Can Carmakers Assail Tesla's Lead in E/E Architecture?

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The latest research from S&P Global shows that Tesla has at least a 5-year lead in-vehicle electronic and electrical (E/E) architecture, one that is based on a central computer and zonal architecture structure. You could ask, so what? It is one of the reasons that Tesla can build vehicles like the Model 3 in 10 hours compared to their peers, who need to clock 20 or more hours on the same feat.

Specifically, Tesla's advanced zonal design leads the race with reduced wiring because zone controllers and center computers replace distributed ECUs with embedded functionality, software, and hardware with pure software functions. These functions can then be controlled and accessed from a central "brain". As a result, there will be fewer unnecessary control units, and in the case of Model 3, the zonal architecture contributed to a saving of 50% in wiring, simplifying manufacturing, and lowering vehicle weight, which in turn adds to the BEV range.

The nearest competitors are EV sub-brands of China OEMs. These vehicles emulate this design, which is a much simpler task for these companies because of their lack of burdensome legacy architecture. The brands are also dedicated to just a few nameplates for specific markets, like premium BEV. The established North American OEMs and German premium brands need to consider much larger vehicle portfolios, different markets, and different engine types. The same applies to Japanese and Korean brands, which shun zonal designs but still focus on making software designs like Tesla.

Battery EVs is the trigger point for most. What do you think is the reason why Volvo, BMW, and Volkswagen use dedicated electric platforms to launch zonal designs 2-3 years after the first Chinese zone designs from BYD, Xpeng, and Dongfeng?

Is the mountain built by Tesla scalable only by the dynamic Chinese OEMs? The other OEMs are developing similar designs at different rates depending on strategy, software expertise, and other factors, but will they catch up with Tesla's very strong lead in this market? Certainly, making EVs is not a trivial undertaking, given the current scenario, will customer preferences regarding quality, especially cost and safety, triumph in the end?

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This article was published by S&P Global Mobility and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.