What should a smart car look like? An article to understand the high-tech cars at the Shanghai Auto Show

After two rounds of the Shanghai Auto Show, the biggest impression I had was that fuel vehicles no longer grabbed the headlines. All the heavyweight content was biased towards electric vehicles and autonomous driving. Of course, there were also Huawei inside, DJI car-mounted, and Tesla, which has always been a hot search. It is said that 2021 is the first year of autonomous driving, so can autonomous driving really be realized as expected? What should a smart car look like?

LiDAR is now available in cars

At present, most intelligent assisted driving technologies cannot be called true autonomous driving, and the L3 level gap seems difficult to cross. Previously, many car companies, such as Tesla, Xiaopeng, Ideal, and Weilai, used cameras, millimeter-wave radars, and ultrasonic radars to detect the surrounding environment, which can achieve high-speed navigation assisted driving, but they seem to be unable to cope with complex road conditions in the city. However, the official application of lidar has brought about a qualitative improvement in autonomous driving technology and safety assurance.

LiDAR Advantages and Disadvantages

Mechanical LiDAR

LiDAR can effectively solve the problem of environmental detection in complex road conditions, and can build a faster and more accurate 3D point cloud to achieve active obstacle avoidance. However, due to the high cost of mechanical LiDAR in the early years, it can only be seen on experimental verification vehicles, that is, the huge cylinder on the roof, and it will not be used in mass-produced vehicles. But during this Shanghai Auto Show, we saw that both the Xiaopeng P5 and the Polar Fox αS HI version were equipped with smaller and cheaper LiDARs. At the same time, both car companies also claimed that they could achieve autonomous driving for navigation in cities.

Xiaopeng P5 is equipped with DJI LiDAR

Xiaopeng P5 is equipped with two DJI laser radars with a resolution of 144 lines. A single radar can cover 120 degrees horizontally, and two radars can cover 150 degrees. The vertical angle is 25 degrees, which can solve most of the environmental perception in front of the vehicle. One of the more important parameters of laser radar is resolution, that is, the number of lines. The more lines, the clearer the generated point cloud image. Of course, more powerful computing chips and algorithms are needed to parse it. Therefore, the more lines of laser radar, the better. Just find the best point in terms of effect and cost.

DJI Vehicle-mounted Solutions

DJI LiDAR builds point cloud

As an absolute leader in the drone field, DJI has in-depth research and rich technical accumulation in micro-efficient motors, imaging technology, and LiDAR technology, which is one of the reasons why Xiaopeng chose DJI. DJI's LiDAR has a fast-rotating prism inside that quickly illuminates the laser beam to objects within a 120-degree range in front of it, with a maximum distance of up to 150 meters.

DJI Electronic Rearview Mirror LiDAR

In addition, at the DJI car booth, we also found an electronic rearview mirror that integrates side cameras and rear LiDAR, which can greatly reduce the vehicle's blind spot and accurately detect the road conditions behind the vehicle. Although the more LiDARs there are, the higher the level of autonomous driving can be achieved, but because of the cost of the LiDAR itself, and the fact that more LiDARs require more hardware computing power and software algorithms, it will bring higher costs. Therefore, the LiDARs we can see on the car are only used for the perception of the road conditions ahead.

Polar Fox αS HI Edition

The Arcfox αS HI version is equipped with three Huawei's built-in rotating prism laser radars. The resolution of a single radar is 96 lines, the horizontal ranging angle is 120 degrees, the vertical angle is 25 degrees, and the maximum ranging distance is 150 meters. The parameters are basically the same as DJI's laser radar, but Huawei's 96-line resolution is lower than DJI's 144 lines.

Huawei LiDAR Parameters

Huawei Environmental Perception Solution

In addition to the LiDARs of DJI and Huawei, other manufacturers are also involved in the field of LiDAR. The most well-known one in the world is Valeo. Valeo has already demonstrated its LiDAR products at CES 4 or 5 years ago, and at this Shanghai Auto Show, Valeo brought its self-driving logistics vehicles and LiDAR products.

Valeo autonomous logistics vehicle

Valeo Environmental Sensing Demonstration

Farley's autonomous driving concept: 12 millimeter-wave radars + 4 solid-state lidars + 1 front built-in rotating prism lidar, which can realize autonomous driving within the park.

More and more assisted vehicles are equipped with multiple sensors that enable them to analyse their surroundings, which need to be kept clean at all times. Valeo uses its expertise in windshield wipers to design systems that ensure that cameras, radars and lidars always have a clear view in all seasons, weather conditions and road conditions. Several fully automatic cleaning systems have also been designed, which use cleaning nozzles or centrifugal lenses to clear any obstacles that obstruct the field of vision.

robosense lidar

Of course, there is also the old brand Robosense, a manufacturer specializing in environmental perception hardware. At this auto show, it brought the M1 laser radar, which has a horizontal ranging angle of 120 degrees, a vertical angle of 25 degrees, and a ranging range of 200 meters. Let's take a look at what laser radar can bring to autonomous driving through the video:

Robosense LiDAR environmental perception

In addition, in addition to the Xiaopeng P5 and Arcfox αS HI version models that are already equipped with laser radar and can realize intelligent assisted driving in the city, Zhiji L7 and NIO ET7 both have reserved laser radar interfaces. However, unlike Xiaopeng and Arcfox, the latter two place the laser radar on the roof.

Zhiji L7

Zhiji L7 roof lidar reserved opening

NIO ET7

NIO ET7 roof-mounted LiDAR

Various car companies are accelerating the pace of electrification

The progress of new forces in car manufacturing in the new four modernizations has left traditional car companies behind. The installation of laser radar in cars will further widen the product generation gap. However, traditional car companies are not ordinary people. Their car manufacturing plans can be described as more ambitious and comprehensive.

The arrival of Mercedes-Benz EQS has once again allowed the inventor of the car to define pure electric luxury cars. The first car based on the EVA pure electric platform is the flagship model, which is consistent with the tenth-generation S-Class in 2012. Starting from 2021, Mercedes-Benz EQB, EQE, EQS SUV, EQE SUV and even EQG will be released one by one, and the exciting show is waiting for you.

Let's talk about the Mercedes-Benz EQS. Its drag coefficient of 0.20 is the lowest among all mass-produced cars, which can bring better quietness and better cruising range; WLTP cruising range is 770km; top speed is 210km/h; EQS 450+ rear-wheel drive (single motor) power output is 245 kW/568 N·m, EQS 580 4MATIC all-wheel drive (dual motor) power output is 385 kW (rear 255 kW, front 135 kW)/855 N·m; 200kW charging power, 15 minutes can add more than 200km of cruising range. The new MBUX super-connected screen is very cool in itself, plus it can learn the functions commonly used by car owners and display them on the main interface, realizing 0-level display.

The huge closed kidneys of the BMW iX are not only "scary", but also contain environmental perception sensors such as millimeter-wave radar. The body size of the iX is comparable to that of the X5, and it can be regarded as the pure electric flagship model of the BMW family. The maximum charging power is 200kW, and it only takes 40 minutes to charge from 10% to 80%. The XDrive50 model has a maximum power of 375kW, accelerates from 0 to 100 kilometers in less than 5 seconds, and has a WLTP range of more than 600km.

The BMW iX is equipped with the eighth-generation iDrive, 5G technology, stronger computing power and bandwidth, and has a data processing capacity 20 times that of current vehicles. In addition, the new iDrive system also supports 0-level display, which is more convenient for users. However, the curved dual-screen design of the BMW iX is not a particularly novel product at present, and BMW is still traditional in interior design.

Flagship electric car Mercedes-Benz EQS vs BMW iX

Lexus LF-Z

Toyota has finally welcomed the pure electric platform e-TNGA, saying goodbye to the previous "oil-to-electric" transformation. The Lexus LF-Z is built on the Toyota e-TNGA pure electric platform. The vehicle body size is 4880*1960*1600mm, the wheelbase is 2950mm, the curb weight is 2100 kg, the WLTP range is 600 kilometers, and it is equipped with a 90kWh lithium-ion battery. The acceleration time from 0 to 100 kilometers is 3 seconds, the maximum output power is 400kW, and the maximum output torque is 700N·m. The most interesting thing about it is that it uses electric-by-wire steering and a new generation of DIRECT4 four-wheel drive control system. Through independent control of the front and rear drive wheels, the system can switch between front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, and provide drive modes that meet various driving scenarios. At the same time, the system will control the distribution of driving force through seamless coordination and precise calculation of throttle depth and steering wheel operation, bringing a more intuitive acceleration experience and cornering performance. At the same time, LF-Z also uses wire-controlled steering technology to replace the traditional steering shaft mechanical steering. The response between steering operation and driving force is more direct, and the vehicle's response and control will also be more direct.

Toyota BZ4X

The Toyota BZ4X SUV, which is also based on the e-TNGA pure electric platform, is still a concept car, but both the exterior and interior look very close to a mass-produced car. Toyota has not yet disclosed the specific parameters, but it is expected to accommodate a battery pack of 50kWh to 100kWh, achieve a pure electric driving range of 300-599 km, and support front-wheel/rear-wheel or four-wheel drive. Whether it is the Lexus LF-Z or the Toyota BZ4X, the cautious Toyota has finally entered the real pure electric vehicle industry, which is a huge improvement compared to the previous oil-to-electric Izoa EV and C-HR EV. Toyota has missed the first turning point of electrification, and I believe it can catch up a little bit this time.