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Autonomous vehicles
TechBig Tech

Amid race for self-driving tech, China’s EV makers face a tough choice: commercialise existing systems or years of R&D

  • China’s biggest electric car makers and tech giants are racing to develop level-three autonomous driving without a legal framework to support it
  • Experts say fully autonomous driving is years away, pushing some EV firms to focus on commercialising existing assisted-driving systems

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People visit at the Li Auto booth at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 19, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Ann Caoin Shanghai,Lilian ZhangandTracy Quin Shanghai

Chinese tech giants and electric vehicle (EV) makers are in a heated race to find breakthroughs in autonomous driving, which analysts and company executives say remains years away from consumer applications.

At this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, China’s largest car exhibition that concluded last Thursday, the country’s major home-grown EV makers showcased their progress in autonomous technologies.

Li Auto, a Beijing-based EV maker, revealed its new City NOA (Navigation on ADAS – advanced driver-assistance system) for cars equipped with its AD Max 3.0 autonomous driving system. City NOA will “be able to function without high-precision maps and perceive, decide and plan in real time like a human driver”, according to Lang Xianpeng, vice-president of Li Auto’s Autonomous Driving group.

Xpeng, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is using its own proprietary autonomous driving software called X-NGP (navigation-guided pilot) in the G6 mid-size SUV, which is capable of recognising traffic lights at intersections, changing lanes, overtaking other vehicles and executing left and right turns.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Big tech companies already involved in artificial intelligence have also joined the race. Firms including Huawei Technologies, Baidu and SenseTime are pitching their own autonomous driving systems.

Ahead of the show, Huawei launched ADS 2.0, which the Chinese telecoms equipment giant claims is safer than the first generation version of ADS and does not rely on high-precision maps. Some cars have already been equipped with the new system, including a high-end version of AITO M5, the company said.

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