The RAM shortage will make cars more expensive

• It all started with a harmless chatbot
• Semiconductors are scattered throughout your car
• Is there even a way to fix it

While much of the general discourse in tech circles at the moment centers on the ongoing RAM shortage, other areas of industry will also feel the debacle’s sting. One industry in particular that has seen its share of trials and tribulations over the last calendar year is the automotive industry, and the RAM shortage poses yet another potentially catastrophic manufacturing threat to an industry that is already on its heels. But how, one might ask? My car doesn’t need a graphics card, per se?

You’re correct in that your car doesn’t need Nvidia’s latest 5090 GPU. However, it does require an impressive amount of semiconductors and DRAM, which are manufactured by the same companies that build the products used in RAM and large AI data centers. These manufacturers are prioritizing data center construction due to higher profit margins and, as a result, making fewer components necessary for automotive manufacturing. If you were around for the 2021 chip crisis, it shouldn’t get that bad, but experts say it could rival last year’s Nexperia chip shortage, and potentially cause even greater damage. So, how did we get here?

It all started with a harmless chatbot

If you don’t believe in the butterfly effect, this should convince you

ChatGPT has been controversial ever since its launch, but one thing is not up for debate: it’s gaining users, and fast. Thus, demand has only grown for new data centers and facilities to handle the sheer amount of data collected from its users and partners. These facilities require massive numbers of GPUs to work correctly, and not just any old GPU, either. They require top-of-the-line products to function smoothly, which demand top-of-the-line prices.

As a result, manufacturers such as Nvidia, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron Technology, and other industry leaders in RAM production are shifting their focus toward data center applications rather than automotive applications. Scarcity will only increase DRAM prices for automotive manufacturers, with consumers bearing the brunt. Still, overall semiconductor production is another story altogether, and one that could be all the more complicated.

Semiconductors are scattered throughout your car

And they’re everywhere else, too

It’s important to note that there’s a difference between DRAM and semiconductors in general. Think of DRAM as a product made from semiconductor material. Often, these products are lumped into a single group, most of which are labeled as plain old “chips.” While I have my own qualms with the nomenclature, it is essential to distinguish them in this case, because while DRAM is filled with semiconductor materials, so is just about every other electronic component in your car.

This is where the actual bottleneck lies for automotive manufacturers, who used up their stockpiles of these materials during the Nexperia incident and now face yet another supply chain crisis. While smaller suppliers may surface for things like DRAM, it won’t matter at all if the automotive industry can’t get a grip on semiconductor production overall. For this reason, this looming crisis is expected to fall somewhere between 2025’s shortage and the 2021 debacle, which saw over 5 million cars remain on the assembly line. How far to one side of the scale or the other this shortage ends up being can’t precisely be forecast, but no one thinks it’s going to be a good thing.

Is there even a way to fix it

There are some strategies, but none are lovable

In yet another blow to the EV marketplace, it figures that EVs are the most susceptible to this shortage, seeing as they contain nearly double the amount of semiconductor materials as typical internal combustion cars. However, even traditional ICE vehicles still use a wide array of semiconductor components. One potential fix is to make cars a bit dumber, for lack of a better term, but consumers won’t respond well to that, no matter how many enthusiasts like myself cry out for “rugged” vehicles.

The longer-term solution would be to begin work on fixing a supply chain that has been utterly ravaged over the past few years. However, that would more than likely lead to more factory closures and cutbacks to stave off the tide of lackluster production and the shortage overall. If you think that sounds like a great idea, ask the hundreds of thousands of factory workers across the country and globe what they think of the prospect of losing their jobs. I’d wager they’ll tell you it’s a lot less than ideal.

The truth is, there is no easy road to fixing the issue, and the road most manufacturers end up taking inevitably benefits the brands above all else. That being said, if you were looking to buy a car soon, you might want to jump, or see if you can squeeze a few more miles out of the one you’ve already got.