Connected Cars – GM Debuts Ultifi for Saleable APPs, Services

General Motors Today announced Ultifi, its revised software platform designed to “unlock new vehicle experiences and connect customers’ digital lives.” Ultifi will help the frequent and seamless delivery of software-defined apps and services to customers over the air, GM said.

This latest move is part of an ongoing transition in the auto industry toward more cloud-based services, faster software development and new opportunities to increase revenue and, maybe, customer loyalty. Ultifi is enabled by hardware built into some next-generation products starting in 2023, encompassing internal combustion and electric vehicles.

Ultifi builds upon the so-called Vehicle Intelligence Platform (VIP), GM’s advanced electrical architecture. VIP-enabled vehicles today provide over-the-air capability, good data bandwidth, cybersecurity measures, and fast processing power. GM engineers will now separate key software “into a new centralized layer that acts as a powerful hub for vehicle systems. The Ultifi platform will allow accelerated development and deployment of software and applications over the air to millions of customers, without affecting basic hardware controls,” GM claimed. (GM Digital Vehicle Platform Debuts; Connected Cars – Toyota and NTT Want Standardization; Ford Motor in Corktown and Newlab Working on – What Else – Vehicle Connectivity, Autonomy and Electrification)

“GM has decades of experience writing vehicle software, creating a solid foundation to build on,” said Mark Reuss, GM president. “Now with Ultifi, we will be able to improve our software continuously, and deliver new features and apps to customers in a fraction of the time.”

Although Ultifi is an in-house platform, it’s being designed with external developers in mind, GM said. It uses Linux® software, a widely used platform, which allows GM to give authorized third-party developers access to innovate on behalf of its customers.

This raises yet again privacy concerns , as well as who owns and can sell your personal information. The Pew Research Center notes that a digitally networked society runs on, well, quid pro quos. In this non-impeachable case, people exchange details about themselves and their activities for services and products on the web or apps.

Like a smart phone, customers can expect regular updates and will be able to choose from multiple over-the-air upgrades, personalization options and new and apps 1.This customization in theory can alter the ownership experience as enabled vehicles will have access to the latest software and capabilities. Some of these upgrades and settings can be saved to authenticated account 2 so they can be transferred between similarly equipped GM vehicles.

For example, internal cameras could be used for facial recognition to start the vehicle’s engine. Based on route planning and GPS, teen driver settings could be adjusted for extra caution in a school zone or vehicles could even communicate with a smart home en route to deactivate the security system and adjust the thermostat.

Similarly, the cloud connectivity could potentially extend to V2X or vehicle-to-everything applications to help advance GM’s lofty goal of zero crashes and zero congestion. Through communication with other connected devices and infrastructure, drivers could be alerted to hazards or changing road conditions and be able to effectively time traffic signals.

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GM Ultifi Fine Print

1 Some updates and premium features will be at additional cost.
2 Subscription may be required.