Stellantis Releases "Virtual Cockpit", Makes Cars Like Smartphones Running

Stellantis has developed a "virtual cockpit" (photo: @_Iotinsider)

Stellantis announced on Tuesday January 9, that it has developed a "virtual cockpit" using Amazon's computing power and BlackBerry technology to create and test new versions of car controls and systems in a day, not months.

Stellantis stated that they can now make "realized virtual versions of car controls and systems, making them behave like in real cars, but without the need to change the main software that operates them," which takes "only 24 hours in some cases."

The world's third-largest automotive company by sales and Amazon announced a partnership in 2022 for Stellantis using Amazon Web Services to develop software-based products for its cars and provide regular updates by air.

"With our virtual cockpit, we are revolutionizing not only our approach, but also our partner and supplier approach in the industry," Stellantis Chief Software Officer Yves Bonnefont said in a statement. "We can approach customers' needs more through this technology with a faster development cycle."

Traditional automotive companies are under pressure to accelerate the vehicle development cycle of Chinese electric car manufacturers capable of launching new models in a shorter time.

Chinese electric car manufacturers have also taken the lead in producing entertainment and software in vehicles, turning their cars into wheeled smartphones.

Using tools developed by BlackBerry, Stellantis said the virtual platform "provided little or no difference between running" the system "in the cloud compared to real hardware."

In the past focused on hardware and devices, Canadian technology company BlackBerry is now focused on enterprise software and cybersecurity.

Stellantis stated that they can also accelerate customer feedback against certain brands and vehicles, and "make real-time changes to optimize the experience for the driver.