Automakers, Tech Try to Dial Up Smart Cars

Companies such as Nissan and BMW, perhaps with Google's help, are taking cues from the iPhone to create a generation of "smarter" cars

By Kenji Hall

On a scorching summer day at Nissan's (NSANY) Advanced Technology Center, a team of researchers and their visitors pile into two cars and begin circling the parking lot. The facility, an hour's train ride southwest of Tokyo in the town of Atsugi, is a hub for thousands of designers and engineers who work on the next generation of cars. Their debates are usually about green engines, lithium-ion batteries, or carbon-fiber frames. On this day, though, the visitors aren't from a car company—they're from Google (GOOG), and they've come to see Nissan's latest navigation system prototypes and discuss closer collaboration. "I firmly believe that smart automobiles will have a positive effect on quality of life—traffic, speed to get places, safety," says John Hanke, who led the Google delegation. "Google is thinking beyond maps and search in the car."

While the companies won't disclose what they discussed in Atsugi, it's not hard to imagine the possibilities of a partnership: Suppose you're driving to a client's office but realize you forgot the map. You open your e-mail from your car's computer, which searches for messages containing addresses and shows them first. You click on the address where you're headed and the computer calculates the fastest route, using real-time data transmitted from cars miles ahead of you that are stuck in traffic. As you near your destination, your windshield doubles as a virtual 3D map to show which building you're looking for.

The Nissan-Google meeting highlights how automakers are looking at creative ways to make cars more like other Internet-connected mobile devices. Today's cars are already high-tech gizmos on wheels. They bristle with sensors, lasers, and chips that monitor the engine, shift gears, and pump the brakes when a collision seems imminent. But carmakers have been cautious when it comes to online services. Most telematics and car-navigation systems only give directions, warn about traffic jams, and perform basic Net searches.

Depending on Smartphones

One reason: the lack of wireless technology in cars. Automakers sell about 60 million vehicles a year globally, but only 3 million cars on the road have a two-way wireless connection, according to market researcher iSuppli. Built-in global positioning systems are just as rare. On the other hand, tech makers are expected to sell 75 million smartphones and PDAs with GPS this year. Small wonder that consumers are more likely to use maps and online services on the go from a Net-linked phone than a car-navigation system.

For now carmakers are offering limited services. BMW (BMWG.DE), Daimler's (DAI) Mercedes Benz, and Nissan let motorists send Google Maps data to their car from a home or office PC. Nissan recently added RSS feeds and Google Calendar features to its Car Wings telematics service in Japan. In the coming months, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) is expected to unveil a 3-D navigation system, developed with Google and chipmaker nVidia (NVDA), that uses online road and weather data to help drivers anticipate real-time traffic conditions and find alternate routes.

Why is the auto industry behind? Industry executives blame their own long product-development cycles and a resistance to open technology standards. Typically, carmakers spend three to five years to develop and test a new model.

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