New Stellantis Models Will Have Some BMW Influence For Its Autonomous Tech

We already know that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA (Peugeot and Citroen), jointly known as Stellantis, have vast plans for electrification within this decade. Now, the company has given a few more details, where it will be working with BMW to develop autonomous driving tech in its electric vehicles. 

 

This is part of three tech platforms which will form a base for the four dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) platforms (STLA Small, STLA Medium, STLA Large, and STLA Frame) Stellantis will introduce for their future offerings which we’ve made a detailed report about. The Stellantis BMW collaboration comes under the STLA AutoDrive, where the two companies will develop Level 2, Level 2+ and Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities that will get constant OTA updates. 

The others include STLA Brain which has three times the modules used on current vehicles (10), and is capable of OTA updates. This architecture is synced with a cloud that connects the vehicle’s ECU with the central high performing computer (HPC) via a high speed data bus. Stellantis claims a benefit of creating and updating features without needing to wait for new hardware launches. 

Last but not least is the STLA SmartCockpit which is the result of the ‘Mobile Drive’ joint venture with Apple iPhone assembler Foxconn. Bits such as digital cockpits with advanced connected tech, cloud service platforms, artificial intelligence-based applications, 5G communication, and over-the-air updates come under this tech platform. 

For the Indian market there’s nothing short term from Stellatis for the time being, with Jeep India prepping a new 7-seater SUV for 2022 and the return of the Grand Cherokee moniker via the locally assembled route. Citroen is set to launch the C3 around the first half of 2022.