ELECTRIC vehicle (EV) giant BYD has signed an agreement with Huawei to use the tech conglomerate’s advanced autonomous driving system (ADS) in its off-road e-SUV Fangchengbao cars, Huawei said yesterday.

The Bao 8 SUV under the Fangchengbao lineup will be the first BYD model to sport Huawei’s Qiankun intelligent driving system and go on sale later this year.

The Qiankun ADS 3.0 system allows a car to brake and stop at a shorter distance than previous versions, and to navigate various complex scenarios such as toll gates, roundabouts, and turning around on a narrow road, Huawei said. The system allows the car owner to choose a parking spot, leave the vehicle, and wait for the system to park it. The owner can also use their smartphone to move the vehicle if it coincidently blocks other cars.

The tie-up follows BYD’s efforts to move upscale as it aims to increase the sales of its premium brands of Denza, Fangchengbao and Yangwang to improve profitability. The three brands accounted for just 5% of its total sales in the first half of this year, according to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The use of Huawei technology also highlights pressure on the Chinese EV champion to play catch-up against rivals in beefing up smart driving configuration with in-house development.

BYD has dominated the EV market with a significant cost advantage thanks to its vertical integration strategy by making the key components such as batteries on its own.

It began to work with Baidu on cars with ADS back in 2018, as its chairman Wang Chuanfu optimistically predicted the firm will mass produce Level 3, an advanced level, of self-driving cars “in the near future.” It also signed a strategic partnership agreement with Huawei in March 2019 to cooperate on self driving and smart connected vehicles.

However, BYD lags behind other EV makers in the integration of navigate on autopilot (NOA) systems in its cars, such as Nio, Xpeng, and Changan Automobile. Statistics from Kaiyuan Securities revealed that in the first half of 2023, 209,400 new cars delivered in China were fitted with NOA systems, an increase of 108.98% from a year earlier. Only earlier this year, BYD’s Denza N7 began to be fitted with an NOA system applicable on city roads.

The company has been investing heavily in developing its own advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) by hiring thousands of engineers since last year. It still relies on external suppliers for such intelligent features in upmarket models, including using Momenta ADAS in its Denza cars.

Reports of the possible approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) by Chinese regulators this year have also fueled the competition in smart driving in China.

BYD’s partnership with Huawei also reflected the growing presence of the Chinese tech company in the EV sector as a major supplier of ADAS.

Huawei unveiled its HI intelligent automotive solution in April 2021. The system comprises a computing system, 4D imaging radar, an autonomous driving platform and intelligent thermal management.

Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s executive director, said his firm aims to be a major supplier of the smart software powering next-generation electric vehicles.

Huawei launched Aito in partnership with carmaker Seres in December, 2021 and has since released models including the M5, M7 and M9.

It has teamed up with other domestic auto firms such as Chery Automobile, JAC Motors and BAIC Motor to launch more brands in China’s rapidly evolving EV market.

Volkswgen’s Audi will also use Huawei’s ADAS in its EVs for the Chinese market.

(SD News)