Autonomous driving and artificial intelligence are the headlines at this week’s Guangzhou Auto Show – the last big gathering of Chinese automakers for the year.
Elon Musk’s Tesla aims to market as fully self-driving in China in the first quarter of next year, pending regulatory approval, domestic electric car makers are telling consumers that their latest driving assistant services — that can travel on highways or busy roads. City streets — coming very soon, if they’re not already here.
Last week, Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun conducted a live stream test drive of the SU7 EV going from “parking lot to parking lot”. The feature, to be tested with a select group of owners and media, is inspired by Tesla’s FSD end-to-end technology, which uses cameras and sensors to make real-time driving decisions, rather than relying on engineers to code rules. Uses large AI models. To simulate driving, Lee said.
“Parking space to parking space means starting from the parking space to the destination, using smart driving all the way,” Lee said during the live stream. “This technology is magical. It’s also the most advanced technology in assisted driving today. It was first released by Tesla in the US in January. Our colleagues in China have started trying to capture this new frontier. Xiaomi has is in a relatively prominent position in the field,” he said.
Although the safety and reliability of driver-assistance systems are still under debate — with lawsuits and US federal investigations into Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD systems — many in the industry see autonomous as the future of mobility. Betting on driving technology and racing it. Stay ahead of competitors in the field.
Indeed, Musk has staked Tesla’s future on solving self-driving. It unveiled a prototype of the CyberCab last month, although admitted that the robotaxy – which has no steering wheel or pedals – will likely only go into production in 2026 at the earliest.
Geely’s premium Zeekr EV brand also used the Guangzhou show to launch version 2.0 of its smart driving solution – which includes end-to-end technology – and plans to roll out urban navigation across the country by the end of the year. . The EV maker is also considering releasing its ADAS technology for the global market in the future.
Chen Qi, who joined Zeekr in 2021 after running Huawei’s autonomous driving unit, said Tesla’s FSD will put pressure on Chinese EV makers, which is good because it will spur more competition and innovation. And China’s local engineers are more than capable of coming up with good technology, he said.
“China’s talent in algorithms or software is much higher than what is found in some other countries,” Chen said. “Looking at people globally who are working on intelligent driving, apart from Chinese companies, the most advanced company is Tesla.”
“And China has unique road conditions and regulatory requirements, so when Tesla enters the market next year, it may not adapt right away,” he said.
Search giant and Geely’s joint venture Jidu Auto, also known as Jiyue in China, has pushed the envelope and applied AI to its electric hypercar, the Robo X. The Racer can accelerate from 0 to 100k/hr in just 1.9 seconds and a range of 650 km (403 miles) on a single charge.
While the price has not been set, customers can place an order with a 49,999 yuan ($6,900) deposit.
“RoboX is almost like an experiment that can push the boundaries for the future of AI autonomous driving and AI for any mobility product,” Jidu head of design Frank Wu said at the Auto Show. Also experienced.” At the end of the week
Xpeng, Li Auto and Great Wall Motor were among other automakers to unveil their latest intelligent driving offerings at the show, which runs through November 24 in Guangzhou.
“Faster speed, more precision, better electrical output efficiency, better aerodynamics and driving balance,” Wu said. “AI can make cars do everything better.”
