UWB digital keys are starting to become popular on 200,000 yuan cars-EEWORLD

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On November 7, Xiaopeng Motors P7+ was officially launched. P7+ is a C-class pure electric sedan with a length of more than 5 meters, a wheelbase of 3 meters, and a range of 615km to 725km, but the price is only 186,800 to 218,800 yuan. It is reported that this price is directly 19,000 yuan lower than the pre-sale price, and it has become another hot-selling model after Xiaopeng MONA M03. Within 12 minutes of the sale, the pre-order of P7+ exceeded 10,000 units. As of 24:00 on the same day, the pre-order reached 31,528 units.

What is most noteworthy is that Xiaopeng P7+ also uses UWB key, which can achieve 9-meter smart welcome and 3-meter full-vehicle unlocking. It is planned to enable this function through OTA upgrade in early 2025.

UWB digital key, not so expensive anymore

Car keys have gone through four stages: mechanical keys, remote control keys, PEPS, and digital keys. Digital keys are divided into three technical routes: BLE/NFC/UWB. After BLE and NFC were introduced into cars, UWB has become a "new star" in the field of digital keys, with advantages such as high-precision positioning, precise distance measurement, high security, high-speed data transmission, and improved user experience.

The UWB digital key enables the car to recognize the user's identity. After the user gets in the car, it can automatically complete a series of personalized functions such as starting the car, logging into the digital cockpit, opening maps and music, thereby unifying the two separate scenes of unlocking the car and intelligent interaction with the car machine with a digital ID.

However, due to the need to reduce costs and increase efficiency, UWB digital keys have always been an exclusive benefit for high-end models, and were previously only used in models around 300,000 yuan. Starting in 2022, BMW, NIO and other automakers will be the first to equip their models with UWB digital keys, followed by Volkswagen, BYD and other automakers. In the digital key market, domestic emerging auto brands are the leaders, and Ideal, NIO, Xpeng, DeepBlue and Aion are particularly outstanding in terms of digital key installation volume.

From the perspective of structural cost, compared with NFC+BLE technology, the cost of UWB chips in UWB digital key systems accounts for as much as 36.4%. It is reported that the whole vehicle equipped with UWB function usually adopts 1-5 anchor points + BNCM. For car companies, the system cost is still relatively high. It is not difficult to see that UWB chips are the key to restricting the development of automotive digital key systems.

Nowadays, domestic UWB chip companies are actively accelerating their layout. With the unremitting efforts of domestic manufacturers, some companies such as Newray have achieved mass production of automotive-grade UWB chips. Upstream and downstream manufacturers are actively participating in the development and application of UWB digital keys, which has greatly reduced the cost of UWB. According to statistics, the cost of a set of UWB digital keys was previously 1,000 yuan, but now it has dropped to less than 500 yuan.

AIoT Star Map Research Institute predicts that with the rapid increase in UWB penetration rate, by 2028, UWB chip shipments in the Chinese automotive market will reach 45 million pieces.

The price range of the Xiaopeng P7+ is 186,800 to 218,800 yuan, indicating that UWB technology is being integrated into mid- and low-end models, rather than just high-end models. In the future, we are expected to see the application of UWB digital car keys no longer limited to high-end models, but gradually penetrate downwards, and gradually become standard in models priced above 200,000 yuan.

UWB digital key accelerates penetration

Data from Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute shows that in the first quarter of 2024, the standard penetration rate of China's digital key market was close to 40%. New technology solutions represented by UWB began to enter the mainstream market. Currently, the market penetration rate of UWB technology solutions is close to 3%, and there is huge potential for market penetration.

ICV Tank, a consulting firm, predicts that the market size of UWB digital keys is expected to reach US$2.256 billion by 2027. Currently, the main function of UWB digital car keys is to achieve contactless entry/start, and more application scenarios such as personalized settings, vehicle sharing, shared cars, and fleet management will be expanded based on digital keys.

Although UWB digital keys are favored by car companies and consumers and their costs are decreasing year by year, there are still certain difficulties in promoting them: the current penetration rate of mobile phones that support UWB and the cost of UWB chips supported by iPhones are pain points in promoting UWB digital keys.

On the one hand, apart from Apple's iPhone, only some flagship models of brands such as Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Meizu support UWB. The number of mobile phone models is relatively small and the prices are relatively high, which creates an obstacle to the widespread use of UWB and also leads to a slow popularization of UWB-based digital keys.

On the other hand, Apple requires the use of its unique UWB chip MFi certification. Currently, the only officially recognized chip manufacturers are NXP and Qorvo. The high chip prices are not conducive to the promotion of UWB digital keys by car companies. If car companies use domestically produced alternative UWB chips, they cannot currently support the use of such digital keys on iPhones and can only be used on non-iPhone phones.

In recent years, Android phone manufacturers have accelerated the deployment of UWB technology. Xiaomi, OPPO, Meizu, etc. have launched corresponding products. In early 2024, Qualcomm released the next-generation FastConnect 7900, which integrates Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth and ultra-wideband technology solutions on a single chip, supports close-range sensing application scenarios such as car digital keys, and commercial terminals equipped with this platform have been released in the second half of 2024. With the popularization of UWB technology on Android phones, applications such as UWB digital keys are expected to be vigorously promoted in the future.

Inventory of the automotive UWB chip industry chain

From the perspective of UWB's industrial chain, it is still in its infancy in the automotive field and the overall industrial chain is still in the early stages of construction.

Upstream of the industry chain: UWB automotive-grade chips

The upstream automotive-grade UWB chip market is mainly dominated by international brands such as NXP. Some leading foreign chip companies have also deployed UWB-related businesses through acquisitions, cooperation or self-research. Domestic chip companies are also accelerating their layout of automotive-grade UWB chips.

NXP: In October 2023, NXP announced the launch of Trimension NCJ29D6, which belongs to the fully integrated automotive single-chip ultra-wideband (UWB) series, bringing many advanced applications to the automotive field, including innovative car access control, child sensing systems, intrusion alarms and gesture recognition. It is expected that this series of chips will become the first choice of major automakers in 2025 and will be widely used in the new generation of car models.

Qualcomm: The FastConnect 7900 mobile connection system launched in early 2024 can be used for digital keys, and is expected to be officially mass-produced and delivered in the second half of this year.

Qorvo: As a leading company in the UWB chip field, Qorvo has launched the automotive-grade DW3300Q series UWB chips for the automotive market. They can achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy and are suitable for scenarios such as asset tracking, personnel positioning, and vehicle monitoring.

USmart: The UWB SoC chips ZN1000 and ZN2000 launched by USmart have begun testing in many automobile manufacturers and parts suppliers.

Chixin Semiconductor: The UWB chip CX500 is positioned in the automotive electronics market and has made further improvements in integration compared to mainstream UWB chips.

Yudu Communication: The in-vehicle UWB chip YD9605 has been successfully taped out. The overall functional design is comparable to NXP's automotive-grade UWB chip, and has improved its integration level.

Midstream of the industry chain: UWB solution provider

The midstream is mainly composed of UWB solution providers and UWB module manufacturers. Solution providers currently mainly provide digital keys, among which Continental and Kostal have a relatively leading market share in the field of digital keys. UWB solutions in the form of modules can help automakers deploy their solutions more efficiently, save development resources, and reduce the obstacles of complex RF and antenna design for automakers.

Continental: The CoSmA UWB digital key system integrates child-leftover monitoring capabilities, enabling expanded applications that can classify passengers as infants, children or adults based on unique breathing rates and slight body movements, enhancing the user experience.

Kostal: UWB digital key solution has been mass-produced on NIO ET7, ET5 and other models.

Yuanfeng Technology: Among domestic Tier 1 companies, the UWB digital key solution developed by Yuanfeng Technology has reached productization conditions and can flexibly adjust the number of vehicle-side modules according to the needs of automobile manufacturers.

Fudi Technology: Automobile manufacturers' supporting parts suppliers are focusing on UWB digital keys. For example, Fudi Technology, a subsidiary of BYD, has made important breakthroughs in the research and development of UWB digital keys.

Quectel Communications: Launched the automotive-grade module AU30Q that supports UWB technology. The module is based on Qorvo's DW3300Q platform and is mainly aimed at scenarios such as car digital keys, providing real-time indoor and outdoor positioning and wireless communication functions.

Xinwei Communication: It has deployed UWB modules and antennas, and cooperated with NXP to promote the application of UWB in the field of Internet of Vehicles.

In addition, domestic UWB solution providers such as Ligong Technology, Yukuai Technology, Qingyan Xunke, Quanji Technology and other companies have already laid out UWB digital keys, UWB radar and other automotive-related businesses. Other well-known domestic system and module providers include Qingyan Xunke, Haoyun Technology, Nanjing Woxu, Zhengzhou Lianrui and others.

Downstream of the industry chain: automobile manufacturers