Author: Xing Shubo
"This posterior is so fast, I don't dare to drive so fast. Lao Dong commented on the recent M7 Plus car accident at the highway in Xia County, Yuncheng, Shanxi. According to reports, at the time of the crash, the driver was traveling at 115 km/h, and according to Lao Dong, he was "speeding." ”
Lao Dong is a local truck driver in Shanxi Province who walks on Shanxi Expressway all year round. According to Lao Dong, the road conditions of most of the expressways in Shanxi are very dangerous, not only many big bends and sharp bends, but also many combination curves, some sections are not only big turns, but also uphill and downhill sections with great height differences. "The general speed limit of Shanxi Expressway is 100 km/h, and individual sections are 80 km/h. The speed is too fast, and when you encounter a long downhill and a big bend, you can't brake the car. In order to solve the problem of difficult braking, the traffic management department has set up a large number of emergency avoidance lanes on both sides of the highway: a sharp uphill slope, which is paved with gravel, which is used to slow down vehicles that brake out of control.
According to the Shanxi Provincial Department of Transportation, the mileage of 100 km/h is 3914.8 km, and the mileage of 80 km/h is 438.1 km. The speed limit is 120 km/h and the mileage is only 1620.8 km. For example, if Yuncheng to Sanmenxia passes through Xia County, the high-speed speed limit is 80 km/h. The author dialed the Xia County 122 traffic station to verify whether the road section was an accident section, and the other party replied that it had been recorded, please wait for the official accident handling news to be released.
Shanxi Wenjie M7 Plus car accident, if it is really as Lao Dong said, the driver who was involved in the accident was speeding on the highway with a speed limit of 80 km/h, then it was a simple traffic accident caused by speeding. But it caused an uproar on the whole network, and there is obviously something else hidden.
If something happens in the world, is Bosch wronged?
After the accident, the attitude of each family was sincere, but there were many doubts.
In response to the Shanxi Wenjie accident, on April 28, Wenjie stated in a statement that it would provide all possible support to the family. He also said that the model involved in the accident was an entry-level non-intelligent driving version, which was not equipped with Huawei's high-end intelligent driving assistance system, but a Bosch solution. And in the announcement, it was clearly stated: "The working range of the Bosch AEB scheme is 4-85km/h, and the speed of 115km/h in the event of a collision is far beyond the trigger range of the Bosch AEB." ”
On the one hand, the statement shows that the Bosch solution used in the low-configuration version of Wenjie has a limited working range of automatic braking, which is not as good as the high-configuration version of Huawei's solution. On November 28, 2023, Yu Chengdong said at the Zhijie S7 press conference that Huawei's AEB solution can achieve automatic braking within 4 to 130KM, "In stationary car scenarios, it can achieve 120km braking." ”
On the other hand, it has also led the attention of Huawei fans and self-media to the controversial Bosch AEB plan. On April 19, 2021, Tesla's female car advocate woman sat on the roof of the car at the Shanghai Auto Show to defend her rights, saying that Tesla's brakes failed. Tesla's braking solution was provided by Bosch. Bosch insisted that its plan was fine, and Tesla also said that the vehicle was normal. In the end, the two sides went to court. In 2023, the court ruled that Tesla's vehicles were normal, Bosch's plan was fine, and Tesla won the lawsuit. Ms. Zhang lost the lawsuit, and was previously detained for 4,900 yuan in compensation for damaging three pieces of glass at the auto show.
This time, in the face of the doubts of fans, Bosch also issued an announcement to refute the rumors for the first time. The announcement said that the Shanxi Yuncheng accident was not equipped with Bosch's AEB system, and expressed condolences to the victims.
As of press time, the relevant statements of Bosch have been omitted.
The author checked the official website of Wenjie and learned that the Wenjie series models are equipped with AEB as standard, which is a L1 level function in the autonomous driving classification. The M7's official website does not mention the specific supply chain information of the intelligent assistance functions such as AEB equipped with low-spec and high-spec models, nor does it specify whether it is a non-intelligent driving version, which is inconsistent with this announcement. However, in the remarks in the automatic parking column, it is mentioned that "the driver still needs to pay attention to the safety of the vehicle at all times, and take over the vehicle at any time if necessary." ”
The authors note that Bosch specifically mentions the "Bosch Intelligent Driving System" in the accident statement. According to reports, unlike the Zhijie S7 equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving solution, Chery's sister model, the Epoch ES, is equipped with Bosch's intelligent driving solution, which can realize L2-level intelligent driving functions such as high-speed NOA and automatic parking, and has certain autonomous driving capabilities.
Bosch is misunderstood. One reason is that the early M5 was equipped with the Bosch iBooster intelligent braking system, which was also advertised as a selling point at that time, "the braking distance of 100 kilometers is only 36.6m". On April 23 this year, Cialis released the new Wenjie M5 equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving solution.
In this Yuncheng incident, it is obvious that Huawei fans have wronged Bosch.
"The M7 low-profile version is supplied by AB, that is, there are two suppliers, one is Bosch and the other is Foretek. The accident happened to be a second car, and the indicators were the same. Car critic "100,000 volts" said.
The reason for such a huge repercussion is that Bosch is the leader of the AEB system, and if Bosch falls, it will have a huge impact on the automotive industry.
Why is Bosch's reputation so important?
Bosch has been mass-producing ABS systems since June 1978. ABS anti-lock braking system, which can help the driver brake in an emergency. In 1995, Bosch invented ESP, the ninth-generation ESP can realize L1 driving assistance such as lane detection, collision warning, and adaptive cruise control, but it still requires the driver to actively apply the brakes. The third-generation braking system is the Bosch iBooster, which includes the AEB function. In the event of an emergency, AEB does not need the driver to actively apply the brakes, the system will automatically determine the road conditions and automatically brake.
According to the data of the Passenger Car Association, the AEB function has been standard in most new cars launched in 23 years, and the penetration rate of the AEB function has reached 67% for more than 160,000 passenger models. The vast majority of car companies use Bosch solutions, such as Toyota, Honda, Daimler, Tesla, Changan, Chery, etc.
According to a report by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, the AEB Emergency Braking System/FCW Forward Collision Warning feature can help reduce rear-end collisions by 46 percent. To put it simply, 4.6 out of 10 vehicles equipped with AEB will benefit from a rear-end collision. The vast majority of these vehicles are equipped with AEBs supplied by Bosch.
In the automotive supply chain, Bosch is a Tier1 company, providing OEMs with state-of-the-art processes and quality services. Taking the cooperation between Bosch and Chery as an example, Bosch provides OEMs with key technical elements including sensors, computing platforms, algorithm applications, and cloud services, which can be said to "provide the soul" for OEMs and is responsible for the production process and product quality. Readers who read this should be able to understand that Bosch's role in the industry is not just Party B providing spare parts, but also a heavyweight enterprise similar to Huawei's solution provider and endorsing the final product quality. Therefore, the M7 Plus incident is quite sensitive.
Bosch Huawei, both friend and foe, suffered Tesla's FSD
With sales of 91.6 billion euros in 2023, Bosch ranks 118th in the world's top 500, which is attractive enough for Huawei's automotive business, which is still losing money.
Last year, Ren Zhengfei issued the "Resolution on Huawei Not Making Cars", and the car BU business was spun off from Huawei, reiterating that Huawei does not make cars, but helps car companies build good cars. It is necessary to build "Bosch China".
Like Huawei, Bosch is also an unlisted company, far away from finance and real estate, with high R&D investment and a global mindset. The Bosch Group is currently a counterbalance between the limited company, the foundation, and the Bosch family. The Ph.D. Foundation is the largest shareholder, while Huawei is 98.99% owned by the Huawei Trade Union Committee.
The highly similar shareholding structure and business model have led to considerable interest in the relationship between the two parties. But within Huawei, there has been a debate about whether to do China's Bosch or build its own car.
Huawei's three modes of car manufacturing are the standardized parts mode, the HI mode, and the smart car mode. The parts model is the Bosch model, which provides high-quality parts and quality process management for car companies. At present, Bosch is the first in the auto parts industry, but Huawei has also established cooperative relations with leading car companies such as Volkswagen, Toyota, and Daimler, and provides parts for them.
HI mode is the familiar ARCFOX, AVATR and other models. Huawei provides intelligent driving solutions with car companies, but does not sell them in Huawei stores, with the aim of helping traditional car companies develop smart cars faster.
In addition to participating in the design of automotive products, Huawei also leverages its own channel advantages to help car companies sell cars. Such as the world of wisdom, such as models.
Bosch executives said that all of Huawei's cooperation models are led by Huawei. Bosch is different, Bosch is empowering OEMs, and Bosch supports all the strategies of OEMs, and you can clearly define Bosch as a "core technology company for auto parts".
Four years ago, Chen Yudong, president of Bosch China, said that neither Bosch nor Huawei has been held hostage financially by their owners, and will not consider the short-term returns of today, and can make a lot of investments for the future. "Resolutely support Huawei's car manufacturing!"
Behind the change in attitude is Bosch's realization that Huawei has gone from being a partner to a competitor. The two companies compete in a variety of fields such as autonomous driving, automotive OS, and automotive semiconductors.
"As the world's No. 1 parts supplier, Bosch cannot directly build cars, but under the trend of smart cars, not being on the market means being marginalized. Some car critics expressed a different opinion.
In fact, in order to gain a firm foothold in China's intelligent wave, Bosch has invested in an intelligent driving solutions company, WeRide. This time, the Chery Star Era ES adopts the intelligent driving solution cooperated by Bosch and WeRide, and uses the same model of Huawei's solution, the Zhijie S7. This also means that Bosch has also begun to follow the Huawei model and "jointly define smart cars with car companies".
According to China's 2023 autonomous driving company rankings, Huawei ranks second, and WeRide ranks eighth, and its strength should not be underestimated.
In summary, Bosch Huawei is both friend and foe, learning from each other, competing and cooperating. However, the two contradictory accident announcements have raised the competition from the technical level to the public relations and public opinion level. And the muddy waters of fans' self-media on the Internet make the truth confusing.
This time, Huawei Bosch's public relations oolong, the most hurt may be Tesla. On the morning of April 28, Musk arrived in Beijing to discuss the entry of Tesla's self-driving FSD into China. On the same day, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers issued the "Notice on the Testing of 4 Safety Requirements for Automotive Data Processing (the First Batch)", and Tesla was listed, clearing the obstacles for FSD to enter China. Earlier, a German official experienced Tesla's full self-driving and expressed his admiration.
At the 2023 BYD investor conference, Wang Chuanfu once fired at autonomous driving: "Unmanned driving is all nonsense, and everything that makes a false head is a fool, and it (unmanned) is an emperor's new outfit." 1.1 million people die in car accidents a year (globally), and 24 people die in car accidents in Shenzhen a month, and many car accidents may also be BYD's (models). Because we (BYD) have a high market share in Shenzhen, but we can't get any calls because my steering is in compliance with the regulations, and my braking is also in compliance with the regulations, and this car accident has nothing to do with me (BYD). ”
In November 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and four other ministries and commissions issued the Notice on Carrying out Pilot Work on the Access and Road of Intelligent Connected Vehicles, which clarifies the responsibility determination of autonomous vehicles. The notice stipulates that when the autonomous driving function is activated, the intelligent networked vehicle will be responsible, and if it is not activated, it will be liable in accordance with the current regulations.
Tesla's FSD entry into China this time marks that China's auto market will usher in real autonomous driving, rather than the current mainstream intelligent assisted driving. At the same time, it also means that if the driver has a problem during the autonomous driving process, the car company will be held responsible.
At the critical juncture of autonomous driving in China, such a painful car accident will inevitably make decision-makers, car companies, and the general public re-examine the intelligent driving function. Tragedy has happened, as a driver, should we trust our own eyes and hands, or smart driving chips? At the same time, it also makes the majority of car consumers wake up, in addition to selling cars, we must not only care about the price configuration, but also care about the supply chain behind them, safety is no size.
Resources:
https://www.36kr.com/p/2754317115210756 Musk's whirlwind visit to China for 24 hours
https://finance.sina.cn/tech/2023-04-03/detail-imypaxha5971504.d.html?from=wap BYD Wang Chuanfu: Autonomous driving is coerced by capital and fooled!
https://top.askci.com/news/20230721/091659268990221971485676.shtml2023 the top 20 autonomous driving companies
Fiscal year https://www.bosch.com.cn/news-and-stories/the-2023-business-year-bosch-increases-sales-and-result-despite-headwind/2023: The Bosch Group bucks the trend and grows its business
https://view.inews.qq.com/k/20230821A09FWY00?no-redirect=1&web_channel=wap&openApp=false Passenger Association: The loading rate of L2 assisted driving of new energy vehicles has approached 40%, much higher than that of fuel vehicles
https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_18951305 Yu Chengdong: Explain in detail the three modes of Huawei's car manufacturing