RemotiveLabs builds tools that make it easier to integrate early and collaborate across teams. As automotive software becomes more complex, early testing and seamless teamwork are critical.

Why Automotive Software Complexity Demands a New Development Mindset

Everyone close to the automotive industry, especially in the EV space, knows that car software isn’t what it used to be. We’ve moved well beyond the days of discrete, siloed ECUs doing single tasks. Today’s vehicles are software-defined machines with increasingly centralized architectures, gigabytes of data flowing every second, and real-time performance constraints that rival those of high-frequency trading systems.

With electric vehicles (EVs), the challenge multiplies. Electrification is not just about swapping out internal combustion engines for batteries. It changes everything: from powertrain control strategies, energy management, to how auxiliary systems (like climate control or infotainment) interact. All of these are now deeply intertwined, and software is the glue holding it together.

Software is the glue that holds it all together. But this complexity comes at a cost:

• Long iteration cycles
• Late integration
• Unpredictable bugs
• Developers spending more time firefighting than innovating

So, how do we manage this growing complexity without drowning in it?

Waiting for hardware or other teams to catch up? There is a better way! (Created with https://imgflip.com)

Shift Left, Start Strong

The answer lies in shifting left.

Instead of waiting until the final stages to put things together and pray it works, modern automotive software development needs to start integrating and testing early, very early. Think running a vehicle on a Linux laptop (see case study with Volvo Cars). Think early and rapid integration. Think continuous testing.

This "shift left" approach isn't just a buzzword. It's about finding issues when they're cheap and easy to fix, and building confidence as you go. It demands new tools, new ways of working, and better collaboration across disciplines.

That’s where RemotiveLabs comes in.

They provide lightweight tools to support this shift-left approach in a real, practical way.

From Idea to HIL: Mature your vehicle software in one place 

Go from system definition to a runnable topology in three simple steps. RemotiveTopology enables modular vehicle development from early interface validation to maturing physical platforms - explore documentation. 

RemotiveTopology gives you a structured way to describe, interact and mature the full system, the topology — signals, networks, ECUs — while letting you decide exactly which parts to spin up and work with. Whether it’s a handful of components or a full vehicle network, you can quickly create distributed environments for development and testing without having to build everything from scratch. 

Topologies are described early on using both available data (.arxml, .dbc, .fidl)  and code, making it easy to reuse components across different setups and evolve your test environment alongside your development. RemotiveTopology can automatically simulate missing nodes, letting you focus purely on your software without worrying about manually mocking every input and output. You quickly go from defining your topology to being able to interact with it using your favorite tools and test suites (Pytest, Jupyter Notebooks etc etc). 

Because it uses real network protocols, just like the hardware (eg. CAN, LIN, and Autosar PDUs), your existing tools just work — no hacks or workarounds needed. Plus, you can start building test harnesses and automation tools right from the start, tools that will stay relevant from early prototyping to full-scale HIL testing.

RemotiveTopology enables integration testing to occur from day one using low-fidelity mocks. Software engineers can test directly on their Linux-laptops and build reusable test suites in common CI pipelines to constantly increase integration coverage. By finding as many errors as possible ahead of moving to costly hardware, the dependency on HIL rigs is reduced, and “integration hell” can be avoided.

Bringing Your Signal Data — and Teams — Together in the RemotiveCloud

Easy sharing, streaming and analysing of vehicle data. Sign up for free tier with available sample data: cloud.remotivelabs.com

RemotiveCloud functions like a lightweight and accessible vehicle simulation. Signal databases and recordings can be uploaded and then analyzed or played back directly in the browser. You can also stream signal recordings from the cloud into real hardware or applications, like ProtoPie, Unity, or Android emulators, to enable more realistic testing.

Streams can be transformed on the fly into formats that match your needs, such as Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) or Android Automotive OS vehicle properties. And when it's time to dive deeper, your data can be exported to open formats like CSV or Parquet — making it easy to bring into data science workflows or long-term analysis pipelines.

Whether you're working with a teammate down the hall or a partner company across the globe, RemotiveCloud lets you annotate signals, leave comments, and debug issues together in real time. You can share data views, mark interesting events, and solve problems side-by-side — even when you're miles apart. RemotiveTopology helps you build software the way vehicles are built today — modular, integrated, and adaptive.

• Define your system using real artifacts: .arxml, .dbc, .fidl, or code
• Reuse components and evolve setups as development progresses
• Automatically simulate missing ECUs — no need to manually mock everything
• Interact via your own tools (Pytest, Jupyter, etc.)
• Test using real protocols like CAN, LIN, Autosar PDUs
• Build test harnesses that scale from prototyping to HIL

RemotiveCloud supports both a graphical interface and a command-line tool (RemotiveCLI). The graphical interface runs directly in your web browser, meaning you can work from any platform without installing anything — Windows, Mac, Linux, or even a tablet. Whether you're visualizing time series, replaying drive cycles, or building continuous validation into CI pipelines, RemotiveCloud brings your signal data — and your team — together in one place.

The New Mindset: From Reactive to Iteration Speed

Automotive software is getting more complex; more signals, more systems, more integration. The mindset shift starts with early testing, cross-team collaboration, and lightweight tools that grow with your development cycle. RemotiveTopology and RemotiveCloud are built to help teams integrate earlier, collaborate better, and move with confidence. At RemotiveLabs, we’re helping automotive developers take control:

• Integrate sooner
• Collaboration across disciplines  
• Deliver with confidence, using your favorite tools 

They're not just building a simulation platform — They’re building a better way to develop vehicle software: open, modular and developer-first. Because shaping the future of mobility shouldn’t mean getting stuck in outdated workflows.

👉 Explore RemotiveCloud for free Try the free tier and experiment with real signal data and lightweight vehicle simulations.
👉 Book a demo of RemotiveTopology See how easy it is to define, run, and scale your own vehicle system.