A Complete List of Smart Car OTA in July 2024

On August 13, Zeekr released the 2025 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007. It was supposed to be a happy event, but it annoyed the owners of the 2024 Zeekr 001.

Angry car owners rushed into the Zeekr headquarters holding banners. Zeekr gave a solution, stating that all users who have placed orders for the 2024 Zeekr 001 and 007 series that have not yet been scheduled for production before 8 pm on August 13 can upgrade to the corresponding 2025 models. Configuration selection and confirmation must be completed before 24:00 on August 16.

Things are still developing and it is still unknown how they will end, but one thing is certain: the mobile phoneization of automotive products has become a trend.

In July 2024, the share of new energy vehicles in China's automobiles exceeded 50% for the first time, marking a milestone. The first half of electrification has ended, and new energy has finally become the mainstream. In the second half of intelligence, some of the gameplay of the mobile phone industry has begun to appear in the automotive industry.

In other words, smart cars are becoming more and more like mobile phones. However, cars are mass-market consumer goods after all, and car owners can't help but feel annoyed when a product worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is upgraded like a mobile phone, but no one objects to upgrading it like a mobile phone.

On Weibo, regarding the question of whether frequent OTA can help new energy companies accumulate user loyalty, a blogger recalled the days when smartphones were just emerging.

"One of the important reasons why Xiaomi is so popular is that MIUI insists on updating every Monday and every Friday, rain or shine, giving people the feeling of always using a new phone, which has attracted a large number of loyal fans at one time. If new energy manufacturers do the same, insist on OTA at a fixed time every week, and promptly fix and update the opinions and bugs raised by everyone every week, they will also accumulate a lot of loyal fans." wrote blogger "科技新一".

Automobile brands are also developing in this direction. According to Ellaby statistics, in the first half of 2024, 74 brands will push 290 versions, covering more than 350 models.

This is just the beginning. At the end of July, He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, announced that Xpeng Motors' OTA updates have achieved "a version iteration every 2 days and an experience upgrade every 2 weeks". Since the AI ​​Dimensity system was first released globally on May 20, a total of 5 full updates have been pushed within 70 days, achieving at least 35 version iterations, and the iteration speed exceeds that of the mobile phone industry.

In July, 36 brands launched 56 versions, covering 75 models.

Mid-year sprint, Wei, Xiao and Li are in the same frame again

More and more users are beginning to consider intelligence and networking as one of the important factors in car purchase. Especially in high-end and luxury brands, Chinese brands are creating a sense of luxury through intelligence, so we can see that products and brands with a higher level of positioning pay more attention to OTA.

In the first half of the year, brands such as Wenjie, Zeekr, and Avita became the leaders in OTA upgrades, and sub-brands such as Lynk & Co, Haval, and Haobo overtook them. Among the joint venture brands, only Cadillac maintained a monthly update rhythm. Xiaomi SU7, the traffic code, updated its OTA twice a month. Avita 12 performed well in the first half of the year, and Geely Galaxy has a rapid momentum.

July is the middle of the year, and the mid-year OTA has shown many highlights. Among the 56 versions, there are as many as 27 major versions, and some rarely upgraded models have also begun to join the OTA track.

NIO, Xiaopeng and Li Auto are in the same frame again. Three months later, NIO welcomes the upgrade of its banyan system, with its NOP+ capabilities comprehensively enhanced; Xpeng has evolved from five versions of XOS 5.1 to XOS 5.2; and Ideal has entered the 6.0 era, with its blockbuster version showcasing Ideal's latest intelligent applications.

Xiaomi fulfilled its monthly update as scheduled, and updated 23 items in the two domains of smart driving and smart cabin. The first OTA of Zhiji L6 since its launch was implemented in July, with more than 100 new and optimized functions, and IMOS 3.0 attracted fans again.

Mengshi has moved its services forward to improve user satisfaction. The 917 MLink OS 2.0 system version upgrade involves the upgrade of more than 20 controller versions throughout the vehicle, adding 15 new functions and more than 100 experience optimizations. The development and testing took half a year with a cumulative test mileage of more than 30,000 kilometers.

The Smart that users have been looking forward to for a long time has received an important version OTA. Both the Tank 400 and Tank 500 have been upgraded, and popular features such as Lynk & Co 09 Sentry Mode, FlymeLink Interconnection, and Green Wave Pass have been put in place at once.

Car companies are rushing to develop smart driving, and 23 brands are entering NOA

Major automakers are throwing themselves into the competition for intelligent driving technology with unprecedented enthusiasm. Domestic brands regard intelligence as the primary strategic high ground for shaping core competitiveness. Both new forces and traditional brands are increasing their investment to seize the high ground of intelligence.

According to the latest data insights from Ailaby, the field of smart driving has seen a significant growth in the first half of the year. A total of 11 brands have successfully launched the urban NOA function to the market. At the same time, another 10 brands have achieved breakthroughs in the high-speed NOA field, indicating that smart driving technology is gradually extending from high-speed scenarios to more complex urban environments.

Entering July, the field of intelligent driving has ushered in a golden period of concentrated outbreak. The technical competition between leading brands such as Weilai, Xiaopeng, and Ideal has intensified, and the popularity of technology conferences has been rising, and the attention is comparable to the debut of new cars.

NIO Banyan 2.6.5 is equipped with end-to-end AEB. Xiaopeng ended its five-month crazy Tuesday. The whole country can open the map. With the empowerment of the end-to-end big model, XNGP effectively enhances the "brain supplement" learning ability, and can achieve "see while driving". Facing complex and changeable roundabouts and U-turns, it can respond in real time. Ideal OTA 6.0 is finally expected to open the city NOA in the whole country, and the end-to-end human-like experience can be expected.

In addition, the "friend circle" of smart driving is also expanding, with the addition of two models, Dongfeng Yipai 007 and Buick Century. Although high-speed NOA is no longer scarce in the camp of independent brands, the addition of Buick Century marks a breakthrough for joint venture brands in this field, especially the best combination of MPV + high-speed NOA directly improves the product strength.

Yipai 007, with its LAPA beyond-visual-range memory parking technology, can realize the function of automatic vehicle driving to a preset parking space, with the longest single route up to 400 meters, and supports memory of up to 10 routes. Its intelligent driving ability should not be underestimated. At the same time, its high-speed NOA pilot assisted driving was first launched in Wuhan, becoming Dongfeng's first model to open NOA.

The intensive introduction of high-end intelligent driving systems has further widened the differentiated experience and become a direct factor affecting sales.

Paid functions present diverse exploration

In the field of software payment, smart driving was the core category in the first half of the year. Although the cockpit experience has a wide coverage and is affordable, it has not yet given rise to the rise of a large-scale payment ecosystem.

This situation saw some changes in July, with the number of OTA saleable items increasing significantly, covering various domain controls such as power, cockpit, vehicle control, and vehicle control, heralding the accelerated arrival of a new era of OTA payment.

Tesla has launched an "energy upgrade package" in the United States. Owners of the Model Y standard range rear-wheel drive version can pay 1,000 to 1,600 yuan (approximately RMB 7,267 to 11,627) to increase the vehicle's range by 30 to 50 miles (approximately 48 to 80 kilometers) through remote OTA. This is a major move by Tesla for software payment.

This feature is currently free for Chinese brands. Ideal, Avita, Feifan, etc. have increased the range for free through algorithm upgrades, especially during the winter range discount period, which is more in line with car needs. Tesla's OTA has doubled the mileage of the previous one, which can reach the user group who pursues a higher degree of freedom in travel, becoming a highlight of the software payment market.

Compared with functions that cost tens of thousands of yuan, the paid items of Hand-car Interconnection are only 2 yuan. Xiaopeng launched the vehicle leaving reminder service, which uses real-time activities and Smart Island technology to realize the NFC remote monitoring of vehicle abnormal information through mobile phones. Users need to purchase NFC stickers for a few cents to a few yuan.

Dongfeng Nano 01 adds CarPlay and HiCar interconnection functions, which need to be redeemed or purchased in Nano Mall.

Many brands have already introduced the popular scenario modes in the cabin through OTA. The meditation mode has a more professional way of playing. By connecting to the meditation headband, users can monitor brain wave feedback in real time on the car computer to analyze the quality of meditation. The service is free of charge, but the meditation headband needs to be purchased separately, which is also a new value-added service.