Polestar CEO outlines importance of software-defined vehicles

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath sees "amazing innovation potential and power" resulting from the move to software-defined vehicles.

"It’s not just a buzzword," Ingenlath said about the term SDV. "It's a fair reflection of the huge importance software now has. It’s no longer in the obvious areas such as connectivity."

The software-defined vehicle has become the auto industry's trendiest topic. Proof of that came in June when Audi created a board of management post specifically for SDVs.

Audi hired Geoffrey Bouquot from French supplier Valeo to become its head of innovation and SDVs, underlining the "central role" of software at the automaker, Supervisory Board Chairman Manfred Döss said in a statement.

The phrase SDV describes a vehicle with easily updatable computer programs underlying its capabilities, meaning new and improved functions can be delivered to occupants almost instantly.

Achieving lightning-fast improvements, however, is a big challenge.

"The complexity of how each and every system is talking with each other and integrated into that big brain of the car is huge," Ingenlath said.

The Polestar 3 large SUV shares its platform and a production plant in the U.S. with sister brand Volvo’s EX90. When software issues stalled the EX90, the Polestar 3’s debut was also delayed. The models are two years late.

With the Polestar 3 in its sales mix alongside the Polestar 2 midsize premium fastback, the automaker aimed to sell 124,000 vehicles in 2023. Instead, it sold 54,600. It has also struggled financially as a one-model brand.

Deliveries of the Polestar 3 in Germany started in July, while the Polestar 4 will begin reaching customers in August and September, the company said. In the U.S., the Polestar 3 started reaching customers in June while the Polestar 4 is due to arrive in November.

High stakes

Launch delays caused by software issues are frustrating but there are even higher stakes if something goes wrong once the car is delivered.

"Each and every mistake shouldn't happen," Ingenlath said "The worst case for a mobile phone is that it crashes. The worst case for a car [when software fails] is that someone gets injured or killed. For that reason, developing software for a car has the additional threshold of really being sure that what you do there is not damaging anybody."

Historically, vehicle functions were governed by hardware and mechanics, rather than software and computers. But that is changing, ZF board member Peter Holdmann said.

"The main challenge for every engineer participating in this transformation is to accept that in the future software comes first," he told Automotive News Europe. "This is a big change because for years we developed the hardware first and then applied the software to it. Now you do it the other way around. You start by defining the software and make sure it is hardware independent. That means the DNA of a car's vehicle dynamics is defined through software."

That is a game changer.

"Driving a car with one software can make it feel like a very early prototype, but with another software on the same car it can be totally different," Ingenlath said. "That is how much of an impact software has It changes the physical behavior of a car: how it drives, accelerates, brakes and steers."

Another key area where Ingenlath sees software playing a lead role is in managing the drivetrain and batteries in electric vehicles such as the Polestar 2, 3 and 4.

He said: "That is an area where there is amazing innovation potential and power."