The journey starts in 2008. As part of a small team of researchers we developed an app that controls telematics services as well as infotainment features for the F 125! show car.
The smart electric drive is the first series-production vehicle to feature an app. Drivers track the state of charge and range of their vehicle and find charging stations in the area. Thus they gain security and can make informed decisions about charging the vehicle.
With the Vehicle Hompage, Mercedes offers its digital services for all new models as of 2014 and expands its presence internationally. Being a web-based solution, the app quickly reaches a broad audience and bridges their heterogeneous technical prerequisites. With a constantly growing feature list the Vehicle Homepage quickly became a convenient companion for the many regular users. Since 2015, Mercedes is supplementing its digital offering with a native app. There too, Intuity supports the Daimler team in the integration of various vehicle-related functions.
The Mercedes me portal connects the dots. Connected services ranging from remote controlling vehicle functions to new telematics services require the handling of complex dependencies. This also calls for new organizational links – between hardware and software, as well as between the product and its users’ context and habits. The resulting increase of organizational complexity demands cross-departmental team play and fosters new forms of collaboration.
Daimler has communicated its vision very clearly. CASE stands for four initiatives: connected, autonomous, shared & services and electric. Each of these four topics is a game changer and will fundamentally alter our mobility habits. It is a pleasure to cooperate with the researchers and developers at Daimler in recognizing this potential, forge ideas and mature the most promising ones until they are ready to enter the market.