Four new trends in the new era of the automotive industry

More than 1,000 companies participated in the exhibition, 150 launch conferences, nearly 120 new cars, and the total exhibition area exceeded 360,000 square meters...

The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show is in full swing. Compared with the regretful cancellation of Beijing last year and the hasty withdrawal of the exhibition in Chengdu, as the first heavyweight auto show held in China after the normalization of the epidemic, it is also the first A-class auto show in the world this year. The Shanghai Auto Show This has kicked off the recovery of the auto market and also opened a new door for market competition in the new era.

The theme of this auto show is "Embracing the New Era of the Automotive Industry", and today's Chinese automobiles are also at a critical turning point from the old era to the new era, from high-speed development to a new stage of high-quality development. In recent years, the entire automobile industry has been constantly changing, moving towards electrification and intelligence from multiple dimensions.

So what to see at this Shanghai Auto Show? In addition to watching various companies flex their muscles and release new strategies, new plans, and new cars, we should also see the new trends in the future automobile industry from this auto show.

1. Trend 1: LiDAR is gradually entering the mature stage from the testing period

With the development of smart cars and the triggering of more smart driving scenarios, core sensors based on lidar have become the focus of the industry in recent years. Starting in 2021, car companies have gathered to announce that lidar is "on the road"; by 2022, many models equipped with lidar have begun mass production and delivery; in 2023, lidar is recognized by the outside world to be about to explode.

At this auto show, more and more models are equipped with lidar.

For example, Weilai has unveiled its new ES6, 2023 ET7, new ES8, EC7 and other models this time, each of which is equipped with Tudatong lidar.

In addition to the new P7i and G9, Xpeng also brings the debut of the new mid-size SUV G6. All three models are equipped with versions of the XNGP intelligent assisted driving system equipped with Sagitar Jutron M series lidar.

Ideal’s entire series of products, L9, L8, and L7, were also unveiled, all equipped with Hesai AT128 on the front observation tower on the roof.

In addition to new forces, Volvo's new electric flagship model EX90 uses Luminar lidar. Chery Xingtu's STERRA ES and Hongqi's E001 also have lidar on the roof. These large lidar models mainly come from Sagitar Juchuang, Huawei, Hesai Technology and other companies, and the number of mounted lidars ranges from 1 to 4.

2. Trend 2: Autonomous driving is moving toward “urban NOA”

At this auto show, the urban NOA function has become a highlight of smart travel. On the first day of the auto show, the Xpeng G6 made its official debut. The new car is equipped with the industry's only mass-produced intelligent assisted driving system XNGP, which is the ultimate form of intelligent assisted driving before driverless driving. At present, Xpeng has opened the urban NGP functions in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which marks the official opening of the first phase of XNGP capabilities; and plans to open the second phase of XNGP capabilities in the second half of this year.

Ideal AD Max 3.0 was officially released, announcing that Ideal Auto’s intelligent driving has entered the 3.0 era and has also entered urban scenes. Ideal AD Max 3.0 uses large-model AI algorithms to get rid of dependence on high-precision maps and perceive, make decisions, and plan in real time like a human driver.

Officials stated that the city NOA of Ideal AD Max 3.0 will start pushing internal beta users this quarter, and will cover 100 cities by the end of the year, and has set a "free for life" "flag". However, urban NOA can only be used on Max products, not Pro products yet.

The software and services of Lideal AD Max 3.0 City NOA are free for life. Image source: Lideal Auto

The Wenjie M5 Smart Driving Edition is officially launched. It is the first model in the industry to be equipped with the HUAWEI  ADS  2.0 high-end smart driving system.

The most important upgrade of HUAWEI ADS 2.0 is that it does not rely on high-precision maps. With its support, the implementation speed of intelligent driving navigation assistance in urban areas (NCA) will be greatly improved. According to the commercial plan announced by Huawei, the functional experience with high-precision maps will be opened in 5 cities in the second quarter of 2023, the experience without high-precision maps will be opened in 15 cities in the third quarter, and expanded to 45 cities in the fourth quarter.

In addition, major manufacturers have announced their entry into urban NOA. For example, Baidu has brought a newly upgraded cockpit map product matrix and its flagship product Apollo City Driving Max. According to reports, the system is equipped with two NVIDIA Orin X chips and has a computing power of 508TOPS. It is the only product in China that can provide users with a coherent experience on urban roads using pure visual perception.

In the smart car market of 2023, urban scenes are starting the second half of autonomous driving, and the smart car arms race has begun.

3. Trend 3: Smart cockpits usher in new changes

At this auto show, the Hongmeng cockpit has also been upgraded to 3.0. In addition to being still silky smooth, it has also implemented a number of new software and hardware technologies, such as spatial audio technology for the first time; the rear row is equipped with HUAWEI MagLinkTM magic suction car interface; Further integration with mobile phones, address navigation transfer function within mobile phone applications, car and machine navigation with just a touch of mobile phone, etc.

Traditional car companies are no longer traditional. While Geely Automobile debuted at the auto show with a variety of new energy smart products, it also officially released the Geely Galaxy L7 smart cockpit - the "Smart Love Cockpit". According to officials, the "Smart Love Cockpit" is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip and 128GB storage as standard, as well as the super cloud computing power support of Xingrui Intelligent Computing Center. The total cloud computing power reaches 81 billion times per second, "dual computing power" "The blessing of "Galaxy L7" ensures the response speed of the Galaxy L7.

In terms of system, the Galaxy L7 is equipped with the Galaxy N OS ecosystem. It only takes 2 seconds to open the door and power on, and the hot start speed is claimed to be the fastest in its class. The system UI completely replicates the interaction logic of the mobile phone and adopts a card-style design. , applications can be dragged and added independently, and the entire world can be customized.

Traditional car companies are also involved in the field of smart cockpits.

Volkswagen has brought a new ID.7 sedan. The new car is also very rich in cockpit functions. It is equipped with the new ID.OS 2.0 car operating system, ID.Mate intelligent AI assistant, Smart Air hidden intelligent air conditioner and Skyview intelligent light sensor. Canopy, and the foam material of the seat has been specially adjusted for Chinese people, making the entire seat comfortable and supportive.

BMW brought the i Vision Dee concept car that was unveiled at this year's CES show. The cockpit replaced the screen with a virtual projection, and BMW will reduce the number of screens in future production cars.

Zhiji Auto and Banma Zhixing launched IM OS based on open source Linux, China's only independently developed operating system, which realizes full-stack integration of the entire vehicle from the bottom layer to the application layer, and has very high security and reliability; Lynk & Co joins hands Meizu launched Flyme Auto for the first time.

There are also many cross-border technology companies. SenseAuto debuted, including the first six innovative cockpit products; game engine giant Unity China participated in the auto show for the first time and will release the latest version of its smart cockpit solution on April 20.

Chebai Think Tank (EV100_Plus) believes that giving the cockpit intelligent attributes, not limited to the exquisite design and interior materials, will become a new trend in the era of smart cars.

4. Trend 4: The 800V high-voltage platform has arrived

Range, battery charging, etc. have always been limiting factors for the development of electric vehicles. Against this background, China will rapidly increase its efforts to promote the application of high-voltage fast charging technology for new energy vehicles starting in 2022. Nowadays, the 800V high-voltage technology that “charges for five minutes and has a range of 100 kilometers” is almost regarded as one of the keys to solving the problem of electric travel.

On the first day of the auto show, Xpeng G6, the first new strategic model equipped with Fuyao architecture, was officially unveiled. This is the first mass-produced full-range 800V high-voltage SiC silicon carbide platform and 3C battery cell in China . The new car supports 800V high-voltage fast charging and has a range of 700km. He Xiaopeng pointed out that the advantage of the 800V platform is not only that it can be used on 800V charging facilities, but that it can also maximize the efficiency of charging piles at ordinary charging piles.

The ideal pure electric solution also uses 800V high-voltage ultra-fast charging to solve the problem of energy replenishment efficiency, with a range of 400km after 10 minutes of charging. This solution includes an 800V high-voltage electric drive system based on third-generation power semiconductor silicon carbide technology, a battery with 4C supercharge capability, and a full-stack self-developed thermal management system to increase charging speed while improving energy use. Efficiency allows users to obtain higher charging efficiency and longer cruising range in various environments.