How would we design a modern vehicle electrical architecture if we were able to start from a clean slate? Current main stream vehicle electrical architectures are the result of an evolution of a continuous add-on approach: every new feature brings its own controller, sensors and actuators. Serial communication grows by adding new independent busses with new protocols. Wire harness complexity, weight and packaging are reaching their limits. The current approach is not sustainable for the new levels of electronic features required in future vehicles.  This presentation will talk about the challenges of designing a new conceptual architecture based on a centralized computing platform that integrates software from different application domains. We will analyze the enabling technologies that we need to put in place to realize such architecture in terms of software platforms, computational performance and serial communication. We will also discuss some of the business challenges of this approach. The presentation will conclude with an evaluation of the advantages and benefits of a Software Defined Centralized Architecture.