dSPACE is testing tomorrow’s vehicles today
An interview with Jens Grösch, CFO at dSPACE
Apart from maybe the telephone, few objects we interact with regularly have changed more in recent years than the car. While the principle of getting from A to B remains the same, the way in which we go about this journey has seen enormous change. Whether it’s changing from petrol to electricity, or from driving to “being driven”, the fundamental systems underlying our vehicles continue to develop at an unparalleled pace. Making sure these new systems always do what they’re supposed to do is the core business of longtime Neways client dSPACE, who builds simulation and validation solutions for the majority of the major players in the global automotive industry. We spoke to Jens Grösch, CFO at dSPACE, about what solutions they offer their clients, and how their core business is adapting to the novel things we expect our vehicles to deliver safely and consistently.
“We have worked with Neways as a highly appreciated partner for years.”
Can you tell me what dSPACE does?
dSPACE is worldwide leader in providing simulation and validation solutions, with a focus on the automotive industry. What that means is we deliver end-to-end hardware and software platforms for testing a vehicle or its functions before it comes to market. This is called a hardware-in-the-loop (or HIL) solution. It can simulate any kind of functionality of a vehicle or a subset of its electronic control units (ECUs), to verify exactly how they will behave in the real world. These are systems we supply both to automotive OEMs as well as their first-tier suppliers, who require our involvement in their new projects at a very early stage. A typical “idea-to-production” timeline in the automotive industry is about 3 to 5 years, we are typically involved after the first year already, right after the concept is fully defined and the first serial suppliers have been engaged. There are some manufacturers, especially battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturers, who are faster, however, which also requires us to be present earlier. Within our market we are a well-established market leader, serving OEMs all over the world for more than 35 years.
What are the big trends you are especially exposed to?
Two trends clearly stand out currently: autonomous driving and e-mobility.
For e-mobility we have been providing validation solutions from the start. Hybrids are a good example of when validation is especially necessary, because two propulsion systems have to be developed for one vehicle – this increases the complexity of development and testing. Of course, developments in e-mobility are now rapidly evolving, with ever-faster and higher-voltage DC charging, and more complex battery management systems appearing as governments push forward with the energy transition.
Autonomous driving is a second big trend we are exposed to – even if the industry is moving a bit slower than we all previously expected, there is a lot happening. As you may know, vehicle autonomy is expressed in 5 “levels”, and the industry is now at level 3, meaning “conditional automation” and “limited self-driving”. Going to level 4 and 5 will imply a level of autonomy so high that we can really reimagine the role of the driver. Yes, a car will still be something that brings you from A to B, but what the driver does in the meantime may be much less relevant: they might be working rather than operating the vehicle. Clearly these solutions all need substantial simulation and validation before they can see widespread market adoption, and our solutions are especially well-positioned to provide such validation.