Amazon to demonstrate innovative solutions for transport industry at CES 2020

Amazon’s recent plans including its efforts directed at adding its voice-controlled assistant, Alexa, to the modern automobiles, have made it evident that the American multinational tech giant wishes to make its mark in the transportation industry. Amazon is expected to reveal what else it has up its sleeve for the transportation industry at CES scheduled for next week.  

Experts are anticipating Amazon to announce its plans of turning into a major player in the league of autonomous cars at the Las Vegas annual technology show. As per Amazon’s representative, the online retailer is also expected to announce innovative solutions that are likely to help automakers and drivers manage huge chunks of their data with ease and efficiency. As such, Amazon Web Services is likely to remain in the limelight at the CES.

Amazon Made A Sizeable Investment In Software Startup For Self-Driving Vehicles

A brief overview of Amazon’s recent moves directed at penetrating the transportation industry includes a sizeable investment in Aurora (software startup for self-driving cars), its supportive role in widening the charging networks for electric vehicles in the U.S, and integration of AWS to build a seamless network for factories.

At the CES this year, Amazon is expected to share the platform with many of its partners including Canada’s Blackberry Ltd, virtual reality company ZeroLight, software development company focusing on video games Unit Technologies, and an electric vehicle startup Rivian.

GM’s Cadillac has also partnered with ZeroLight and is expected to showcase at the CES how they plan on enabling the customers to virtually configure their vehicle online that they’ll be able to take with them upon their visit to the respective dealers. The process is expected to use high-fidelity pictures to further enhance the experience.

The use of similar technology that enables the customers to build their dream car online before visiting the dealer to purchase it, has translated into a 1,200 Euros of profit per vehicle for Volkswagen’s Audi.

Rivian To Demonstrate The Use Of Amazon’s Alexa In Its Electric Vehicles

According to AWS automotive technical leader, Dean Phillips, Amazon has already made two sizeable investments in Rivian. At the CES, the electric car startup will demonstrate the use of Amazon’s Alexa voice-controlled assistant in its electric pickup truck, R1T. Production for R1T and its companion SUV R1S is expected to begin in fall 2020. In 2021, Rivian will also start building as many as 100,000 delivery vans (fully electric) for Amazon. All of these vehicles will have Alexa integrated into the system.  

Karma automotive and BlackBerry will showcase the use of AWS services at the CES in improving the accuracy of predicting the battery health of an electric vehicle while guiding the driver about ways that he can improve the lifetime and efficiency of the battery.

Lastly, Unity Technologies will introduce how gaming simulations and virtual worlds can help companies train the software used in self-driving cars more effectively and efficiently.