There is a growing chance your next vehicle will be a connected car, augmented with Internet-connected intelligent systems and services.

By 2017, every new car sold in Europe will be required to have an embedded SIM and built-in emergency calling features. “By 2018, most new vehicles will come with integrated apps as standard,” said Juniper Research analyst, Anthony Cox. By 2024, Analysys Mason expects 89% of new cars will include embedded connectivity.

While I don’t imagine anyone will buy these vehicles for making on-dash Facebook updates or the chance to shop online while driving, many people may want the convenience of always-available, contextual, predictive navigation to get them from Point A to Point B. Many will welcome the potential these vehicles have to cut fuel bills and lower CO2 emissions (4.8 billion hours were wasted by U.S. drivers trapped in traffic congestion in 2010). These reductions are of great significance to combat climate change; each of the over 1 billion cars in use today is estimated to release six tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. We’re choking the planet.

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