We’re all familiar with the name Snapdragon, as it is one of the world’s most used processors. But were you aware that Snapdragon’s parent company, Qualcomm, has been involved with the automotive world for more than two decades? Well, that is precisely what the Snapdragon for India Auto Day highlighted, and we were there to witness the connection between a tech giant and the Indian automotive industry.
The main highlight of the event, where automotive industry bigwigs came together, was the Snapdragon Digital Chassis. This technology integrates connectivity, safety, entertainment, information, and more into a single package. However, Snapdragon Digital Chassis encompasses an array of individual technologies that can be combined in various ways to meet the OEM’s requirements and the associated infrastructure.
The Digital Chassis includes Qualcomm technologies like Snapdragon Auto Connectivity for running Bluetooth, WiFi, 4G, 5G and satellite communication. And for infotainment, monitoring, and related systems, there is the Snapdragon Cockpit. Then comes Snapdragon Ride, which helps OEMs design better ADAS and other related safety features. To provide a truly connected experience for Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs), Car-to-Cloud technology facilitates features such as remote updates and diagnostics. The Digital Chassis also features Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), which enables communication between connected vehicles and infrastructure, emergency services, and personal devices like phones for enhanced connectivity to improve safety and situational awareness.
Many Indian and foreign automotive companies have already deployed these technologies, such as Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Ather, Royal Enfield, Ultraviolette, Vida, Volvo, Renault, BMW and more. In fact, the soon-to-be-launched Maruti Suzuki e-Vitara will come with an extensive array of features from the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
At the event, Qualcomm had invited OEMs, tech partners, and industry stalwarts like Hisashi Takeuchi, MD and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India, who made it quite clear that the two companies are working on developing systems for not just the new e-Vitara, but also future products.
Another industry leader, Velusamy R, President of Automotive Technology at Mahindra, also highlighted the partnership between Qualcomm and Mahindra that predates the born-electric vehicles. The born-electric models, such as the BE6 and XEV 9e, utilise the latest Snapdragon 8295 chipset, providing advanced connectivity options and the ability to unlock more Snapdragon Digital Chassis features as the necessary infrastructure improves in India.
Snapdragon chipsets are also powering motorcycles, such as the Ultraviolette F77, India’s quickest electric motorcycle, which utilises Snapdragon’s silicon that powers Ultravolette’s own software on the F77. And just like the aforementioned companies, Qualcomm is also working closely with almost all the Indian automotive companies, including component manufacturers like Pricol, with whom Qualcomm is developing Telematics systems for connected vehicles for India and the ASEAN region. Uno Minda is also working with Qualcomm on developing digital cockpits for India and other international markets.
Overall, the event highlighted how a hardware company, which is now also focusing on developing stack solutions, is helping the automotive world blur the lines between traditional automotive tech and modern tech like cloud computing, wireless communication and beyond.
