EDR/DVR comes standard! The market under the policy dividend and the future direction

Entering 2022, with a series of policies and regulations related to the safety of motor vehicle operation successively entering the implementation stage, the automotive intelligent track has ushered in a wave of policy dividends. These components, compared with high-end intelligent driving, have not attracted market attention or relied more on the aftermarket in the past.

For example, according to the requirements of the national standard GB 7258-2017 "Technical Conditions for the Safety of Motor Vehicle Operation" (Amendment No. 2), "from January 1, 2022, newly produced passenger cars shall be equipped with an event data recording system (EDR) in accordance with GB39732 or an on-board video driving record system (DVR) in accordance with GB/T38892 regulations."

However, at present, the cost of EDR front-loading (stand-alone parts) products is still high (slightly higher than DVR, and most of the domestic EDR suppliers are in the stage of vehicle specification level verification), coupled with the additional cost of data reading/analysis equipment, the pressure on second- and third-line OEMs is greater. For models that already have L2 ADAS standard, EDR can help achieve accurate data collection and analysis compared to DVR.

For example, compared with DVR, EDR data analysis can distinguish whether the accident is a vehicle system failure or a human operation error, which helps determine the responsibility for the accident. Previously, most of the EDR functions were integrated in the airbag module, and most of them were monopolized by foreign manufacturers. The vast majority of DVRs cannot record the operating status of the vehicle.

At present, the EDR system mainly records all parameters such as engine speed, vehicle speed, accelerator pedal depth, brake pedal pedal pedal depth, brake system tubing pressure, ABS status, steering wheel steering angle, transmission gear, airbag status, vehicle braking status and so on.

According to the requirements of this revised standard, the data elements recorded by the EDR module will be divided into A and B levels, which will be implemented in 2022 and 2024 respectively. Among them, the B level increased from 17 items of A level data to 43 items. This means that the cost of subsequent hardware and software development will be further increased.

Taking Hikvision Automotive Electronics, the main supplier of domestic front-loading car recorders, as an example, at the end of last year, the company disclosed to the outside world that it had not yet carried out the on-board EDR (black box) business. In terms of OEMs, only a few independent brands such as Great Wall Motors, Xiaopeng and BYD were previously available in China, and some luxury brand joint venture models had front-loading EDR systems.

First, short-term DVR "cost advantage"

The Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute believes that before 2024, most domestic models will still be equipped with an on-board video driving recording system as the main option to meet regulatory requirements, for example, through high-definition pixel ADAS cameras to achieve functional multiplexing. Models equipped with high-end smart driving will consider EDR at the same time.

According to the monitoring data released by the Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, in 2021, the number of passenger car front-loading and on-board video driving records (including forward-facing, panoramic, and rear-view different forms) in the Chinese market (excluding import and export) was 3.0585 million units, an increase of 107.96% year-on-year, and the mounting rate was 14.99%.

In the past few years, the front-mounted on-board video driving recording system has gone from the earliest forward-facing single-way recording to now integrating forward- and backward-facing, driver-seat, passenger-seated and forward-facing anti-collision five-way recording functions. The basic components include cameras, main units, gravity sensors, data analysis software, wiring harnesses, etc.

The cost of front-loading (data given by suppliers) has basically stabilized at about 250-300 yuan in the past few years. However, the market is more chaotic, for example, some OEMs mostly use the option boutique model when actually delivering vehicles (4S stores are used as a marketing selling point for new car discounts). At the same time, other systems are reused (cost reduction) to achieve the driving record function.

Among them, the performance of mainstream products is roughly: video resolution Full HD 1080P, frame rate of 30fps, support general video, emergency video, parking monitoring, sound recording, photo sharing, video playback, remote control and upload and other functions. At the same time, some manufacturers reuse products to AR navigation functions, as well as support for entertainment information system large-screen interconnection operation control.

At present, there are the following types in the product form: independent driving recorder (forward single-way or integrated with the rearview mirror in the streaming media, is the mainstream of the market), and ADAS camera multiplexing (the previous front installation effect is general, such as heat dissipation problems, less than 2 million pixel requirements), and 360 panoramic surround view system multiplexing (cost savings, while controlling in the center, the benefit is multi-channel acquisition).

For example, in the early days of several Models of Weilai, the driving recorder was widely complained about, mainly because the clarity was too poor (not as good as the aftermarket products). Previously, some car owners disassembled the camera, and the workmanship, heat dissipation, etc. were not bad, but the pixels were too low.

At present, the upcoming NIO ET7 can (multiplex) achieve a 4K resolution driving record function by replacing the 8-megapixel high-definition camera, while providing a Sentinel mode similar to Tesla (the vehicle is stationary). In addition, the panoramic surround view has also been upgraded to 3 megapixels and equipped with a car event data recording system (EDR).

According to the monitoring data released by the Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, the insurance volume of new vehicles equipped with independent DVR (driving recorder) in the front of the front in 2021 is 2.2676 million vehicles, accounting for 74.14% of the (all DVR functions), and the rest is to achieve functional multiplexing with front-view ADAS and 360 panoramic surround view.

In terms of specific model brands, Nissan, BYD and Tesla ranked in the top three. Among them, Nissan and BYD are mainly independent DVRs. Judging from the top ten brands, the driving record function of independent brands is significantly higher. In terms of independent DVR models, Xuanyi, Tianlai, BYD Song/Han, Emgrand, Ideal ONE, and Tank 300 are in the front.

In terms of front-loading suppliers, the top ten suppliers of independent DVR (driving recorder) account for more than 90% of the market share. Longhorn Auto Electric, Hikvision Automotive Electronics, and BYD (self-developed) ranked in the top three. Among them, the customers of Longen Auto electric are mainly Nissan and Geely, of which Nissan has become its largest customer from 2020, contributing 167 million yuan in sales in 2020, compared with 130 million yuan in the first half of last year.

In addition, several suppliers such as Suzhou Zhihua, OFILM, Hikvision, and TTE are leading the market in terms of the number of vehicles loaded with panoramic surround view driving records (hardware multiplexing function). At the same time, more than 700,000 sets of quasi-frontal (4S optional boutique parts) market driving recorders have been shipped in 2021, and will also achieve "regularization" this year.

In terms of front-loading DVR chips, domestic chip manufacturers represented by Fuhan Micro, Quanzhi, HiSilicon, etc., have successively achieved mass production of front-loading in some independent brands through Tier1, and gradually realized the domestic "low-cost" replacement of chips.

Some industry sources revealed that this year, with the implementation of relevant policies, Toyota, Volkswagen and other high-selling joint venture brand models will drive the DVR front-loading market domestic supplier cake continues to grow, but the competition will also be fierce. After all, when it comes to cost, foreign suppliers have almost no chance.

For example, in the first half of last year, the gross profit margin of The on-board video driving record system of Longen Automobile and Electric was 28.30%, although it was much higher than the gross profit margin of the previous pre-mass production research and development stage (less than 8%), but the company pointed out that the current high level is because most of the customers' models are supplied by the company.

Second, the medium and long-term optimistic "DVR + EDR" combination

However, in recent years, as autonomous driving assist technology has been increasingly applied to new vehicles, EDR data is crucial for tracking process data performed by the system and the driver's behavior before a collision.

On 16 April 2019, the European Union approved a package of measures on the General Safety Regulation (GSR), in which the Event Data Recorder (EDR) is required to be mandatorily carried on all new cars sold in the EU market, including passenger cars, vans and buses. In accordance with the relevant regulatory requirements, mandatory installation is expected to start as soon as March 2022.

Previously, domestic standard-setting and regulatory agencies also proposed that in order to scientifically analyze and collect evidence on the causes of collisions, a complete and effective vehicle collision event data recording system is needed to record the relevant data of vehicles at the time of collisions. At the same time, DVR+EDR can achieve more comprehensive data traceability.

On the one hand, it can objectively judge the causes of collisions, ensure judicial fairness and protect the public interest; on the other hand, it can provide a basis for improving the vehicle safety system, avoid the occurrence of similar collisions, and provide vehicle safety.

Globally, GM first introduced EDR in 1974, primarily for controlling and recording the deployment of airbags. Since then, EDR has continued to add capabilities, including recording and storing collision-related data. This is why traditional EDRs are generally integrated with airbag control modules.

With the strengthening of safety supervision of assisted driving and high-end intelligent driving around the world, EDR is crucial for the investigation of similar accidents after the fact. For example, early self-driving road tests required vehicle and test driver status recording, storage, and online monitoring.

Similar needs are becoming more urgent in the private consumer market.

According to the monitoring data of the Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, in 2021, the new front-loading of passenger cars (excluding imports and exports) in the Chinese market is equipped with L2-level ADAS as standard, and the front-loading rate is close to 20%, of which the standard DVR is only about 30%.

In the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Access" issued in July last year, it has been clearly pointed out that enterprises producing cars with automatic driving functions should ensure that they have an event data recording system and an automatic driving data recording system to meet the relevant functional, performance and safety requirements for accident reconstruction, liability determination and cause analysis.

At the same time, the Opinions also clearly implement data classification and hierarchical management, strengthen the protection of personal information and important data, build data security protection technical measures, ensure that data continues to be in a state of effective protection and legal use, and implement data security risk assessment, data security incident reporting and other requirements in accordance with laws and regulations.

In addition, on the hardware side, multiplexing technology will be further extended to the domain controller level.

For example, Zhixing Technology's iMo DCU2-E autonomous driving central domain controller (based on the Infiniton TC397+ EyeQ4 scheme) supports the camera's raw image output as data collection (DVR/EDR).

For the mainstream model of relying on data iteration for system function optimization and upgrading from L2, dvR+ EDR two functions can also be "reused" to the data acquisition and training process. This means that for the existing INDEPENDENT hardware and software suppliers of DVR and EDR, the market may be completely subverted.