DoT lays out plan for nationwide V2X by 2036
The plan would use 5.9 GHz as its frequency of choice
A consultant wonders if the automakers will actually sign up
The highways of the near future could be dotted with 5.9 GHz radio transceivers that communicate with cellular radios inside your car and update vehicles as they're driving to prevent accidents – if a new transportation policy takes shape.
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced a plan to deploy vehicle-to-everything (V2X) nationwide.
The USDOT intends to roll out its V2X plan in three parts, calling for the 5.9 GHz technology to be initially deployed on 20% of highways and 25% of major intersections by 2029. Those deployments will be doubled in size by 2031. The nationwide rollout is expected to be completed by 2036.
“The plan was drafted and advanced with collaboration across public and private partnerships. It provides stakeholders with vital information to enable a safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation system through the national, widespread deployment of interoperable V2X technologies. The plan will accelerate investment, research, and deployment in V2X ‘market certainty,’” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Scientist Dr. Robert C. Hampshire in a statement.
The department wants to eventually get six of the major automakers to support the V2X plan by 2036. Car companies have already tried to – and will need to – install 5.9 GHz V2X antennas in their vehicles, while compatible wireless transceivers will need to be deployed all along the highways and intersections if V2X is actually to work.
Bumps in the road
Global Market Insights has said that the global V2X will be worth over $25 billion by 2032. Some industry watchers, however, think that a lot more work will need to happen before the rubber really hits the road for the wireless technology.
Consultant Roger Lanctot, founder of Strategia Now, wonders if the government plan can work. “My main problem with the timelines is the fact that they are not tied to any funding or incentives,” he told Fierce in an email.
“The lack of funding – beyond the $60M in one-time grants – undermines the credibility of any timeline. I am told that the modest car maker commitments to a particular number of models is rock solid, but without any consumer-driven demand, I don't see it coming to pass,” he said, noting that there is no commitment on the part of the government to require cellular V2X (C-V2X) in all of its fleet vehicles.
“If I am an auto maker I am immediately in the you-go-first game,” Lanctot said. “Car makers have already seen Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors take the first steps, only to discover that none of their rivals followed. I think it will take a much more massive public education campaign and multiple demonstrations of the power of this technology.”
Lanctot thinks that the DoT plan fails to put up the funding and establish which manufacturers will act as the champion or champions of the technology.
“C-V2X technology represents an intriguing solution to the challenge of transmitting safety messages – whether they are high (flood warning) or low latency (wrong way driver ahead). Its reliance on high market penetration to be relevant has always been a significant deployment challenge – especially in the context of deploying within vehicles and along the roadside,” he concluded.