Twenty auto manufacturers have now pledged to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that 100 percent of their vehicles will includeautomatic emergency braking (AEB) systems by Sept. 1, 2022.

At a minimum, these AEB systems will include Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and some form of Crash Imminent Braking(CIB) in which the vehicle automatically applies its brakes and activates its electronic stability control (ESC– which is standard on all cars now) in situations where the driver fails to act appropriately as the vehicleapproaches any form of obstacle in its path.

Between now and the 2022 date, the automakers are voluntarily reporting their progress in adopting Advanced DriverAssistance Systems (ADAS) technology, in an annual report published on NHTSA’s website. The participating automakers who represent 99 percent of vehicles sold in the United States include: Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford,General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan,Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Adoption rates

At the end of 2017, roughly 20 percent of cars sold into the United States included ADAS systems. The growth of the“take rate” of ADAS options is estimated at 20-30 percent per year, which means that the automakerscould beat their 2022 deadline to reach 100 percent model coverage.

In the first reporting period, luxury automakers reported the highest percentage of ADAS use:

Tesla – 100 percent

Mercedes-Benz – 96 percent

Audi – 73 percent

Volvo – 68 percent

BMW – 58 percent.

Jaguar and Porsche both reported 0 percent ADAS usage, but we know in our review of 2018 models for the ICA VehiclePortal that those brands are now selling ADAS-equipped models, so their 2018 report will show increases in ADASuse.

The high-volume producers showing the least ADAS usage include:

Ford – 2 percent

Fiat Chrysler – 6 percent

Nissan – 14 percent

GM – 20 percent

VW – 36 percent.

Again, you can expect all of these brands to show substantial increases in their 2018 report.

Toyota shows that 56 percent of its 2.5 million vehicles produced in 2017 are ADAS equipped, making it the largestvolume producer of ADAS-equipped vehicles.

As manufacturers ramp up their ADAS offerings, they are also changing the way the technology is applied. We areseeing more forward-facing video cameras used in both lane departure and forward collision avoidance and severalmanufacturers are moving that gear inside the car to view the area in front of the car through the windshield. Thissimplifies both mounting and keeping the camera lens clean but it raises the importance of other vehicle contentlike windshield glass and wipers.

Practical Effects

Collision shops are finding that the windshield replacement of a car using in-cabin ADAS video now includes precisionwindshield calibration due to built-in sensors, heaters, noise reduction layers and specific tint patterns.Windshield wipers will take on a more important role as the criticality of clean viewing area, especially in wintermonths, increases with ADAS application. Major wiper manufacturers like Anco, Bosch, ITT Automotive, Trico, Tridonand Valeo have ruled the wiper market for many years but now new wiper designs are emerging and even start-upcompanies like Kimblade are focusing on new wiper blade technology.

The increased application of ADAS is also driving our education process through the ICA Vehicle Portal.

On vehicles.carwash.org we have now listed ADAS information on 19 different vehicle brands and 235 models from the2017 and 2018 model years. Each listing shows the name of a specific ADAS technology, a text write-up of how todisable and enable that technology for a car wash tunnel, a photograph with system control buttons highlighted, and,if available, a video showing how to deactivate and reactivate the specific system.

We estimate that the ICA Vehicle Portal covers more than 90 percent of the 2017/2018 vehicles sold into the UnitedStates. We are working on adding models from Volkswagen, Mini and Land Rover now.

The work is not fast or easy – each model’s owner’s manual needs to be reviewed for each ADASsystem. The manuals are 500-600 pages long and many of the explanations do not include visuals. In many cases, wehave gone to dealerships to physically set vehicles up for car wash entry because the manual is lacking in clarity.We do not have every model of every brand for both 2017 and 2018 listed, but vehicles are added to the siteweekly.

Beyond the ICA Portal, we are continuing to attempt interaction with vehicle manufacturers to explain the issues ICAmembers are having with ADAS technology. We are asking for a simplified setup process for car washes that woulddeactivate systems for a defined time period and then automatically activate them at the end of the wash.

The challenge is simply this – there is no formal mechanism at Ford, GM, FCA or any other vehicle OEM to moveour information from its initial contact point into a design process, and redesigning vehicle electrical systems isa time-consuming process that must be fully tested for both safety and reliability.

That said, we are not dissuaded from continuing our mission to advocate for ICA members. We are developing new ideason how to increase the awareness of your issues and will keep you informed as the process unfolds.

Car wash operators may be challenged by ADAS technology but that challenge is also creating an opportunity that coulddrive more business to your store. Educating customers on the importance of keeping these additional sensors andvideo locations clean could result in increased affinity for your wash and repeat business.

Derek Kaufman is a Managing Partner at Schwartz Advisors (SA). SA is a team of highly experienced auto aftermarketexperts working with clients in corporate growth projects and both buy-side and sell-side merger and acquisitionactivities. As part of its growth consulting work, SA keeps current with the emerging technologies and businessmodels that will drive the future supply of automotive parts and service. The reference to any specific commercialproducts, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise, does not necessarilyconstitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by ICA or Schwartz Advisors. The views and opinionsof the author do not necessarily state or reflect those of the ICA staff.