What’s Happening: TomTom, a geolocation technology specialist, has reached a new milestone in its advanced maps for automated driving (AD) by powering over 10 million automated vehicles (AV) sold by carmakers in North America and Europe with its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) maps and software. The figure has doubled over the last year, growing more than twice as fast as the global market.
Why It Matters: TomTom’s ADAS maps provide high-quality road information globally, including gradient, lanes, curvature, signs, and speed limits, enabling vehicles to better anticipate the road ahead, improving driver safety, comfort, and vehicle efficiency. Recent EU legislation has made intelligent speed assistance (ISA) mandatory, which can use cameras alone to identify speed limits through traffic sign recognition. However, these have limited range and can be obstructed by rain or snow, making it difficult for cars to identify and display conditional and variable speed limits. Combining camera input with TomTom’s ADAS map data solves these issues and prepares for changing speed limits resulting in greater vehicle safety and efficiency.
Key Points:
- TomTom now serves over 30 Automotive brands with its ADAS maps and software, with over one-third of all new AVs equipped with an ADAS map supported by TomTom.
- Recent EU legislation has made ISA mandatory for all new vehicle types since July 2022 and mandatory for all new vehicles from July 2024. EuroNCAP’s latest Speed Assist System (SAS) protocol has even higher safety standards than the ISA regulation, awarding vehicles with comprehensive maps and connected service content with higher safety ratings.
- TomTom’s ADAS services can support the 2023 SAS protocol, including all conditional speed limits and a wide range of warnings about local hazards, such as accidents ahead, and road features, like road curvatures.
- TomTom’s ISA solution, Virtual Horizon, is used by carmakers globally to be ISA compliant.
Bottom Line: Maps are essential in achieving the level of accuracy that current and future regulation requires and will be central to the future of ADAS and AV applications. TomTom’s ADAS maps have consistently outperformed the already strong growth in the market, which is proof of the quality and robustness of its ADAS solutions. With take rates for ADAS forecast to rise, TomTom expects its ADAS map sales to continue growing, cementing its leading position in this market.