Reflections from Stuttgart: ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo 2025

Reflections from Stuttgart: ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Tech Expo 2025(20/05-22/05)

At this year’s ADAS & AV Technology Expo in Stuttgart, there was a quiet cohesion to the conversations that stood out. While the conference spanned a broad spectrum of Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) topics, three themes echoed through the exhibition halls and speaker sessions: safety, regulation, and simulation.

It’s no surprise that safety took centre stage — but what was encouraging was the depth of discussion behind the headline. It’s easy to think of safety in terms of accident reduction alone, but the conversations here went further. There was a clear push to redefine public understanding of how AVs consider safety in a more holistic way: from operational design domains (ODDs) to ethical decision-making and vulnerability analysis. It was a reminder that safety isn’t just a metric — it’s a mindset. It’s also one that must be effectively communicated beyond the technical community if public trust is to grow.

Running parallel to these safety conversations was a noticeable emphasis on regulation. While regulation is often seen as trailing behind innovation, it’s been clear from the conference speakers that the EU, UN, and individual member states are investing significant time and energy into shaping proactive frameworks. Some approaches are distinctly vehicle-centric, while others lean toward service-based models, which may ultimately shape the commercialisation pathway of AVs across regions.

That, in turn, links directly back to simulation. Connected and Automated Mobility places a uniquely heavy reliance on simulation throughout development — from system design to validation and assurance. That focus was reflected not just in the conference programme, but on the exhibition floor too, where tools, platforms, and strategies for simulation were centre stage. What’s evident is that simulation isn’t a single step in the CAM lifecycle — it’s a constant companion, and a critical enabler of safe testing and deployment.

The presentations were engaging throughout the show, featuring prominent ADS stack developers as well as consortia projects from across Europe.

Panel discussions repeatedly circled back to one open question: how will AVs transition into everyday transport? Is it an incremental journey through Levels 2, 2+, and 3? Or will we see the leap to Level 4 vehicles in specific operational domains? A hybrid of both seems most likely — but the timing, sequence, and commercial logic behind that transition remain uncertain.

Data was the thread that tied these themes together — not just how much of it AVs produce (a staggering amount per run), but how it’s managed, filtered, and stored. What data do we really need to keep? What’s the purpose behind its retention? Architecture choices — centralised or decentralised — will have a material impact on the resilience and scalability of future CAV services.

Perhaps most telling of all was that there were no radically novel themes introduced, no sudden pivots in direction. But that in itself was revealing. The focus now is on deepening our understanding, maturing the conversation, and building confidence for the deployments  of CAM services. It’s a sign of a sector beginning to move from experimentation toward implementation — slowly, but deliberately.