The Eclipse SDV Working Group is positioning itself as the “centre of gravity” for open-source software development. By Megan Lampinen
The car has evolved from a fundamentally hardware-based product to one increasingly defined by software. Most modern vehicles today contain millions of lines of code, driving vehicle functions, user experiences and future innovation pathways. That evolution entails a decoupling of hardware and software lifecycles and the need for more agile and rapid software development practices. Meanwhile, automotive software has never been so complex.
Both legacy players and newcomers have been pouring time and money into their own software packages, inevitably duplicating efforts when it comes to basic functions. According to the Eclipse Foundation, an open source non-profit, mainstream operating system installations of Linux, Windows, and macOS use much more code between each other than vehicles from any two OEMs. This is where collaborative, code-first initiatives like Eclipse’s Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group could prove a game changer. It’s designed to foster global collaboration on open-source software for use in next-generation vehicles.
The Working Group was officially founded in March 2022 by the Eclipse Foundation and a handful of industry players including Accenture, Arm, AVL, Bosch, Capgemini, Continental, ETAS, Microsoft, ZF, and several others. The aim is to build one of the automotive industry’s first software stacks and associated tooling for SDVs’ core functionality. These open-source solutions will be available to anyone for their own vehicle development work. Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation, describes the SDV Working Group as “the centre of gravity for open-source software development in the global automotive industry.”
Crucial for development
Today Eclipse SDV has more than 50 members, including middle-ware specialist Qorix. “The setup highlights the collaborative effort across different sectors to innovate and standardise automotive software development in open source,” comments Qorix Chief Executive Markus Schupfner. While an open-source approach marks a radical departure from conventional automotive software development methods, it’s critical to the long-term success of SDVs. The key is to focus on aspects that are non-differentiating for brands, such as middleware, infrastructure and tooling, and steer clear of sensitive, competitive aspects and intellectual property. The promise is faster, less expensive innovation for the whole industry.
“This collaboration is crucial for development within a software-defined ecosystem and the complexity of SDVs,” Schupfner tells Automotive World. “It brings cost efficiency because players avoid duplicating efforts. It also speeds up development times, as we leverage existing software components and generate a full-stack approach.”
It also helps set a new standard and fosters interoperability, but in a manner that breaks away from historical approaches. “In the past, we would debate specifications for years and not generate anything,” Schupfner adds. “With this open source approach, we have the principle of code first: you develop code, architecture, and specifications in parallel. That is done in an agile and continuous way.” At the same time, the open-source setup enables increased security and transparency. The code base offers a clear example. “With the historic closed code base, OEMs need to have a lot of trust in their supply chain,” he says. “But this is a transparent code base; everyone has access to the code and can look inside. By its very nature, this generates security and instils confidence in system quality.”
Fellow Eclipse SDV member BMW voices similar sentiments. “We were convinced from the outset of the ongoing transformation that developing the complete vehicle software in-house would never make sense or be cost-effective,” says BMW Group’s Christian Salzmann, Vice President Software Strategy, Platforms and Tooling. BMW joined the Eclipse Foundation SDV Working Group in July 2024.
The automaker has long been working to a ‘make-or-buy’ strategy when it comes to software. “That means that we look very closely what we develop ourselves, where we partner or where we buy off-the-shelf solutions,” Salzmann tells Automotive World. “Even if we don’t develop everything ourselves, we have to make sure that we master the entire SDV tech stack and integrate everything into a final, premium customer experience. That means we need to keep access to the entire code repository, which we can also manage remotely, over-the-air. To be able to do that, you need scalable software platforms and to increase the re-use of your software over vehicle generations. Otherwise, the sheer volume of code will become very hard to handle for your software organisation.”
Best of the best
One outcome of the move to SDV is the opportunity for automakers to capitalise on new user experiences. Driver expectations on this front are evolving rapidly, based heavily on what they experience with consumer electronics. “Looking at the SDV from our customers’ perspective, they expect vehicles that offer top-notch innovative software functions that are continuously updated and fresh,” explains Salzmann. “We need to assist and support the customer without patronising them. We also need to integrate into digital ecosystems beyond the car and tailor to country-specific requirements.”
It’s a tall ask and represents a huge shift in skillsets for automakers with decades of expertise in sheet metal and horsepower. “One of the most important aspects of this evolution involves skill development and workforce transformation,” says Schupfner. “Within the software development space, you have to deal with continuous integration, continuous development, data analytics, cyber security, and AI-based functionalities. Companies really have to ensure the right skillsets inside their team to deal with the complexity of an SDV.”
In this aspect, Eclipse SDV can be helpful by pooling insights and best practices across the wide spectrum of its members. Qorix alone has more than 300 developers working on just middleware software. BWM has more than 9,500 IT and Software experts on top of 10,000 coders working in its own Integrated Developer Environment (Codecraft), creating up to 140,000 software builds per day. It’s a similar story across all of the Eclipse SDV members. “Having the ‘best of the best’ experts from different companies come together really accelerates development,” Schupfner emphasises.
A collaboration of collaborations
The aim of the Eclipse SDV is to foster collaboration and develop a common software platform for various vehicle models and brands. It’s an important mission, but it’s not unique. Other such automotive software working groups in place today include AUTOSAR (Automotive Open System Architecture), SOAFEE (Scalable Open Architecture for the Embedded Edge) and COVESA (Connected Vehicle System Alliance), formerly known as GENIVI, which have many of the same members. “We see the activities in Eclipse as a supplement, not as a substitute,” Salzmann notes.
Notably, collaboration is needed not just within these groups but among them. In March 2023, AUTOSAR, COVESA, Eclipse SDV, and SOAFEE decided to form the SDV Alliance as a “collaboration of collaborations.” The idea here is to clarify the contributions each consortium brings to SDVs and then demonstrate their interconnectedness and synergy. “The SDV landscape is wide, and work is underway to bring some of these various initiatives together,” says Schupfner.
There is a growing understanding among all ecosystem players that the SDV is conceptually too complex to be adequately addressed by a single industry consortium. Aligning efforts should strengthen all players and better position the industry for a software-defined future.
