The modern car is becoming less of a finished product and more of a continuously evolving platform. With software-defined vehicles, 5G connectivity and over-the-air updates, what you buy on day one is increasingly just the starting point. Tata Car’ Sierra EV is a case in point, bringing built-in 5G connectivity and a software architecture designed to make the vehicle smarter and more adaptable over time. We spoke to Marco Bijvelds, Vice President & Global Head of Tata Communications MOVE, about what this shift means for drivers, why 5G matters, and how connectivity could fundamentally change the way we use our cars.
SN: What does a Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) mean for the driver?
MB: Today, connectivity in many vehicles is still relatively fragmented, supporting individual functions such as infotainment, telemetry or diagnostics. A software-defined vehicle brings these capabilities together, allowing the vehicle to continuously receive new software, services and features through secure over-the-air updates.
This also makes the experience far more personalised for the driver. Features can be activated based on the factors such as location, driving context or individual preferences, whether that is an infotainment service, a connected feature or a subscription-based capability. Rather than managing separate connected functions in isolation, the vehicle can deliver a more seamless and tailored experience through an integrated software platform.
There is also a significant benefit in terms of safety and reliability. Real-time diagnostics, emergency assistance, remote support, and software updates can operate as part of the same connected ecosystem.
From the driver’s perspective, this means the vehicle experience is no longer fixed at the point of purchase. Services and features can increasingly adapt over time to individual preferences, usage patterns and evolving needs. The car becomes more personalised and relevant throughout its lifecycle, with the ability to add, refine or activate capabilities as those requirements change, helping ensure the experience continues to deliver value well beyond the day it leaves the showroom.
SN: What does 5G specifically enable in the Sierra EV that 4G cannot?
MB: 5G provides the bandwidth, latency and network capacity needed as vehicles become increasingly software-defined and data-intensive. Through our collaboration with Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, the Sierra EV comes with in-built 5G cellular connectivity, with Tata Communications MOVE platform integrated with the N.IO SDV platform. This creates a connectivity foundation that can support a much broader set of vehicle and digital services.
For the driver, one of the immediate benefits is a richer and more responsive digital experience. Higher bandwidth allows secure, high-quality content and data services to be delivered to the vehicle with less dependence on local network conditions. It also provides greater capacity for larger and more frequent over-the-air software updates as the software component of the vehicle continues to grow.
Another important dimension is the evolution of 5G itself as networks transition from Non-Standalone (NSA) to Standalone (SA) architectures. This enables more advanced network capabilities, including granular quality-of-service management and network slicing, allowing connectivity to be tailored to the specific requirements of different vehicle applications.
This becomes particularly relevant for more demanding connected mobility services, such as network-assisted Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, where latency, reliability and traffic prioritisation become increasingly important. While 4G can support many connected vehicle applications today, these emerging use cases require the greater performance, responsiveness and flexibility that 5G networks are designed to deliver.
5G therefore gives the vehicle more headroom to evolve, supporting the next generation of connected, intelligent and software-defined vehicle experiences as both the vehicle and network capabilities continue to advance.
SN: Does the traditional idea of a car’s purchase-time specification disappear?
MB: A buyer will always consider a vehicle’s specifications at the point of purchase, and that is unlikely to change. However, in a software-defined vehicle, the specification is no longer limited to the features visible on day one. Increasingly, it also includes the underlying technology foundations such as the vehicle’s compute capacity, software architecture and connectivity capabilities, which determine how the vehicle can evolve over time.
This represents a significant shift in how vehicles are designed and experienced. While the physical hardware may remain largely unchanged, secure over-the-air updates allow OEMs to introduce new services, enhance existing functionality, improve performance and address security requirements throughout the vehicle lifecycle. The focus is therefore expanding from what the vehicle can do today to what it will be capable of supporting in the future.
From a connectivity perspective, this makes the underlying platform particularly important. A reliable and flexible connectivity layer is essential for delivering software updates, connected services and new applications securely and efficiently. For example, eSIM-based connectivity architectures can enable network profiles or connectivity arrangements to be updated remotely during the vehicle’s lifecycle without requiring changes to the physical hardware.
So, the specification at the time of purchase does not disappear completely. Rather, it becomes the starting point. The vehicle is increasingly designed to improve, adapt and gain new capabilities over time, which changes both the ownership experience and the way OEMs think about the lifecycle of a vehicle.
SN: What are the biggest challenges in making automotive connectivity reliable?
MB: It’s important to note that for a connected vehicle, reliability is not simply about having network coverage; it is about maintaining the right level of connectivity across different network environments, regulatory frameworks and stages of the vehicle lifecycle.
The first challenge is uneven infrastructure maturity. A vehicle may move from a dense 5G environment to an area with limited cellular coverage, and the connectivity platform needs to manage that transition without affecting the experience. At Tata Communications, we address this by bringing cellular and satellite connectivity into a unified operating layer, allowing the platform to select the most appropriate network based on availability and performance.
Regulation adds another dimension. Vehicles continuously generate and exchange data, while requirements around data residency, privacy and lawful access differ across markets. Compliance therefore has to be embedded into the connectivity architecture, with locally appropriate eSIM profiles and routing rather than being managed as a separate process.
Then there is quality of service. Static network rules are not enough when conditions change continuously. Real-time network intelligence is required to identify degradation and dynamically optimise connectivity.
Finally, security has to extend across the entire lifecycle. As vehicles become increasingly software-defined, the connectivity layer becomes part of the vehicle’s security perimeter. Reliability therefore means not only staying connected, but staying connected securely, compliantly and consistently.
SN: What is the genuinely transformative use case Indian consumers will soon experience?
MB: For India, one of the most transformative use cases will be the emergence of a truly intelligent EV journey. Charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly, but availability, density and usage patterns can still vary significantly across cities, highways and regions. As vehicles become more connected, they will be able to bring together data from the vehicle, the network and the wider mobility ecosystem to help manage this complexity.
Today, drivers often need to make a series of separate decisions around charging, route planning and energy management. The next evolution is for the vehicle to continuously combine factors such as battery state, planned route, traffic conditions, driving behaviour and available charging infrastructure to determine the most efficient way to complete the journey.
That can go well beyond simply identifying the nearest charging station. The vehicle could anticipate when and where charging will be required, recommend or adapt routes accordingly, take account of real-world energy consumption and potentially interact with connected charging infrastructure as part of the planning process. This becomes particularly valuable in a market as diverse as India, where road conditions, traffic patterns and charging availability can vary considerably from one journey to the next.
The important shift is that the car becomes an active participant in managing the journey. Connectivity provides the data, AI provides the intelligence, and the SDV architecture provides the ability to act on that intelligence. That is when the connected car becomes genuinely useful, as it increasingly anticipates what the driver or car need next.
