AMD Has Big Plans for EV Cockpit Displays

A new partnership between AMD and ECARX has set the stage for the two companies to create a more advanced in-vehicle digital cockpit for the next wave of electric vehicles (EVs).

AMD may be best known for its home computer components, but processors and GPUs can be used in much more than laptops, smartphones, and game consoles. Onboard computers have been a part of most modern cars for some time now, including electric vehicles (EVs). But AMD and ECARX are planning to push EV computing platforms further.

This new in-vehicle "digital cockpit" will be the first to utilize Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors, in conjunction with Radeon RX 6000 Series GPUs. Paired with hardware and software from ECARX, the expectation is to provide EV drivers with improved computing performance and better graphical and rendering capabilities.

Which all boils down to more advanced (and faster) driver information displays, better voice recognition throughout the EV cockpit, and fancier entertainment options for the back seat. "High-end gaming" is also being touted for the next iteration of the in-vehicle computing system, though specifications (and library availability) haven't been shared yet.

"The EV revolution is here," said Asif Anwar, PBCS and EVS executive director for Strategy Analytics, in the press release, "with next-generation EV platforms at the leading edge of domain- and zonal-based architecture driving adoption of the digital cockpit, ADAS, and the connected vehicle."

The new AMD ECARX in-vehicle computer platform is expected to roll out in late 2023 with unspecified "next-generation" EVs. Though it seems feasible that Tesla may be part of it, given Ryzen Embedded's current inclusion in the Model S and Model X.