Industry leaders explore a new path for the transformation of the mobility industry: AI models will reconstruct the mobility industry, and autonomous driving will play a leading role

Every reporter: Duan Siyao Every editor: Pei Jianru

The rapid development of technology and globalization have brought unprecedented changes to the mobility industry. This revolution is like a surging wave, which not only profoundly changes the pattern of the travel industry, but also reshapes the ecology of the entire industry.

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On April 23, the "2024 Good Travel MaaS Salon" hosted by National Business Daily invited the director of the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology. Professor Ji Xuehong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Data Application and Consumer Research Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association Chang Liang, CEO Yang Guang, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of eHi Mobility Cai Lihong, Vice President of T3 Mobility Li Jingfeng and other experts, scholars and corporate executives focused on the transformation trend of the mobility industry and explored new development paths.

At the same time, the National Business Daily also jointly released the report on the evolution and development trend of new travel formats under the guidance of policies (hereinafter referred to as the "report") with the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology. The report points out that the ecology of the online car-hailing industry is developing towards diversification, and driverless taxis have become a key development direction.

AI models bring technological innovation

Thanks to the active guidance of policies, the ecosystem of the ride-hailing industry is gradually showing richer and more diversified characteristics.

According to the report, in 2010~2016, the industry was dominated by the C2C model, and different users were served by individual vehicles. With the compliance operation and the requirement to apply for transportation certificates, many leasing companies have been established, and the business format has evolved into B2C-based. From 2021 to the present, the industry ecology has become more diversified, gradually moving towards the B2C + B2B2C model.

At the same time, under the influence of new technologies, robotaxis has become a key development direction of the ride-hailing industry. "The commercialization of driverless taxis is an inevitable direction, but it also needs to be continuously explored. Ji Xuehong believes that the commercialization of driverless taxis can be roughly divided into three key stages, including the pilot stage of road testing and operation, the mass production stage of models, and the large-scale operation stage, each of which requires relevant policy support.

However, there is still some debate in the industry about the commercialization of driverless taxis (Level 4). "There are some optimistic views that the commercialization of driverless taxis can be achieved in the next 2~3 years, and another view is that some of the long-tail effects of autonomous driving are difficult to solve. Ji Xuehong believes that based on the current industrial development trend and relevant policy guidance, by 2030, the penetration rate of driverless taxis (L4 level) is expected to be about 20%.

In the mobility market, the fast-growing shared electric two-wheelers are also attracting attention. According to the report, as of January 2023, there are about 140 operating companies in the industry. Among them, the total market share of Meituan, Qingju and Hello has reached more than 60%, showing a "three-legged" market structure.

Ji Xuehong suggested: "The government department should set up a shared motorcycle co-management platform, and the operating company and the third-party operation and maintenance company should sign an entrustment of non-discriminatory management services to improve the parking order of shared motorcycles; scientifically evaluate the development impact of shared electric bicycles, clarify the development positioning, build evaluation indicators, carbon measurement and calculation standards, carbon reduction tasks and regulatory incentive mechanisms throughout the life cycle, and formulate a maintenance and recycling mechanism for shared motorcycles." ”

Driven by technologies such as 5G, AI, and the Internet of Things, automobiles have changed from simple means of transportation to intelligent mobile spaces and application terminals, especially the emergence of AI models, which has brought technological paradigm innovation, and its landing in the automotive industry will have a series of impacts on smart cities.

"All enterprises in China must pay attention to the current iteration and change of artificial intelligence. In many key areas, in the next 5~10 years, the impact of artificial intelligence is no less than that of the birth of the Internet. Yang Guang believes that AI models will reconstruct many industries.

The core is to serve drivers and users

According to Li Jingfeng, "At present, we have applied the AI model to the three main directions of online car-hailing, including driver and passenger services, intelligent scheduling and safety assurance. We have calculated that through the introduction of large model capabilities, the efficiency of customer service can be increased by about 10%, which can save the entire customer service team hundreds of hours of manual work every day. ”

Cai Lihong said: "From the perspective of user experience, with AI empowerment, the booking efficiency will be improved by an order of magnitude, and from the perspective of the efficiency of enterprise operations, it can be reduced through AI to reduce costs and increase efficiency." ”

However, while large AI models bring opportunities to the mobility industry, there are also challenges. "The first challenge is that the AI model is not mature and accurate enough, and the second challenge is that the model still lacks the ability to map information and structured data. Li Jingfeng believes that this needs to be solved in practical applications and practical scenarios, combining the structured data and unstructured data of large models and maps from the perspective of products and technologies.

With the application of new technologies such as AI large models and autonomous driving in the field of new mobility, new changes in the mobility industry have emerged.

"In the next 5~10 years, maybe even faster, autonomous driving will be implemented on a large scale. Our overall judgment is that autonomous driving will play a leading role, and fully unmanned L4 Robotaxi is an irreversible trend in the future development of online car-hailing. Li Jingfeng said that in this process, there will be a gradual process, first in some cities to pilot, then a single city to open, and finally to the national opening.

The changes brought about by new technologies have also put forward higher requirements for the services of travel companies. "I think the core of a mobility company is to serve drivers and users well, which is the core driving force that can promote the development of the entire industry. We are also calling on the government and other parties to make some corresponding policy unbundling. Chang Liang said.

In addition to technology, the energy revolution led by electrification has also had a profound impact on the automotive industry, which in turn will also affect the way of travel, and low-carbon smart travel has emerged. "The penetration rate of new energy is getting higher and higher, which has brought a qualitative leap in terms of user experience and use cost. According to Cai Lihong, there are currently more than 10,000 new energy vehicles launched by eHi.

"In most ride-hailing segments, drivers are gradually using pure electric vehicles, mainly due to the improvement of infrastructure and the improvement of vehicle standards. At the same time, we also need more intelligent vehicles, improve related infrastructure, and embrace smart travel, which is what we are looking forward to. Ji Xuehong said.

National Business Daily