Hermann Brand, Director, European Standards Affairs at IEEE SA, discusses with TimesTech the critical role of regulations, cybersecurity, and innovations in shaping the future of autonomous vehicles. From safety frameworks to sustainable mobility solutions, he highlights how automation, MaaS, and zero-emission technologies are redefining transportation and urban landscapes.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: How is the industry ensuring the reliability and safety of highly automated vehicles, particularly with zonal architectures and centralized processors?
Hermann: First of all there are regulations set by governmental authorities as well as standards defined by Standards Development Organizations (SDOs’) which can be utilized to test the reliability and safety of highly automated vehicles, in addition there are voluntary guidelines available which can be applied. What needs to be distinguished is the validation of the functionality of the vehicle itself to be allowed to be sold to customers and the assessment of operational safety during the lifecycle of the vehicle. Major automotive markets such as EU and China have a type-approval system for vehicles, however only the EU has a type of approval regulation for automated driving systems (EU 2022/1426). The US does NOT have a Federal Regulatory Framework for the safety assessment of automated driving systems, and they do not have a type approval system, every vehicle brough to market needs to be compliant to the FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard). Fully automated vehicles that do not have pedals or a steering wheel are not compliant to FMVSS and require an exemption by NHTSA.
Until 2026 the UNECE plans to have a UN regulation in place for Automated Driving Systems (very much influenced by EU regulations) which is expected to influence regulatory frameworks in the US and China.
Vehicle components such as zonal or centralized computers hosting software to manage the automated driving task need to meet functional safety standards (e.g. ISO 26262).
The UN Regulation 155 regulates automotive cybersecurity aspects and UN Regulation 156 automotive software updates.
IAMTS (International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardization, iamts.org) is an industry consortium which is supported by leading test organizations and standards development organizations such as IEEE to develop best practices and specifications that support the consistent standards and regulatory framework developments at an international level to keep highly and fully automated vehicles safe and secure.
TimesTech: What are the key cybersecurity risks for automated vehicles, and how can they be effectively addressed?
Hermann: A specific concern from a cybersecurity perspective are falsified training data, manipulation of sensor data, remote access to vehicle control functions, theft of privacy related data or vehicle operational data, interruption of data communication between vehicle/infrastructure as well as disabling the vehicle to operate (e.g. via ransom ware). Prevention measures can be strong data encryption, regular software updates, implementation of intrusion prevention, regular software updates and continuous validation of the vehicle health and operational behavior.
TimesTech: How are autonomous vehicles reshaping MaaS and changing perceptions of transportation?
Hermann: Autonomous vehicles can contribute to reducing the need for personal car ownership and they can also provide an incentive to make personally owned vehicles temporarily available for shared fleet services when they are not needed by the owner. The perception of public transportation being uncomfortable and inflexible can be changed through autonomous mobility services that operate on demand and in areas that are underserved. Those services can be used both for passenger as well as goods transportation and could operate at a lower price and with much higher asset efficiency then personally owned and personally driven vehicles.
TimesTech: What innovations are driving sustainability in transportation, and how do regional factors impact their adoption?
Hermann: The key innovation drivers in sustainable transportation are higher energy density batteries built from materials that are plentiful and recyclable as well as reduction of charging time (which could be accomplished by higher charging rates, battery swapping or charging automation) and payment automation. From a regional perspective easy access to charging infrastructure and climate conditions (very hot or very cold climate conditions) can influence the adoption. In general, rural areas might be slower in EV adoption due to longer driving distances, weaker charging infrastructure as well as a more conservative mindset towards technology change.
TimesTech: What challenges exist in combining safety, MaaS, and sustainability into a unified mobility ecosystem?
Hermann: The key challenge for fleet operators is to keep a balance between operational cost and availability of the vehicle fleet and the popularity of the IT platform towards the end user. Redundancy in the sensor system, reliability and resilience of the AV stack comes with additional cost to meet safety targets as well as integrating automated charging technology into the vehicle and the infrastructure. Standardization of vehicle configuration and vehicle technology can help to keep maintenance and operational cost in check. At the end of the day the shared automated mobility service needs to be price competitive towards the use of a personally owned and manually operated car.
TimesTech: What key advancements in mobility do you foresee shaping the industry by 2030?
Hermann: By 2030 we recommend to have regulatory frameworks for automated driving in place in all major mobility markets which in return are practically enough to be met by fleet operators and supporting OEM’s. Major zero emission automated driving system deployment networks should be available in the US and in China to influence the reduction of personal car ownership in Europe and the utilization of smaller vehicles in urban environments. This could then also open the door to further free up space in dense urban areas from parking utilization to alternative uses (e.g. recreation).
