In 2023, the hottest topic in China's tech circle is large models and AI, and the AI frenzy brought by AlphaGo, which once defeated Lee Sedol, has once again swept the industry.
What impact can the emergence of intelligence brought about by the advancement of AI capabilities have on the world?At least for automobiles, and especially for China's automotive industry, the impact could be enormous. After a year of fierce first-class battles, the involution of China's automotive industry is as good as the Chinese smartphone market that year.
Intelligent driving, the technology that can best bring the label of science and technology to car companies, has also officially become a must-have function for all car companies this year - if its products do not have intelligent driving, they are more or less inferior to competitors in marketing.
As a result, we saw the intelligent driving Kaesong Battle that was comparable to the community war of the year. It seems that if it is not equipped with lidar and urban NOA pilot, consumers will not have the confidence to drive back to their hometown at the end of the year.
Is there a possibility that high-level intelligent driving can actually enter people's lives in a more approachable and silent form?For example, the dark blue S7i that the author recently experienced, as an upgraded version of the S7's intelligent driving, gives a good solution.
In May this year, the author had a test drive of the pure electric version of the dark blue S7 in Hainan, and was quite impressed by its outstanding appearance and good handling at that time. I distinctly remember that when I was test driving through the highway, I thought to myself that if this car had intelligent driving features, I really wanted to try it.
In fact, I think the Deep Blue team may be more anxious than me, and they want to see their own intelligent driving function on the car. A few months later, the wishes of both parties were granted, and the Deep Blue S7 finally launched the S7i version.
Once you bring the i, it's smarter as the name suggests. This intelligenceIt is more reflected in the navigation assistance of urban highways and expressways with high-definition maps, as well as high-end to a somewhat cool parking function
Of course, in order to make the above functions smoothly implemented on the S7i, the Deep Blue team has added more sensors to the S7i than the S7
4D Imaging Millimeter-Wave Radar 1;
High-density point cloud millimeter-wave radar 4;
A new generation of coded ultrasonic sensors 12;
Circumferential camera 5;
DMS camera 1;
Capacitive hands-on steering wheel sensor x1;
Micro-touch sensor 7;
High-precision map + high-precision sub-meter positioning system.
It is these rear-mounted sensors that allow the Deep Blue S7i to complete most road navigation and intelligent driving functions. However, the bad news is that since the sensor is exclusive to the I version, the regular version of the S7 cannot be upgraded with hardware and OTA at a later stage to get the same intelligent driving capabilities as the I version.
Therefore, if you want to experience the intelligent driving function of Deep Blue, you still have to add a little money, and the I version of the car is the right way.
IACC is activated!
Pull down the wiper lever twice, and the intelligent assistant in the dark blue S7i car machine reminds the driver with a cheerful voice that the intelligent driving mode has been turned on. The small icon of the green steering wheel on the screen lights up, indicating that the intelligent adaptive cruise mode has been turned on.
This is obviously not the whole story, because after all, Level 2 intelligent driver assistance functions have been adopted for many years. The intelligent driving system of the Navy S7i is similar to the Super Saiyan in the Dragon Ball manga, which requires multiple levels of transformation.
When the intelligent driving system detects that the current road has been covered with HD map, the green steering wheel icon will turn blue, and the system will indicate that the NID function (High-speed Pilot Intelligent Driving) has been turned on. At this time, you can really enter the state of high-end intelligent assisted driving, you can start to relax, hand over the reverse disk to the S7i, and let it drive on its own under the control of Deepal AD.
Navy S7i off-ramp into the main road Geek Park.
In the NID state, not only do you no longer have to worry about the accelerator, brakes, and steering wheel, but the car can get on and off the ramp on its own, completing the full form of urban expressways and highways. Even,When the S7i finds that the lane next to it is smoother, it can turn on the lights to change lanes, saving the driver more stress
During the test, the author specially selected the lane change style of intelligent driving in the system as aggressive, and wanted to see the dark blue nid30 system, how radical can it be?
When the dark blue S7i detects that there is plenty of space in the lane next to it, the lights are changed in one go, and the driver does not forget to turn off the turn signal when driving into the new lane, and seamlessly begins to accelerate, the author is pleased to show a brother-in-law smile, as if he has seen a novice driver, and finally mastered a new skill - although in theory, the driving skills of the S7i are likely to be more reliable than 98% of drivers. Of course, when changing lanes, the system will also remind you that I'm changing lanes.
The Vibrant Orange colorway of the Navy S7 really gives warmth in winter to the Navy car.
Students who have used intelligent assisted driving have probably seen such a situation, where the vehicle is hard to turn on the lights, but they dare not really change lanes. This is a rarity on the Navy S7i. During the test, I found that the dark blue S7i usually has a turn signal flashing for a while, and the front of the car has begun to steer, which is more like the behavior of a skilled driver. After all, before changing lanes, the millimeter-wave radar and surround view camera on the side of the vehicle have already detected the situation in the next lane and determined that there is no danger before changing lanes.
Even if the S7i doesn't actively change lanes, the driver can turn on the lights autonomously to make the vehicle change lanes in the direction of the lights. In the case of relatively dense traffic flow, variable and unchangedThe driver's active intervention can give the Navy S7i more confidence to change lanes
In addition to changing lanes autonomously, in response to morning rush hour congestion on urban expressways, the Deep Blue S7i can also become your traffic jam savior because it can adjust the distance between vehicles to 1 car (about 3-4 meters).
The following performance of the Navy NID in the case of heavy traffic in Geek Park.
In the measured case, the distance of 1 car does eliminate the possibility of many nearby vehicles being plugged. However, it may be that all intelligent assisted driving is based on safety, so after the car in front leaves, the dark blue S7i will not follow in an instant like a human driver, but leave a certain amount of time to start, and the stopper usually happens in this case. However, if you're really not in a hurry, it's not a big problem.
During the test, there were two occasions when the Navy S7i exited NID mode due to an emergency. One is when the vehicle is about to complete the autonomous lane change, and a car in the side lane is temporarily inserted in front of it;One was when I was about to leave the expressway and was about to enter the ramp when the S7i was too close to the car in front. In the seconds before both incidents, the system provides an audible and visual warning, allowing the driver to take over the vehicle as quickly as possible.
In addition, since the highway of the author's commuting accounts for about 90%, which is equivalent to most of the time, I can relax with my feet on the brakes and enjoy podcasts and **, which is indeed much easier than driving by myself. The same dozens of kilometers of commuting, using the NID function of the dark blue S7i, makes me feel that time has passed a little faster than before.
It's a little regrettable that,Due to objective factors,The author was not able to experience cool features such as remote control parking of the dark blue S7i,I hope I have the opportunity next time。
Kaecheng seems to have become the next hot spot for domestic car companies to compete in intelligent drivingIt seems that the competition between Figureless Smart Driving and Urban NOA is now just speed.
But is that really the case?
I don't know how many students do have the courage to use the NOA function on ordinary urban roads, but the unique complex road conditions in China pose a challenge to the intelligent assisted driving system.
In contrast, in high-speed and urban expressway scenarios, the solution of the intelligent driving system is more mature and more rigid, and in a sense, the intelligent driving solution of the dark blue S7i is actually more cost-effective.
In the range of 180,000 yuan**, once the intelligent driving ability is replenished, the competitiveness of the dark blue S7i series will be greatly improved immediately - after all, if you want to get the urban NOA function, the closest to this price point is probably the low-profile Max version of the Xpeng G6, which is about 50,000 yuan higher than the dark blue S7i **.
The dark blue S7i in the Extreme Universe Yellow color scheme looks very eye-catching in the hazy northern winter of Geek Park.
Not to mention, from the point of view of appearance, the appearance of the dark blue S7 series is very good.
The author's test drive of the Jiyu Yellow (greenish) version this time has attracted the attention of countless people in the winter haze of Beijing, and many big brothers have to look back at the car from the side lane. At the same time, the interior of Heat Wave Orange also visually gives people a hint of warmth in the northern winter, which can handle young people very well.
Judging from the ** of Deep Blue S7 150,000 yuan and S7i 180,000 yuan (not counting limited-time offers), Deep Blue has found a sweet spot between price and smart driving, giving the city a new possibility of smart driving.
Header image**: Deep Blue car.