June 2013 saw the European Commission adopt the latest proposals to ensure that eCall will be present in all cars by October 2015.The system, which is estimated to be able to save up to 2,500 lives a year, automatically contacts the emergency services in the event of a serious crash, communicating the vehicle’s location, even if the driver is unconscious or unable to make a call.
“Last year, 28,000 people were killed and 1.5 million were injured on EU roads,” said Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice President and Commissioner responsible for Transport. “When an accident happens, every minute counts to rescue injured victims. The eCall technology has great potential to save lives by dramatically shortening the time of intervention of emergency services across the EU.”
Despite arguably being the most obvious next step in automotive safety, eCall was supposed to be rolled out voluntarily across Europe by 2009 – eight years after the idea was first suggested. However, as there was no legal requirement that the safety system be incorporated into cars, OEM adoption of eCall was particularly slow.
This new mandatory requirement will ensure that, from late 2015, all new models of passenger cars and light duty vehicles will be fitted with the system. The legislation also requires EU member states to build and maintain the necessary infrastructure for the proper handling of eCalls in emergency call response centres.
Positive supply
But it is not going to be an easy ride for OEMs and suppliers, with many saying that the two year deadline is still too short for compulsory fitment.
“There was no way to introduce eCall in 2009/2010. The technology was just not ready,” says Andreas Kohn, Director of Marketing, Transportation and Automotive at Sierra Wireless. “Then politics came in and put more pressure on manufacturers to adopt it and things started to move.
“If you ask car manufacturers they will tell you the timeframe is too short.They will say we need at least three years after the law is assigned, but in reality that is irrelevant, the technology needs to be introduced by 2015.”
Although expected, the mandatory announcement is a call for OEMs to quickly fit cars with the necessary equipment – but is the deadline pushing the boundaries of possibility for some OEMs, who may struggle to deploy eCall on a pan-European scale? Network availability, over-the-air upgrading capabilities and device maintenance are just some of the obstacles facing OEMs and operators.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA)…
This is an excerpt from an article first published in the Q3 issue of Megatrends magazine, to continue reading, simply download your free copy and turn to page 20.
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