General Motors on Monday showed off its latest electronic platform to support the needs of future vehicles as more technology seeps into them.

The electrical architecture will provide the structure for future active safety features, infotainment systems, electric cars, and the automaker's hands-free highway driving system, Super Cruise. The new platform was needed because the technology drivers enjoy today, like infotainment functions and other connectivity features, requires more electrical bandwidth. The latest digital platform will secure the necessary additions well into the future, GM said.

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

For example, the new platform will be able to manage 4.5 terabytes of data processing per hour, which is five times more than the current electrical architecture, the automaker said. An ethernet connection is also now present, which will speed up communications within and outside the vehicle at connection speeds of 100Mbs, 1Gpbs, and 10Gbps.

GM spokesman Phil Leinert told Motor Authority that the architecture will have the bandwith to support a 5G connection for the OnStar telematics system once that becomes available.

While drivers will hardly notice the benefits, they will likely take advantage of one major addition: over-the-air software updates. Currently, the Chevrolet Bolt EV is one of the few GM vehicles that handles OTA updates. However, every single car in the future will have the functionality, which will allow the automaker to push updates without the owner bringing the car to a dealership service department. The addition will be crucial to all of GM's future electric cars.

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

With increased connectivity and functions also comes a heightened sense of cybersecurity. GM said cybersecurity is a "key pillar" of the new electrical architecture with safeguards that reflect threats today, and potential new threats tomorrow.

The new electrical platform will first go into production with the 2020 Cadillac CT5 later this year. Following the Cadillac sedan, nearly every single vehicle GM sells globally should house the architecture come 2023.