Cockpit OTA is accelerating, with intelligence, comfort and safety as the direction

Zoss Automotive Research Institute released the "2024 China Automobile Smart Cockpit Technology and Data Trend Monthly Monitoring Report (2024 Issue 5)".

At present, achieving "frequent use and constant updating" of vehicles through OTA has become the key to improving the competitiveness of OEMs. According to statistics from Zoss Automotive Research, from January to June 2024, there were 1,576 OTAs for domestic passenger cars, of which vehicle-machine systems (cockpit software and interaction) accounted for 47.1%, cockpit hardware accounted for 10.8%, and ADAS accounted for 24.2%. This shows that the smart cockpit is still the focus of current OTA upgrades.

Domestic passenger car OTA distribution map from January to June 2024 (by item, by month)

Source: Zoss Automotive Research "2024 China Automotive Intelligent Cockpit Technology and Data Trend Monthly Monitoring Report (2024 Issue 5)"

Judging from the trend, intelligence , comfort and safety are the main directions of current smart cockpit upgrades and iterations.

In terms of intelligence, by introducing new AI technologies, the smart cockpit system has "human-like" interactive capabilities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, reading and writing.

Cockpits of major domestic brands from January to June 2024 Large model OTA schedule

Source: Zoss Automotive Research "2024 China Automotive Intelligent Cockpit Technology and Data Trend Monthly Monitoring Report (2024 Issue 5)"

In June 2024, Great Wall Motors released Coffee OS 3, a new generation of intelligent cockpit system, which uses Qualcomm 8295 chip . Compared with the previous generation system, the CPU computing power is increased by 2.1 times, the GPU computing power is increased by 2.8 times, the NPU computing power is increased by 6.7 times, and the memory is increased by 1 times; through AI empowerment, Coffee OS 3 has become a "five-good learning master" (good looking, easy to use, fun, good to listen to, and smart), and it is planned to be first installed on the Blue Mountain Intelligent Driving Edition in the third quarter of 2024.

In terms of voice interaction, Coffee OS 3 supports 6-zone wake-up voice interaction, each passenger can control it independently, and supports unlimited commands, offline voice, etc. In addition, Coffee OS 3 also introduces the AI ​​large model Coffee GPT, which can provide emotional companionship and professional question answers, including vehicle function introduction, car Q&A, complex conversations, image generation, itinerary planning, etc. On May 28, 2024, Weipai Alpine and Blue Mountain OTA upgrades, equipped with Coffee GPT, deeply empowering the car assistant "Xiao Wei".

In terms of car-to-car interconnection, Coffee OS 3 is equipped with Coffee Link, which can be adapted to Huawei , Xiaomi, Redmi, OPPO , vivo, realme, iQOO, OnePlus 8 major mobile phone brands, covering 95% of domestic mobile phone users in the market. If it is the first time to connect the car, just bring the phone close to the car screen and the connection will be automatically initiated without downloading any apps.

In terms of human-computer interaction , Coffee OS 3 is equipped with Coffee Air Touch, the world's first spatial perception gesture interaction technology based on IR infrared sensors . Users in the back seat and the front passenger seat can complete air operations on the screen through gestures such as single click, double click, slide, pinch, and long press.

In terms of comfort, "refrigerator, color TV, and large sofa" open up a new mode of cabin comfort.

Currently, many models of brands such as Ideal, Nezha, Leapmotor, Zeekr, Xiaomi, Wenjie, Weipai, and Dongfeng have been deployed.

In terms of car refrigerators, they are developing from high-end to standard configuration, from small capacity to large capacity, from single door to double door, from refrigeration to dual use. At the same time, technologies and functions such as car-machine interconnection, voice control , reminder of belongings, 24-hour constant temperature when leaving the car, and independent compressors are also quietly being installed in cars.

In May 2024, Weipai New Energy Coffee series models will usher in OTA, the iterative upgraded 2.0 version of Coffee Life, which can control smart peripherals such as car refrigerators and smart water cups through the central control.

In terms of "big sofas", they are developing towards the trends of lightness, environmental protection, comfort and intelligence. In terms of intelligence, functions such as heating, massage, automatic adjustment, memory and remote control are gradually being added to the car.

OTA schedule for intelligent car seats of major domestic brands from January to June 2024

Source: Zoss Automotive Research "2024 China Automotive Intelligent Cockpit Technology and Data Trend Monthly Monitoring Report (2024 Issue 5)"

At the same time, in order to meet the needs of multiple scenarios, the OEM has launched a variety of car seat modes: folding and laying down to become a large bed in seconds to meet the needs of outdoor camping; rotating to sit facing each other to meet the needs of meetings, etc. Among them, the large bed mode has been applied to many models such as Ideal and Nezha, and the conference mode will soon be mass-produced.

In June 2024, Magna announced that it had received the world's first order for its reconfigurable seat system in China, and plans to start mass production in China in the fourth quarter of 2024 (possibly for the Zeekr MIX model). Features:

The front seats can rotate 270 degrees and the electric slide rails are nearly two meters long, enabling flexible seat layout and expanded cabin space.

Equipped with integrated seat belts and magnetic eco-interface for enhanced safety and functionality.

A variety of application scenarios have been customized for the Chinese market, such as parent-child, long-distance travel, camping, storage, etc.

In terms of safety, active safety features such as driver monitoring and vital signs monitoring are constantly upgraded to ensure the safety of vehicles and personnel.

In January 2024, Nezha X will have its first OTA, adding a new DMS driver status monitoring system, including three functions: fatigue driving reminder, distracted driving reminder, and Bluetooth call control. When the vehicle speed is greater than 10km/h, if the owner yawns, closes his eyes for a long time, or drives continuously for more than 4 hours, the system will trigger a fatigue driving reminder; at the same time, when the vehicle speed is greater than 30km/h, if the owner is distracted for a long time or makes a phone call with his hand, the system will trigger a distracted driving reminder to avoid accidents.

To avoid distraction from incoming calls, Nezha X has also added a Bluetooth call control function. The owner can answer or hang up the Bluetooth call by nodding or shaking his head, thereby reducing the interference of incoming calls on the driving process.

In June 2024, the 2025 VOYAH FREE 318 was launched, equipped with a driver monitoring system and a vital signs monitoring system, with two major upgrades for rear-seat safety.

The first is the child (pet) safety monitoring function. The new car is equipped with a smart monitoring space that can monitor the status of children in the back row in real time. If an abnormal situation occurs, the system will actively warn the driver and prompt the driver to open the back door through voice and text on the central control screen. In addition, the driver and the co-driver can also use the exclusive camera to check the situation in the back row in real time to ensure the safety of children during driving.

The second is a reminder for children (pets) left behind after leaving the car. After the vehicle is turned off and locked, if a child is detected to be left in the car, a message will be automatically sent through the remote mobile phone APP to remind the user, eliminating the troubles of families with children during travel.

C-NCAP (2024 edition) will be officially implemented on July 1, 2024, and the Child Presence Detection (CPD) function will be listed. Influenced by this, more new cars will add rear-seat child monitoring and other functions in the future to ensure cabin safety.