▲Overlooking SAIC Lingang Intelligent Factory
The cars we are familiar with have gradually changed from simple means of transportation to mobile intelligent terminals, energy storage units and digital spaces, and the automobile industry, which is undergoing major changes, is also an important force to promote a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change. The government work report of the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year proposed to "continue to support the consumption of new energy vehicles", which is of great significance for promoting the mainland automobile industry to further boost confidence, continue to develop with high quality, and enhance the core competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises.
New energy intelligent networked vehicles are not only a "new track" for Shanghai to strengthen the layout, but also a "new terminal" directly facing individual consumers. At the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, Chen Hong, deputy to the National People's Congress, secretary of the party committee and chairman of SAIC Motor, made positive suggestions on making efforts to develop new intelligent terminals, cultivating and expanding new kinetic energy, and boosting China's automobile industry from big to strong.
SAIC motor has accelerated the construction of electric intelligent networked vehicles
"The cultivation and growth of new kinetic energy lies in the two key factors of the layout of the new track and the new terminal, and the developing automobile industry accounts for all of them." Chen Hong said that on the one hand, the construction of a new automobile track characterized by electric intelligent network connection is accelerating; on the other hand, electric intelligent networked vehicles integrate artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and many other high-tech technologies, and are large mobile intelligent terminals that integrate transportation, communication, entertainment, office, social and other functions.
Whether or not such a new terminal can be mastered and seize the opportunity is directly related to the future and fate of automobile companies. "SAIC takes major strategic projects such as Zhiji Automobile, Feifan Automobile, Robotaxi, L4-level intelligent heavy trucks as the starting point, and accelerates the creation of an intelligent terminal product with high integration and strong traction - electric intelligent networked vehicles." Chen Hong introduced that on the new track and new terminal, SAIC's innovation engine continues to exert its strength: last year, SAIC's annual vehicle terminal delivery exceeded 5.81 million vehicles, an increase of 5.5% year-on-year, continuing to lead the domestic automotive industry, of which new energy vehicle sales reached 733,000 units, ranking first in the domestic industry and the top three in the global industry; on March 1 this year, SAIC motor announced the establishment of the Innovation Research and Development Institute to form a team of independent research and development talents with a scale of more than 10,000 people; Zhiji L7 began to deliver users this month. A number of high-end intelligent new products such as Feifan R7 will also be listed within the year...
▲The first batch of 200 Beta Experience Editions of Zhiji L7 were officially delivered offline
"To effectively promote China's automobile industry from big to strong, and build the mainland into a manufacturing power at an early date, automobile companies should play a good role as the main body of the market, adhere to user orientation, deepen supply-side structural reform, and continue to provide high-quality products and services." Chen Hong also revealed that the first batch of 60 driverless electric taxis based on L4 level automatic driving technology will be put into demonstration operation in Shanghai and Suzhou; L4 level Yangshan Port intelligent heavy trucks have completed a total of 60,000 TEUs transportation tasks, and the level of automatic driving technology has reached the international leading level of commercial vehicles. In addition, on the basis of independently controlling the core technologies such as the new generation of "three electricity", fuel cells, and intelligent driving, SAIC motor has further accelerated the industrial chain layout in the forward-looking fields such as solid-state batteries, automotive chips, and intelligent chassis, and actively participated in the construction of intelligent transportation in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, continuously meeting the needs of consumers for convenient travel and green travel.
Chen Hong introduced that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, SAIC Motor plans to invest 300 billion yuan in the field of new energy and intelligent networking to effectively promote innovation and transformation. In order to further consolidate the "technology base" of innovation, the newly established SAIC Innovation Research and Development Institute will fully integrate resources, build a global R&D team of more than 10,000 people, accelerate the technological research and development and industrialization of "intelligent new terminals", and add "new energy" to SAIC's innovation engine.
The development of "smart new terminals" urgently needs a breakthrough at the legal level
Shanghai is an important town in China's automobile industry, and it is also one of the cities with the greatest development potential in domestic integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and other industries, and has rich practice and exploration in intelligent traffic management. Just last month, the "Shanghai Intelligent Connected Vehicle Testing and Application Management Measures" was officially implemented, taking the lead in clarifying the management system of new technologies for autonomous driving in the country.
"The development of intelligent networked vehicles is not only a technical problem of improving the functions and performance of automobiles, but also involves deeper social issues such as government responsibilities, market order, laws and regulations, and social ethics." In Chen Hong's view, the development of intelligent and connected vehicles is restricted to varying degrees at the level of laws, regulations and technical standards, especially the landing of automatic driving technology, which urgently needs to achieve breakthroughs at the legal level.
In this regard, he suggested that the legal status of the automatic driving system should be clarified in the Road Traffic Safety Law, and the standard rules and disposal mechanisms for the division of responsibilities between human drivers and the "automatic driving system" should be formulated; in the "Measures for the Administration of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Access", the level evaluation and certification system and access mechanism of the "automatic driving system" should be further established.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the automotive industry has continued to be affected by the "lack of cores", and the market gap for automotive chips with "large computing power, high performance, and vehicle regulation level" is huge. In Chen Hong's view, with the accelerated development of intelligent networked vehicles in the future, the demand for automotive chips, especially large computing chips, will continue to grow rapidly.
"In view of the extreme importance of vehicle-grade chips for the development of electric intelligent vehicles, policy support for domestic large-scale computing chips and supporting operating systems should be increased." During the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, Chen Hong submitted the "Proposal on Promoting the Localization of Vehicle Regulation Grade and Large Computing Power Chips to Support the Coordinated Development of the Domestic Automotive Chip Industry Chain", hoping to establish unified technical specifications and standards for vehicle-grade chips through policy guidance and multi-party coordination, and establish a third-party testing and certification platform. At the same time, it is recommended that the relevant ministries and commissions of the state take the lead in setting up special funds to encourage chip companies and automobile enterprises to participate together and accelerate the formation of research and development, manufacturing and application capabilities of domestic large computing chips.
Author: Zhou Yuan
Editor: Shi Bozhen
Editor-in-Charge: Yi Zhang
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.