Connected car mobility involves the integration of internet-based technologies (like IoT — Internet of Things) into the cars we drive. For automotive industry, it includes features like real-time traffic info, in-car Wi-Fi, and communication with other cars or systems outside the car. Connected cars are expected to surpass 305 million in 2035.

One example of connected vehicles technology is car-sharing services. Users can hire or rent cars that are nearby from their mobile devices without owning the car.

Another example is the usage of dash cams. These cameras are installed within the car and are connected to the car’s electrical system. They constantly record the car's speed, which can be used to monitor driver behaviors and as proof in the event of an accident.

A connected car can generate anywhere between 1 to 2 terabytes of raw data every day. Making sense of so much connected car data can be a big challenge. However, fleet management software like CalAmp can get you critical data metrics like harsh driving behaviors, traffic conditions, vehicle maintenance updates, and fuel usage.

Because there’s IT involved, there can be cases of data and privacy breaches. This is why more and more connected car mobility service providers need to adopt data safety principles like SOC 2 compliance. The changing digital landscape also creates a challenge: Vehicle fleet services must constantly adapt to new technologies like 5G and IoT.

The goal at the core of owning a connected car is mainly related to simplifying the lives of both the driver and all road users. Today's connected cars are not only able to connect to smartphones and share the digital ecosystem, they do much more.

Modern vehicles are now a concentration of control units and sensors, useful not only to improve life on board, driving comfort or the entertainment part, but above all to ensure an ever higher level of safety.

Among the features are intelligent detection systems, which are equipped with sensors that detect signs of driver tiredness, altering the lighting to improve driver vigilance.

Lasers and sensors detect obstacles that humans might not see: the car analyses this data and acts to avoid a collision.

And, with so-called Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) connectivity, the digital systems in the cars 'talk' to each other and automatically exchange data that provides useful information on speed limits, traffic situations and road characteristics.

Connected car mobility ecosystem comes with a host of benefits:

· Safety: Offers protection against collisions with AI dash cams.

· Convenience: Provides real-time location and weather updates and plans routes dynamically to avoid construction or congestion zones, like CalAmp’s traffic overlay.

· Fuel economy: Helps track fuel consumption and other patterns like idling time that results in fuel loss, hence reducing fuel costs.

· Data-based analysis: Gives data on car performance and other predictive maintenance metrics so you can make informed decisions.

· Fast insurance claims: Helps curate videos precisely before and after the accident and measures data points like force and speed of crash to speed up the claims process. Due to the benefits mobility services offer, approximately 95% of new vehicles sold worldwide will be connected, up from around 50 percent today

Here are the four types of connected car mobility systems:

1. Vehicle-To-Infrastructure (V2I) communications: In this type, vehicles can communicate with roadside infrastructure like traffic systems and toll stations.

2. Automated Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS): ADAS helps drivers to receive real-time information like traffic alerts, route plans, speed limit notifications, lane departure alerts, and other features to help drivers drive safely.

3. Remote systems: These systems help you perform actions like engine diagnostics and temperature monitoring of the cargo remotely.

In-cab infotainment systems: With this system, drivers and passengers can access navigation, surf the internet, listen to music and watch videos while traveling.

It is not only cars that will change, but also cities will be different from the ones we know today.

One of the big areas of impact from LTE technology* would be in the infrastructure of the cities because many times we want to deploy these connected devices in remote areas and also all over.

Increasingly congested traffic and environmental issues are pushing metropolises to change their face. The evolution in connected car solutions is linked to the development of smart mobility, which aims to promote the sustainable development of cities, mobility infrastructure (parking, charging networks, signage) and to increase transport efficiency. Smart mobility aims to offer a solution: a convenient travel experience thanks to new technologies and applications.

* LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a connection standard that allows access to internet also over mobile networks. LTE technologies are categorized as 4G networks, although they are really somewhere between the third and fourth generation of mobile connectivity systems.