As consumers' enthusiasm for electric vehicles grows, orders for the latest models from Chinese electric vehicle companies are pouring in.
Electric cars produced by Xiaopeng, NIO and Huawei have proven to be popular. Features such as autonomous driving technology, lidar sensors, and smart cockpit systems are popular in the domestic market. Recently, the use of electric vehicles has exceeded 20%.
Image source: SCMP
Most of the autonomous driving technology currently in use is classified as L2 or L2+ by the global standardization body SAE International, which is a few steps below full automation, and L5 does not require any human intervention. An engineer at ZF Trina, a car parts company in Shanghai, said: "The technology of fully autonomous vehicles is the trump card of electric vehicle companies, and some young drivers are keen on autonomous driving technology and are willing to spend a lot of money to experience it."
The China Passenger Car Association estimates that sales of new energy vehicles in China, including pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, are expected to exceed 2.4 million in 2021.
Investment research firm EqualOcean said in an November study that the 1.6 million electric vehicles produced in China in 2021 are smart cars, accounting for about two-thirds of the country's total electric vehicle deliveries. Smart electric vehicles feature autonomous driving technology, advanced in-car entertainment and digital technologies such as speech recognition, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). According to the company's forecast, by 2025, 7.13 million new cars in China will be smart electric vehicles.
Last December, Xiaopeng's P5 family sedan, the world's first production model equipped with lidar sensors, delivered 5,030 units just four months after it rolled off the production line. NIO also said that the new model ET5, which went on sale on December 18, has received a lot of reservations, and the mid-size sedan is equipped with a Pano-Cinema.
According to China Securities News, on December 23, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. launched a sports utility vehicle, the Aito M5, and received more than 6,500 bookings in the first four days after its launch. The car is equipped with Huawei's proprietary operating system, harmonyOS smart cockpit, and was developed in collaboration with Chinese car brand Seres.
Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai, said: "More and more technology companies are flocking to the field of smart electric vehicles to join the race to build more automated and smarter cars. This will benefit consumers as they will have more and more options when looking to own such a car. ”