A new wave of 5G-equipped cars is on its way, and Audi is the latest car manufacturer to announce that it will offer 5G connectivity in select versions of future cars.
The German manufacturer announced today that select versions of Audi vehicles, starting in 2024, will be able to connect to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network.
A host of new features can be expected with Audi 5G vehicles, including higher speeds for downloading or streaming entertainment, as well as an improved in-car navigation with 3D maps, cloud-based user profiles and even the ability to buy things in your car.
Drivers will likely need to pay a subscription to access Audi’s 5G services in the car. Although Audi hasn’t revealed the cost of a 5G subscription, the current 4G subscription is priced at $849 per year.
The new 5G vehicles will also build on Audi’s existing suite of connected in-car services, including information about traffic lights and low-latency road alerts. This will likely mean a faster and more detailed version of what Audi’s 4G cars already offer.
We’ve already seen current Audi versions that offer integrated payments for toll roads and will alert drivers when they are near a school bus, cyclists, road crews and other obstacles.
Audi’s 5G cars will also be equipped with mobile computing devices, which likely means better self-driving features because the cars will be able to interact with data instantly. The technology industry has pushed for mobile computing on cars as a way to improve the security of AV features. Edge computing will allow data to be processed in real time, so that cars can respond faster to other vehicles, infrastructure, and connected devices on the road.