BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker based in Shenzhen, will invest 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) in smart cars, as the company expects intelligent new energy vehicles (NEVs) to be the next battlefield for the industry, its founder and CEO Wang Chuanfu said.

He made the remarks at the company’s Dream Day event in Shenzhen on Tuesday to launch its smart car system, Xuanji.

The system integrates several technologies BYD has developed in both vehicle intelligence and electrification, including cloud-based artificial intelligence, 5G network connectivity, smart driving and smart-cockpit features, enabling a car to perceive changes in the internal and external environment and adjust in real time to enhance driving safety and comfort, according to the company.

“The first half [of the game] is about electrification, the second half is about intelligence,” Wang said, without giving a time frame for or more details about what innovations the 100 billion yuan investment is expected to yield.

BYD, which surpassed Tesla to become the biggest maker of pure battery-powered EVs in last year’s fourth quarter, is now looking to intelligent vehicles as it seeks to catch up with its competitors in features such as autonomous driving and voice recognition.

The company has over 90,000 employees, with some 4,000 working on smart driving, including 1,000 algorithm and hardware engineers and 3,000 software engineers, Wang said.

EVs with the latest digital technologies have become a trend in China because young drivers give priority to autonomous driving systems and digital cockpits when scouting for new cars.

Intelligence is measured by a car’s digital bells and whistles through built-in features such as voice-activated controls, facial recognition, over-the-air software upgrades, phone compatibility and self-parking.

“Nearly all key Chinese EV builders are strengthening their research and development teams to make their cars smarter in terms of self-driving and in-car entertainment,” said Cao Hua, a partner at the Shanghai private-equity firm Unity Asset Management, which counts artificial intelligence (AI) and vehicle robots among its investments.

“BYD, well known for its high-quality batteries, is playing catch-up with its domestic counterparts like Nio and Xpeng [in offering smart features]. So, it is investing heavily in intelligence to maintain its sales growth momentum.”

In 2023, more than 57% of the vehicles BYD sold came with smart driving systems, and the company expects to further increase the percentage this year. Last year, BYD sold more than 3 million NEVs, including pure EVs and plug-in hybrids, a year-on-year increase of 60%, Wang said.

This year, BYD will launch more than 10 high-end smart driving models equipped with lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors. Models priced above 200,000 yuan will offer high-end intelligent driving assistance systems as an option, while it will be standard in models priced above 300,000 yuan, he added.        (SD-Agencies)