cards, BGA packed e.MMC, UFS, and NVMeTM SSDs, and so on.
Applications, sensors, and cameras will continue to expand in quantity and variety, requiring routine upkeep and updating throughout the course of a car’s existence. It is typical for connected vehicles to be built with the ability to send operating data from onboard systems to the cloud as well as receive updates, such as feature upgrades and security patches, over the air (OTA). This indicates that with connected and now electric cars, the significance of data and data storage will only increase. To provide solutions that meet the evolving needs of the automotive industry, the storage sector must keep innovating.
Source: PTI
