The "software-defined vehicle" will fundamentally change the electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture of vehicles. A multitude of distributed control units will be replaced by powerful high-performance computing (HPC) systems and zonal communication architectures that bundle software-defined functions and reorganize the structures of today's wiring harnesses. At the same time, AI-supported automated driving and occupant assistance systems will lead to an increasing use of sensors such as cameras, radar, and LiDAR systems, and thus to a rise in data volumes, required computing power, and necessary communication bandwidth.

Based on developments from industry and research, this presentation discusses how the classic wiring harness is evolving from a passive connection system into a novel infrastructure for data, cooling, power, and diagnostics. The presentation highlights the technological drivers of this development, outlines the expected changes to vehicle-side E/E infrastructure, and provides an outlook on new value creation potential and the need for future key technologies.

The lecture was given as part of the 9. Trend Outlook from July 07, 2026 Presented by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. hc Michael Weyrich, Institute for Industrial Automation and Software Engineering (IAS), University of Stuttgart.

Further information about the Institute for Industrial Automation and Software Engineering at the University of Stuttgart can be found at: www.ias.uni-stuttgart.de