On the evening of November 3rd, Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, CEO of Terminal BG, and Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, posted a message on his Moments regarding AEB technology (Autonomous Emergency Braking), Even when it comes to what AEB is, some car company leaders have not yet understood it; some people have not even understood what AEB is! Some people say that intelligent driving is just a scam, almost the same; there is a lack of basic understanding of industry technology progress and future development
He publicly pointed out that some car companies are busy doing intelligent driving all day, and the AEB active safety test results are very poor. It was only when asked that they found out that they did not even do the basic functions of AEB. This surprised me very much! Either I was fooled by my subordinates or I lacked the most basic understanding of the development of the automotive industry
At the same time, he also launched a wave of advertisements for his own intelligent driving - "Huawei ADS advanced intelligent driving brings enhanced AEB and proactive safety capabilities
Yu Chengdong's article is considered by the outside world to be a "retaliation" to the remarks made by He Xiaopeng, Chairman of Xiaopeng Automobile, before that. When asked by He Xiaopeng in an interview that the majority of users of Youshang Dading are willing to pay for the AEB active safety system, he said, "Firstly, most people may never have touched the AEB. Secondly, when Youshang talked about the AEB, I think 99% of it is fake. It is just fake, and the publicity is not officially released by the company, all from small videos. Our people also went to ask, and its AEB cannot be driven at all. There are too many cases of accidental braking on the road
On the evening of November 4th, He Xiaopeng suspected to respond to Yu Chengdong's "choking voice" on his friend circle - "I recently evaluated an industry disorder, but the industry was not in a hurry, non industry people were in a hurry, I don't know what he was in a hurry for.
Xiaopeng and Huawei, as recognized as the top intelligent driving companies in the industry, have a strong sense of gunpowder in their words, which also points to the indisputable fact that "China's autonomous driving speed is coming with a surging posture".
Huawei Xiaopeng "Connected to Each Other through Space"
According to public information, AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking System) is an active safety technology for automobiles. It uses radar to measure the distance between the vehicle or obstacle in front of it, and uses a data analysis module to compare the measured distance with the alarm distance and safety distance. When the distance is less than the alarm distance, an alarm prompt will be given. When the distance is less than the safety distance, the AEB system will activate even if the driver has not had time to press the brake pedal, Automatically brake the car to reduce the probability of collision with vehicles or pedestrians in front and avoid accidents.
The European Euro NCAP agency has previously analyzed that when a rear end collision is about to occur, 20% of drivers can apply full braking, but it may not be possible to avoid a collision due to the late braking time; 49% of drivers experience collisions due to insufficient braking force; 31% of drivers did not take any effective measures. AEB technology can reduce rear end collisions by 38% in reality, improving driving safety.
Currently, Huawei is a company that primarily promotes AEB technology as its selling point. In September, Yu Chengdong stated that the Wenjie New M7 intelligent driving version is the first to be equipped with Huawei ADS 2.0 advanced intelligent driving system, and its active safety capability continues to evolve. It launches an omnidirectional collision prevention system, achieving forward, lateral, and backward omnidirectional collision prevention capabilities; Increasing the maximum braking speed of AEB to 90km/h can reduce traffic accidents caused by lack of concentration and complex road conditions by 90%.
Huawei claims that its ADS 2.0 system is based on GOD (General Obstacle Detection) network and RCR (Road Topology Reasoning) network 2.0 technology, which can achieve a 99% recognition rate for obstacle types and independently understand complex road conditions, truly achieving "understanding of objects and roads".
This function also provides a blessing for the "sales boom" of the new M7. When the 21st Century Economic Report visited the car market earlier, it was found that many car owners who had paid a big order were placing orders for smart driving ability - "I saw the video of the actual measurement of the smart driving ability of the new M7 on Tiktok, and I want to experience the smart black technology carried by the new M7" "Smart driving must be just needed, buy early and enjoy early"
According to a survey by Car FANS, Wenjie's live streaming of intelligent driving on social media platforms has also brought a massive influx of stores. According to the plan, the intelligent driving navigation assistance (NCA) function in Wenjie urban area will cover urban areas nationwide in December this year. The high selection rate of ADS high-end packages in the Wenjie new M7 "Battle Report" also confirms the increasing recognition of "intelligent driving" by consumers at present.
Among the 55000 orders as of October 7th, the selection rate for the five seater Max version ADS advanced package is 70%, and the selection rate for the six seater Max version ADS advanced package is 68%.
However, in the view of He Xiaopeng, the current discussion of AEB in the automotive industry is mainly about vertical AEB, which should be triggered at a speed of within 6060km/h in most cases. If the speed is too high, once the brake is accidentally applied, it will be a huge shock to the user, which is simply unacceptable.
We are using XNGP technology now, and we will take AEB as one of the directions to do well in the future. For example, we have been mentioning a term called static AEB, which means that once there are obstacles around, the vehicle will actively avoid them and cannot even collide with them. In the opinion of He Xiaopeng, treating customers as mice is not right. Some companies dare to do so, but there will also be backlash.
Intelligent driving accelerates entry, leading manufacturers compete and upgrade
In fact, the "air tight interconnection" between Yu Chengdong and He Xiaopeng highlights the increasingly fierce competition for new energy vehicles, and the competition among top domestic manufacturers in intelligent driving solutions is accelerating and upgrading.
Data shows that the proportion of intelligent driving in the importance factors of car purchase decisions has significantly increased, accounting for 10%. Meanwhile, in the sales trend of new energy vehicles, the penetration rate of models with core intelligent driving functions is rapidly increasing, especially in the price range of 150000 to 250000 yuan and 250000 to 300000 yuan, which is almost doubling in two years.
The speed of autonomous driving in China is approaching us with a surging posture, and the L2 level autonomous driving market is beginning to develop towards standard equipment. The L2.5 level autonomous driving market is rapidly breaking the ice, and there are many products with high cost-effectiveness and excellent user experience in the industry. This year, Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group (IDG) began large-scale production Su Tan, General Manager of the Intelligent Vehicle Business Department, stated in an interview with 21st Century Economic Report reporters.
As an important feature of smart cars, intelligent driving is becoming another selling point in the competition for new cars. Since the beginning of this year, multiple car companies have launched an arms race on the city's NOA (Navigation on Autopilot), opening up a new battlefield for intelligent driving.
Intelligent driving is the ace of Xiaopeng Motors and a technical barrier it strictly guards against. On the 1024 Xiaopeng Technology Day, He Xiaopeng said, "Xiaopeng Automobile will start public testing tonight for its urban NGP (Intelligent Navigation Assisted Driving) function that does not rely on high-precision maps. It will be fully promoted by the end of November and will achieve urban NGP function without maps in 50 cities by the end of this year. By 2024, Xiaopeng XNGP function will cover major road networks in China and be simultaneously promoted to other regions such as Europe
It should be noted that the current competition in the field of intelligent driving is fierce. Huawei and Baidu, with their technological heritage, have respectively created technological advantages in intelligent driving for Wenjie and Jiyue. Ideal is also stepping up the mobilization of all resources to supplement the shortcomings of intelligent driving.
In contrast, Huawei is more aggressive, proposing that the advanced intelligent driving function, which does not rely on high-precision maps, will cover the entire country by the end of the year, far higher than the previously planned 45 city plan.
And intelligent driving has also become an important investment area for Ideal Cars this year. On the eve of National Day, it was revealed that Ideal Automobile held an autumn strategy meeting, focusing on discussing the company's strategic direction for the next 5-10 years. Among them, the intelligent driving business was highly valued. Ideal Automobile CEO Li Xiang reflected that the company had not given enough attention to intelligent driving before and should fully invest six months in advance, rather than starting at the beginning of this year.
There is over 70 billion yuan of cash lying on the account, and we need to transform it into sustained competitiveness. As of June 30, 2023, the cash reserves of Ideal Automobile reached 73.77 billion yuan, and Ideal can continue to strengthen investment and still catch up quickly. It is reported that currently, the heads of perception and systems within Ideal Automotive have been promoted to Vice President. At the same time, Ideal Automobile has also released a large number of intelligent driving recruitment positions, covering software algorithms, large models, vehicle hardware, testing, operations and other fields, totaling 50 social recruitment positions.
BYD, which once believed that 'autonomous driving is a scam,' has also made frequent moves in the field of intelligent driving. On the one hand, it has invested in chip manufacturer Horizon and laser radar supplier Sagitar Juchuang, and has also established a joint venture with autonomous driving software solution supplier Momenta, Dipai Zhixing, to seek cooperation in advanced intelligent driving; On the other hand, BYD's intelligent driving team underwent structural adjustments. Wang Huan, the former head of intelligent driving research and development, resigned and Han Bing, the former director of electronic integration, took over.
BYD Executive Vice President Li Ke stated that BYD has currently recruited a software team of four to five thousand people for autonomous driving. We are not ahead of others, but we will propose various types of innovation within two to three years
In addition, Zhiji Automobile announced that by the end of the year, the NOA of Zhiji LS6 cities will begin large-scale public testing. Within the year next year, Zhiji will achieve no map city NOA and commuting mode, covering 100 key cities in the country; Tengshi N7 has added a high speed intelligent driving package and will launch urban NOA promotion in the first quarter of next year.
Regarding the actions of friends in the field of intelligent driving and the plan to implement advanced intelligent driving systems nationwide by the end of the year, In an interview with 21st Century Economic Report reporters, He Xiaopeng said, "Some of us are responsible for shouting and getting everyone's attention. Some people are responsible for working, doing these things well, and then bringing customers over. I think this cooperation is a perfect match. However, doing too advanced marketing in the field of autonomous driving can bring many safety risks because editing a video is too simple but mass production is difficult
According to the data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2022, the sales of new ICV equipped with auxiliary auto drive system in China will reach 7 million, with a year-on-year growth of 45.6%, and the market share will rise to 34.9%. In the first half of this year, the sales of new passenger cars with combined driving assistance accounted for 42.4%, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points compared to the same period last year. It is expected that the penetration rate of L2 level and above intelligent driving for passenger cars will reach 70% by 2025.
China's intelligent connected vehicles have transitioned from small-scale testing and verification to a new stage of rapid technological development and ecological acceleration. "Wu Feng, Director of the Automotive Management Department of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that there are still issues that need to be addressed, such as policies and regulations that need to be improved, technological development paths and commercialization models that need to be explored, and industrial management collaboration that needs to be further strengthened. All parties need to work together to study and solve them.