What is a software-defined vehicle? Questions and answers at ACT Expo 2025
By Bradley Osborne – 3rd July 2025
Startling claims were made by two panellists on the mainstage of the Anaheim convention centre on the first day of the ACT Expo. The first – Peter Ludwig – announced that software-defined vehicles will make today’s vehicles look as outmoded as the steam train. The second claim came from David Liu, who said that self-driving vehicles will be the industry’s greatest invention since the diesel engine. These men have business interests in the development of software-defined and autonomous vehicles; we would expect them to say as much. A moderate response to the advent of these technologies came from Sherry Sanger – executive vice president of strategy and marketing at Penske Transportation Solutions – who sat on a different panel: she warned delegates not to rashly take up a new technology or “solution” without first having a clearly-defined problem for it to solve.
