Driving A Trend: Redefining The Connected Car

Article by Vitaly Ponomarev, Founder & CEO of WayRay

The market for smart vehicles is taking off. Many analysts predict they will revolutionize the world of automobiles in much the same way smartphones have changed the face of telecommunications.

IHS Automotive estimates that by 2020, the market will grow to 152 million vehicles. Gartner is even more optimistic, predicting that 250 million cars will be connected in the next five years.

But hold on a minute. Is it possible that your car is already connected? Well, depending on how you define the word “connected,” the answer could very well be yes.

According to autoconnectedcar.com, a connected car is, “The presence of devices in an automobile that connect the devices to other devices within the car/vehicles and or devices, networks and services outside the car.”

While their definition may be technically accurate, the words are loaded down by technology linguistics. My definition of a connected car is much simpler: A vehicle connected to its driver, passengers and environment.

In other words, what you’re driving right now is already a connected car.

Automakers across the globe have begun marketing their connected car attributes and capabilities in an effort to sell new models. Now that technology titans Google, Apple and AT&T are significantly contributing to the connected car ecosystem, car prices will initially be too costly for the average consumer.

BI Intelligence, a research service from Business Insider, recently released a report on the connected car market. A highlight of the report, posted on the Business Insider website, concluded that “vehicle prices are out of reach for most car buyers, but they will drop significantly in the next few years.”

“The high average selling price of $55,000 is driven by the fact that connected-car shipments tilt toward the luxury category,” the report stated.

Having a sufficiently connected car will soon be the norm on the road, but consumers don’t have to drive head-on into a hefty price tag.

If you’re driving a vehicle with an OBD-port, you have the ability to connect your car. Most of the devices in the after-market car wearables category offer car tracking and statistics, connecting a vehicle to its driver.

I believe that the wave of the future will take it one step further with a built-in driving coach. Furthermore, I have no doubt that augmented reality and holographic technology will one day have the ability to turn car cabins into virtual spaceship cockpits.

The key to the connected car will be to connect a vehicle to its surroundings, including infrastructure and other vehicles, but to also provide that type of connectivity at a fraction of what it will cost to drive a new connected car away from a dealership.

Now that’s the type of car we can all connect with.

About the Author

Vitaly Ponomarev founded WayRay, Inc. in 2012. In just over two years of development, WayRay has emerged as a premier developer in the connected car space by applying aerospace technology to land navigation. Increasing roadway safety inspired WayRay to create devices that reduce accidents while enhancing what the driving experience can be — now and in the future. WayRay is headquartered in Switzerland with offices in Moscow, San Francisco and China.