The Land Rover Defender could be fording a stream tires-deep in the middle of nowhere while its onboard computers are being updated, thanks to a new connectivity system that includes two modems and two eSIMs.
One modem and eSIM is dedicated to Jaguar Land Rover’s technology that updates the vehicle’s software over the air — so customers no longer have to schedule a service appointment at the dealership for software updates and reflashes. The other modem and eSIM is connected to the Defender’s music streaming and access to apps.
The second-generation Defender “has the digital capacity to keep customers connected, updated and entertained at all times, anywhere in the world,” Peter Virk, JLR’s director of connected car and future technology, said in a statement. “You could liken the design to a brain, with each half enjoying its own connection for unrivaled and uninterrupted service,” he added.
An eSIM is an electronic memory chip, coming this year in cellphones, that stores user information in an embedded card, removing the physical slot in the computer for the card. Land Rover is claiming that the Defender will be the world’s first vehicle to have a dual-modem, dual-eSIM system.
JLR executives are showing the new Defender this week at the Qualcomm and BlackBerry booths at CES in Las Vegas.