The most expensive Huawei Selected Car in history is scheduled! Yu Chengdong reveals big news: L3 commercialization is imminent.

The development direction of Hongmeng Intelligent Driving is revealed in advance.

During the 2024 World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference, Huawei's Executive Director, Chairman of Terminal BG, and Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, Yu Chengdong, announced a major announcement: L3 level autonomous driving technology is expected to be commercialized next year.

Huawei ADS 4.0 is planned to be launched next year, bringing commercial experiences of high-speed L3 level autonomous driving and pilot projects for urban L3 level autonomous driving. Yu Chengdong called for accelerating the legislative process of relevant standards to promote rapid technological development.

In addition, Yu Chengdong announced that the joint car brand with JAC Motors, Zunjie, will launch its first model at the Guangzhou Auto Show next month, and it is planned to be officially marketed in the first quarter of next year.

Although Huawei does not directly manufacture cars, it has quickly attracted consumer attention through Hongmeng Intelligent Driving. Its subsidiary, Huawei Qian Kun Intelligent Driving, has already gained widespread recognition in the industry. As a leader in the intelligent driving field, Huawei ADS 3.0 is already an excellent advanced intelligent driving system, and Yu Chengdong's remarks suggest that Huawei will make more layouts in the field of advanced intelligent driving.

Is the commercialization of L3 autonomous driving possible?

Autonomous driving is divided into six levels, with L0 being no autonomous driving, L1-L2 being assisted driving, L3 representing conditional autonomous driving, L4 being highly autonomous driving, not requiring driver attention, and L5 being fully autonomous driving. The gap between L2 and L3 is undoubtedly a critical watershed in current technological development.

Compared to the already very advanced L2 level assisted driving, L3 level conditional autonomous driving allows the driver to completely let go of the steering wheel without needing to maintain constant control of the vehicle.

Currently, some aggressive advanced intelligent driving systems on the market, such as Huawei Qian Kun ADS 3.0, can achieve advanced intelligent driving on urban routes but are technically still at the L2 level, because if the system detects that the driver's hands leave the steering wheel, there will be a reminder, and the driver remains the primary responsible person.

For a long time, domestic policy on L3 level autonomous driving technology on the road has been relatively conservative, and automakers have typically made improvements based on L2 level assisted driving. Although many automakers claim to have technical reserves for L3 or even L4 level autonomous driving, they are waiting for policy liberalization.

The policy conservatism is reasonable, as the issue of responsibility division has not been resolved. According to the definition of L3 level, drivers can completely let go of the steering wheel, so in the event of an accident, there is still controversy over responsibility. Both automakers and drivers hope the other will assume responsibility. If the responsibility for accidents in autonomous driving situations still falls on the driver, the commercialization of L3 level autonomous driving will be difficult to achieve.

Since last year, related policies promoting the implementation of L3 have been implemented one after another. Four departments jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying out Pilots for the Admission and Road Traffic of Intelligent Connected Vehicles", clarifying the admission regulations and responsibility division for L3/L4 autonomous driving to enable autonomous vehicles to legally hit the road.

In June this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially announced the list of car companies that are the first batch to enter the pilot consortium for the admission and road traffic of intelligent connected vehicles (including L3 level and L4 level), which includes well-known passenger car companies such as Nio, BYD, GAC, and SAIC. In addition, many domestic car companies have successively obtained L3-level autonomous driving test licenses, such as renowned new energy brands like BYD, IM Motors, AITO, and Jiyue. Cities like Shenzhen, Beijing, and Hangzhou are also gradually expanding autonomous driving test areas.

It can be seen that the development of L3-level autonomous driving already has a certain growth environment, but it is far from enough to achieve true commercialization. The key lies in consumer acceptance and demand for autonomous driving technology, that is, whether consumers are willing to pay for it.

As a representative function of intelligent driving at the current stage, high-end NOA navigation-assisted driving has become the key to L3-level autonomous driving commercialization. According to data from Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, among the new energy vehicles delivered in the first half of this year, the proportion of pre-installed NOA has exceeded 10%, reaching 13.65%. If including new cars that support software options for NOA, this proportion will reach 25.67%, with a quarter of users willing to choose the NOA function.

The increasing number of users willing to use NOA is directly related to the gradual lowering of the threshold for high-level intelligent driving. In the past, realizing high-level intelligent driving functions usually required LiDAR, but starting with Deep Blue S07, Huawei first pushed high-end NOA to the market within the 200,000 yuan range.

For example, the top version of XPENG MONA M03 is priced at less than 160,000 yuan and already has high-speed and urban NAO functions, which significantly lowers the threshold for urban NOA. Traditional joint venture brand GAC Toyota will also be equipped with high-level intelligent driving, with an estimated price of less than 200,000 yuan. For consumers, intelligent driving is not a necessity for travel, but reasonably priced high-level intelligent driving is indeed attractive. Thus, as prices fall within the acceptable range for consumers, the usage rate of high-level intelligent driving increases.

However, currently, not all consumers have sufficient trust in urban high-level intelligent driving. Therefore, when Huawei ADS 4.0 initially realizes the commercial use of L3-level autonomous driving, the first scenario will be set for highways, while urban L3-level autonomous driving still requires pilot verification. Currently, many car companies have relatively advanced highway NOA, but to fully realize L3-level, more development time is needed for other companies.

About Zunjie’s first model

Currently, the official has not released information related to Zunjie. Previously, there were speculations that Zunjie's first product might be a large MPV priced in the millions, but according to the latest news, Zunjie's first model might also be a sedan targeting ultra-luxury brands like Maybach or Rolls-Royce.

Based on the exposed test car spy photos, the new car uses heavy camouflage, but it can still be seen that it features a closed front grille and through-type daytime running lights. The front light groups on both sides may feature Huawei's xPixel smart headlights.

The lines of the roof are elegant and smooth, giving the overall design a strong presence, potentially reaching the level of a large vehicle. Undoubtedly, this new model will become the highest-priced product under Hongmeng Smart Mobility once it is launched. In terms of technology and luxury experience, it is expected to surpass the AITO M9, which is priced between 400,000 to 500,000. Essentially, this is a high-end product positioned in the million-class range, and the manufacturer may not have overly high expectations for its sales. As observers, people are naturally curious about the configuration of this new car, and inevitably compare it with ultra-luxury brands like Maybach to explore the pros and cons of the product.