Many new terms have entered the automotive lexicon over the past few years with the rise of electrification, some easier to define and understand than others.

Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) sits towards the jargon end of the scale, yet it’s a term that almost all major car manufacturers are using to describe their cars of the future and their capabilities. 

“In the simplest terms, it’s a vehicle that can be updated and refreshed over the course of the lifetime of the actual hardware of the car, which in turn allows the vehicle to grow and adapt to the identity of the driver,” explained Derek de Bono, vice president of SDVs at Valeo, the French tier-one supplier that’s transitioning more from hardware into software-defined vehicles, including major SDV projects with Renault and BMW.