Fixed Ops Journal - August 2019 - F30

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

HANDS ON

NO MORE COMPUTER 'SPAGHETTI'

New-generation electrical systems will have big effects on dealership service

RICHARD

TRUETT

rtruett@crain.com
Fixed Ops Journal

ntermittent electrical
problems on a car or truck
are among the repairs that
service technicians dread
most, especially if they work on
a flat-rate pay system that
requires them to find and fix
issues quickly.
You might think that with
driver-assist features such as
Nissan's ProPilot Assist and
General Motors' Super Cruise
rolling out, along with the
growing electrification of the
drivetrain, the electrical bugs
that infest today's vehicles will

only multiply. Maybe not.
It's stayed under the radar outside Detroit, but
automakers and suppliers have been busy creating the
next generation of electrical systems, the first of which are
debuting now. And the implications for the dealership
service lane are substantial.
On one hand, if these new electrical architectures
perform as envisioned, repairs should be easier, faster and GM's new digital vehicle platform, above and lower left, powers an electronic system
that can manage as much as 4.5 terabytes an hour of data processing power - five
far less complex. Higher tech productivity on electrical
times as much as the company's current electrical architecture.
system repairs could help ease the technician shortage at
some dealerships.
hundred computers is because we've done this in a piecemeal
On the other hand, more customers will get their vehicles serviced
approach since the 1970s," he told me. "Every time we add a new
without ever coming to the dealership. I don't have to tell you how
feature to the car, it comes from a different supplier, and it comes as a
losing the chance to inspect a vehicle could affect fixed ops revenue.
package with a computer, software, sensors and actuators. And it gets
Many customers don't know they need an alignment or tires until you
added onto this mess. Now we have this spaghetti of computers and
show them.
wiring all around the car.
"What General Motors and suppliers such as Continental and Aptiv
and others are doing is going back and starting from scratch," he added.
'Starting from scratch'
"They're saying, we've got all these features. If we were designing the
I recently ran into my friend Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst with
vehicle's electrical system today, what's the best way to do it? And
Navigant Research - and an engineer - at a classic car show north of
rather than having a separate computer for every feature, we'd have the
Detroit. We stood in a field surrounded by dozens of great old vehicles
software for all these features combined onto a handful of larger and
that don't have even one computer and are serviced the same way tomore powerful computers. Then we'd have simplified wiring
day as when they were new. We also inspected a few modern supercars.
connecting these computers."
In that setting, I asked Sam to explain in simple terms how the vehicle
The Cadillac CT5 sedan launching now is the first of the new
electrical system is changing. What he said made perfect sense.
generation of vehicles with redesigned electrical architecture, which
"The reason today's cars have dozens or, in some cases, well over a
GM calls Global B. The next car with Global B, the 2020 midengine
Chevrolet Corvette, is due late this year. GM plans to convert most of its
vehicles to Global B by 2023.
The computer system in the CT5 can manage as much as 4.5 terabytes
of data processing per hour - five times more than cars with the
current electrical system. Volkswagen also is working on a faster,
simpler and more powerful electrical system.
Continental, the giant manufacturer of brake, suspension and
powertrain parts, is selling its turnkey electrical system to automakers.
see CHANGES, Page 32

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