Jaguar has partnered with Intel to release a special version of the F-Pace SUV at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. With this, JLR showcased some of the connected car technology that could appear on future products from the company.
The bespoke F-Pace, which is one of only two examples of the car in the US, features extra infotainment hardware from Intel and a bespoke graphical interface specially developed for CES. The car connects to an Intel gateway in the owner's house, allowing it to communicate with other connected devices.
Some examples of the car’s connected functionality include the ability to match the temperature set inside the house and stream music from the same playlist or track selection. Additionally, when another person tries to access the car's boot, owners inside the house are alerted and gain access to the car's rear-facing camera remotely.
The car can also alert drivers if they've left behind an item in the house and can even mark its location, thanks to small electronic tags. When the car is started, the F-Pace is equipped to ask drivers if they'd like to set their connected home to 'Away mode', which turns off other electronic devices in the house, such as TVs.
The connected F-Pace is only a technology demonstrator for the moment. "We don't yet know what the customer is going to want and when, but by working on these different technologies we can work that out. We've got some fantastic ideas, but at the moment that's all they are,” said Matt Jones, JLR's director of future technology.
"Driver's expectations for infotainment systems in the future are not based on traditional cars, they're based on this. The technology almost comes second here, what comes first is the use case. What's the frustrating thing that you can't do in a vehicle at the moment? What would ultimately mean you'd never want to buy another vehicle without that technology again?"
Any future production version of Intel's connected car technologies is likely to be based on Jaguar Land Rover's InControl Touch platform.