Mazda will look to Toyota for EV electronics

The two Japanese makers seek to share development of their on-board systems.

The ties between Mazda and Toyota continue to strengthen, with the former confirming it will use the latter’s ‘in-vehicle systems’ for its upcoming EVs.

What’s an ‘in-vehicle’ system’? It’s an industry term to describe the combined operating system (OS), electronic control units (ECU), and wiring harnesses – more or less the electronic portion of an EV, with the main electrical components being the batteries and motors.

This system controls the various functions of the EV, such as driver assistance, safety, heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC), and infotainment, as well as linking the various functions to the user interface (UI) – that is, one or more touch screens, and perhaps a few hard switches.

Just like a phone or desktop computer, in-vehicle systems are complex, and therefore expensive to develop and produce. It’s been reported that some major automakers and parts suppliers spend up to $2 billion a year on software development alone.

Mazda is a relatively small manufacturer and the cost of developing its own in-vehicle systems would be prohibitive and unstainable.

Adopting Toyota’s Arene OS will significantly reduce the cost of developing in-vehicle systems for Mazda EVs, compared to creating a system for EV models on its own. Mazda expects that its systems will be 90% identical to Toyota’s by 2027, lowering development costs by 70-80%.

BY: Toby SEMLER

From: https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/mazda-toyota-ev-development-partnership-gathering-pace