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The field of autonomous driving has been balancing and playing at the technical, commercial and compliance levels.
On November 17, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Work of Intelligent Networked Vehicle Access and Road Access" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), deciding to carry out the pilot work of intelligent networked vehicle access and road traffic, and the access object is intelligent networked vehicle products with mass production conditions, equipped with conditional and highly automatic driving functions (that is, the industry usually referred to as L3 and L4 levels), and at the same time requires clear responsibilities of all parties.
Since December, BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz and Zhiji Automobile have obtained L3 autonomous driving test licenses for high-speed or high-speed roads, respectively, becoming the first batch of "crab eaters".
From a technical point of view, some domestic technology companies such as Apollo, Momo Zhixing, Pony.ai, WeRide Zhixing, and Qingzhou Zhihang have already extended the technical ceiling to the L4 level. However, on the product side, the current autonomous driving capabilities of domestic intelligent models are mostly concentrated in the L2 level, and some new power brands have the label of "L2+" to demonstrate their intelligent driving capabilities ahead of other competitors, but no passenger car brand has yet broken through the L3 level of commercialization "ceiling".
An autonomous driving solution provider told the Blue Whale financial reporter that the speed of technology implementation is mainly limited by the cooperation model with car companies and the current laws and regulations, and the relevant management norms and responsibility identification methods need to be further refined. Therefore, although the corresponding technology and relevant laws and regulations are gradually implemented, there is still a long way to go before the real popularization of high-level autonomous driving technology.
The specification for high-level autonomous driving still needs to be improved.
At present, the most widely used autonomous driving classification standard at home and abroad is proposed by the International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The standard divides the level of autonomous driving technology into six levels, namely L0 level of fully human driving, Level 1 level of assisted driving, Level 2 level of partial autonomous driving, Level 3 level of conditional autonomous driving, Level 4 level of highly automated driving, and Level 5 level of full autonomous driving.
Focusing on the domestic market, the autonomous driving technology installed in the current models is mainly focused on the L2-L3 level. According to the SAE's definition, the vehicle can take on some basic driving tasks under the L2 level technical conditions, but the driver must be ready to take over the vehicle at any time;In certain situations, the vehicle is capable of automatic steering, acceleration and braking. Whereas, in the case of Level 3 technology, the driver must take over the vehicle when a function is requested;In certain situations, the vehicle steers, accelerates and brakes fully automatically. The difference between the two lies in the initiative of the system.
Due to the complex road conditions in some cities in China and the large number of road participants, autonomous driving technology is facing many challenges, and the premise of expanding the system's initiative is to strengthen its perception of the environment and its ability to respond to emergencies.
Previously, in July, at the 5th World Intelligent Safety Conference hosted by FISITA (World Federation of Societies of Automotive Engineers) and the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, Li Jun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, said that at present, autonomous driving is facing the challenges of road traffic safety, lack of complete technical standards for the industry, functional failure, cyber attacks and insufficient expected functions. The safety of autonomous vehicles has become a global focus issue, and it is urgent to accelerate the improvement of intelligent and safe driving technology.
After the issuance of the "Notice", a number of industry insiders told reporters that the document is of great significance to the field of autonomous driving. One of the industry insiders said that the "Notice" made it clear that autonomous vehicles on the road must not only meet the conditions for mass production, but also need to achieve pre-installation, that is, car companies need to do a good job in the layout of sensors in the early stage of vehicle design. This requires car companies, as vehicle manufacturers, to form a closer cooperative relationship with the leading providers of autonomous driving solutions, and highly cooperate in design verification, process assurance, testing and verification, etc., so as to make the production and research process more standardized.
However, the above-mentioned people also said that the promotion of pilot is only the beginning, and the improvement of laws and regulations for L3 and above autonomous driving models is the key to realizing the large-scale commercialization of high-level autonomous driving technology.
L2 and L4 have become the "dividing line" between car companies and autonomous driving companies
In December, BMW Group and Zhiji Auto announced that vehicles equipped with L3 autonomous driving functions have officially obtained a high-speed autonomous driving test license in Shanghai, and will carry out L3 high-speed autonomous driving road tests in designated areas in the future.
On the 16th of the same month, the relevant departments of Beijing issued the "Detailed Rules for the Management of Road Testing of Conditional Autonomous Driving Functional Vehicles in the Pilot Zone of Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy (Trial)", and Mercedes-Benz became one of the first enterprises to be approved for the road test license of Beijing Conditional Autonomous Driving (Level 3) on the highway.
Previously, the high-end intelligent driving technology developed by autonomous driving companies was mostly used in the field of commercial vehicles, but there are essential differences in the underlying business logic from commercial vehicles to passenger vehicles.
Before the laws and regulations on autonomous driving in the passenger car field are implemented, car companies still need to face the glass ceiling of L3 commercialization. The closer the autonomous driving technology is to Level 3, the more detailed the functions are, and the lower the consumers' perception of technological upgrades.
"The license obtained by the car company is only the ticket to the L3 track, and it remains to be seen how it will perform in the future. A senior practitioner admitted to reporters that autonomous driving requires a lot of capital, technology and data accumulationIn the case of intensified involution, if car companies pass on the cost of technology to the market, it is still unknown whether consumers are willing to pay. "This is also the reason why most autonomous driving companies choose to do B-end business. ”
In his view, L2 and L4 are currently the two dividing lines between car companies and autonomous driving companies. "It is relatively easy for autonomous driving companies that have been focusing on L4 to develop L3, and because such companies are mainly engaged in B-end business, they do not consider the perception of C-end users. However, for car companies, the process from L2 to L3 is relatively difficult, because car companies face consumers directly, and the huge cost of R&D and testing that is not visible to the end market are all things that car companies need to face. ”