The future of automobiles is in computational power, not horsepower

As we see, the world is progressing towards battery-operated self-driving cars; companies are shifting their focus from mechanical aspect to software aspect.Long-time industry leaders like BMW and Daimler are facing huge IT threats to their engineering expertise.We are on the verge of a transformation in the automobile industry.

If you buy a conventional car these days, you may be assured that nothing essential will change in your automobile for at least a few years until youbuy a new one. However, in the future, you may have to be prepared for your good old vehicle to get an overhaul "every three months," says Claus Gruber, an expert for automotive software at the Strategy& consultancy.

Much like we buy a smartphone and receive updates to keep it up-to-date, we are about to see the same in the automobile industry. The carmakers' software development costs will most likelydouble over the next ten years, with autonomous driving solutions being the costliest, making up about 45%.The future of the automobile will be battery-powered, network-connected, and have other smart features like self-driving.

With this, it will require much powerful computational power to manage all the sensors, driving mechanisms, and entertainment services. Ofcourse, the software has to be safe enough without glitches as it can be directly responsible for any accident. Gruber believes that more and more functions in a car will be taken over by software. Also, carmakers essentially will become software manufacturers.