ADAS Complexity Will Create New Maintenance Costs and Vulnerabilities for Fleets

ADAS Complexity Will Create New Maintenance Costs and Vulnerabilities for Fleets

An increasing number of vehicles are equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), such as collision avoidance, surround view, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, pedestrian protection, and blind spot monitoring, to name a few.

These technologies have made today’s vehicles the safest in history. Similarly, advancements in engine technology make current model-year vehicles the most fuel efficient ever and with each succeeding model-year, fleets are taking delivery of better-built vehicles. Contributing to this increased reliability are engine and transmission component engineering, onboard diagnostics providing early warning of impending malfunctions, and longer-lasting synthetic motor oils. While ADAS benefits outweigh any negatives, they do, nonetheless, come with trade-offs, such as a higher acquisition cost and new variables in maintenance management.

Need to Recalibrate ADAS Systems

There are many types of ADAS available with some built into vehicles and others available as part of an option package. ADAS relies on inputs from multiple data sources, including automotive imaging, LIDAR, radar, image processing, computer vision, and in-car networking. The trend toward more ADAS will continue as both the U.S. and the European Union are mandating that all vehicles be equipped with autonomous emergency-braking systems and forward-collision warning systems by 2020.

When ADAS systems need to be serviced, it requires special equipment operated by a specially trained technician. Many previously simple repairs now require a calibration of the ADAS system, consisting of cameras, sensors, and controllers, which requires specialized and expensive tooling and equipment. ADAS cameras built into windshields and rearview mirrors are adding complexity and cost to windshield replacements. The replacement cost of a windshield in an ADAS-equipped vehicle is typically higher than that of a non-ADAS unit. In addition to the increased cost of the windshield itself, the vehicle also often requires a recalibration of the entire system, an additional cost.

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