Dear Drive… Radio interview – video games in cars

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James spoke with Warwick Long on ABC Radio 6/1/23:

ABC Presenter - Warwick Long: Why are pretty high-powered video games going into cars?

James Ward - Drive.com.au: We're seeing the next evolution of the joining of personal electronics into our mobile electronics, which is essentially your car.

Towards the end of last year, Tesla announced that you could upgrade your in-car touchscreen to be able to support Steam, which is an online gaming service platform. Through this, owners can download some big-name games and play them while the car is parked and charging (not while it is on the move).

When you do need to charge an electric car, if you aren't using a really high-speed charger, you could be there for 30-45 minutes, which is enough time to get in a good game. So rather than using your phone, you can use the big screen in the car.

To be fair, this example is a little bit of a gimmick, but it is just one of the areas we're seeing the gaming part of the market starting to make inroads into automotive.

Later this year, the new Volvo EX90 (the new electric version of the XC90 seven-seat family SUV) arrives, and all of the screens in the car are powered by what's called the Unreal Game Engine, and it's got an Nvidia graphic chipset driving it, which is what is used in gaming consoles to make the really fast realtime 3D graphics.

ABC: So that's what you're saying, is the technology's already being used in the car?

D: Yes, Volvo are using gaming technology in the car, so that when you use adaptive cruise control or lane-keeping tools, you're getting these really slick 3D live graphics that are being processed by the car's cameras and sensors, so the gaming technology actually powers the car's technology.

Also, earlier this month, Sony, who are the PlayStation company, joined forces with Honda to produce their own electric car - further connecting the world of personal electronics and portable electronics with mobile electronics in your car.

ABC: So in some of these cases where there are screens front and back in the car, so will kids be able to effectively play video games while mum and dad drive in the front, or am I getting ahead of myself here?

D: Yes. For example, the new BMW 7 Series has a flip-down 31.3-inch LCD screen from the roof. It's ridiculous! It's like first class in a plane.

It includes a 39-speaker sound system and is designed to offer Amazon's streaming video services, basically making it your lounge room. So passengers in the back, as the screens are not facing the driver, can play games while you're on the go.

Now, between you and me, an iPad was kind of doing that job already, so we're not really making a massive leap here, but I think it's just a step that we're seeing, the auto brands really try to say, well, what's next for the market?

And again, this week at the CES (the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show), BMW announced the BMW iDee concept car which has a virtual, digital friend as part of the car.

With this, they are suggesting the future is more like KITT, a talking automotive companion than it is with a digital assistant on your smartphone. This extends to allowing the car to create, through its headlights and grille, which is all just a screen, faces and emotions, so it can represent your mood. The car can change colour, and the car can represent your avatar on the windscreen and on the side window, so as you're driving along, people can see your gaming avatar driving the car.

To be clear, this is just a concept and it's obviously taking things to a ridiculously future-looking level, but it's sort of the way that brands like BMW are thinking of these things - so stay tuned!

ABC: James, can you tell me if I should be really scared or excited by these changes?

D: If you take the Volvo example, there is some really cool technology being integrated into the car, so it's a good melding of science fiction with fact, so mark that as an exciting one.

With the BMW concept taking on a personality and projecting a gamer avatar, I don't really know if we need this. I'd rather see people concentrating on driving, rather than colouring their cars to suit their mood. But it's a brave new world out there!

ABC: And just on the issue of having Steam and having games supported in cars, where you might be at the charging station next to someone now gaming whilst they're waiting for their car to charge. Would the gaming system take a lot of the electricity, and suck much electricity out whilst the car's trying to recharge?

D: Not at all. The batteries that are required for electric cars are big.

Think of it this way; the average family house for a whole day (running TVs, air conditioners, washers, dryers, dishwashers etc), uses around 25 to 30kWh of energy. A car like a Tesla Model 3 has a battery that is roughly 70kWh, a BMW IX has about 110kWh.

So an electric car has double or triple the amount of battery power that an entire house uses in a whole day. Thus the energy needed to run a gaming system is negligible.

We recently had a Kia EV6 on display and ran a TV using the car's V2L (Vehicle to Load) power output. The TV draws about 100W of energy per hour which means we could have run the TV for a month nonstop and still been able to drive away in the car with some battery life left.

Bottom line: running these devices is not a huge amount compared to the amount of battery that are in these cars.

ABC: It's a brave new world James, thanks very much for joining us. Gaming in cars is a thing that is happening now. And while you won't see them playing while cars are driving, you may see them playing whilst waiting for the car to charge, which is incredible.