Aftermarket apps are key to V2V success

Dec. 31, 2014
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) acknowledges the aftermarket is going to have to play an important part in its effort to stimulate proliferation of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications technologies.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) acknowledges the aftermarket is going to have to play an important part in its effort to stimulate proliferation of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications technologies. The agency made that announcement when it started a long-gestating regulatory proceeding at the end of August.

The department says it will develop a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) – FMVSS No. 150 – to require V2V communication capability for light vehicles and to create minimum performance requirements for V2V devices and messages.

NHTSA can only apply the new FMVSS 150 to new autos. So it would take decades for enough vehicles with V2V technology to get on the road, severely limiting the benefits of any federal mandate and the technology. Convincing owners of existing vehicles to dip into aftermarket V2V offerings will be critical. The technologies give drivers a heads up on potential crash-inducing situations, such as getting too close to the car in front of them.

Here is the rub, though. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has no authority to mandate that drivers with existing cars go out and buy vehicle awareness devices (VADs), the very basic technology that uses a piece of hardware inside the car and an antennae outside. The feds do have the authority to regulate the VADs themselves, however, as to the communication standards they must use and other aspects of their operation.

A more sophisticated alternative to a VAD will be an Aftermarket Safety Device (ASD). It is essentially a VAD, which receives speed and location data from other vehicles. It uses information about the position of other vehicles to provide drivers with audio warnings if the threat of a crash exists. Then there are OEM devices, both those installed on new cars, and those retrofitted, meaning the dealer hooks them into the auto's databus after the car has been sold (retrofitted safety device, or RSD).

NHTSA tested all three aftermarket varieties in its pilot testing in Ann Arbor, Mich., which came to a close in 2013. All depend on dedicated short-range radio communication devices (DSRC) operating in a radio spectrum that the Federal Communications Commission is considering opening to other uses, which would hinder V2V communications.

A report the agency released in August talks in generalities about how each aftermarket variety works. But it gives no indication in specifics about their performance during the pilot program. All the report says is: "Based on the agency’s understanding of how these prototype safety applications operate, preliminary effectiveness estimates indicate substantial ability to mitigate crashes, injuries or fatalities in these crash scenarios." Two NHTSA officials involved in the testing did not respond to requests for additional information.

What NHTSA issued at the end of September is an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking. It is the first step a federal agency takes before establishing a new federal mandate. The journey to a final rule can take years, and, in this case, probably will.

Then the final rule will include an implementation date two or three years hence. Despite what is apt to be a very long lead time, a few carmakers are moving voluntarily on their own. General Motors has said it will be installing V2V technology in the 2017 Cadillac CTS, which has convinced other manufacturers to move more aggressively into development and potential deployment. 

Availability of aftermarket devices would be a definite incentive for the OEMs. Right now, there are no VADs for sale, much less ASDs. Cohda Wireless was one of the companies providing VADs and ASDs for the Ann Arbor pilot program. Patrick Brunett, sales director and general manager, Cohda Wireless America LLC, says he can't predict when that will change, or what the price for purchase and installation will be. "The question is what will be the killer app to get people to buy," says Brunett.

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