In 2024, the intelligent competition will leap to a new level, with and without a map
Written by IT Times reporter Jia Tianrong
Edited by Qian Lifu and Sun Yan
At present, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China is rising. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will reach 31 in 20236%, with a penetration rate of 50% expected in 2025.
At the same time, the intelligent level of new energy vehicles is also constantly improving. This can be glimpsed from the highlights of major auto shows, intelligent cockpit, automatic driving, chips, voice interaction and other cutting-edge technologies have become the focus of major car companies, and traditional power, space, comfort and other elements are no longer the only focus of competition. The widespread application of intelligent technology is redefining the automotive industry.
In 2024, with the continuous maturity of technologies such as intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit, intelligence will become the core driving force for the development of the automotive industry. The competition between enterprises will be more intense, but whether it is consumers or businessmen, the pursuit of higher cost performance and reliability will always be the constant theme of industry development.
Intelligent driving in controversy
With or without a picture
In the past two years, the controversy in the field of intelligent driving over the technical route of "no map" and "map" has become more and more intense.
High-definition maps have always played an important role in the perception layer of autonomous driving, and their accuracy provides important support for autonomous driving systems. However, for car companies, the high-precision map industry has high barriers, and qualifications, technology and capital are indispensable. Moreover, map collection is related to the stricter supervision, and the entry threshold is very high. With the development of intelligent driving technology, especially the advancement of urban NOA (N**igate on Autopilot, navigation-assisted driving), many car companies have begun to turn to the "no map" technology route.
At present, the leading domestic enterprises in the field of intelligent driving, represented by Huawei and Xpeng, have announced urban intelligent driving plans based on "no map" technology to reduce costs and achieve larger-scale applications.
Since the end of 2023, the Wenjie M9 and Xpeng X9 equipped with the "mapless intelligent driving" function have been released one after another, indicating that the wind direction of various car companies in the field of intelligent driving has shifted to "go to high-precision maps" and explored the era of "no map".
On the Huawei side of the M9, not only the M9, but also at the end of January and the beginning of February 2024, some owners of the M5 M7 received V33.8. The intelligent driving version has been updated, adding the intelligent driving navigation assistance function (City NCA) in urban areas that does not rely on high-precision maps. This version of NCA intelligent driving pilot assistance no longer relies on high-precision maps, so the country's high-speed, elevated, expressway, etc. can be used, the owner only needs to set the destination on the car machine, you can turn on the NCA function of mapless intelligent driving with one click.
Xpeng Motors even shouted at the 1024 Science and Technology Day in 2023 that the "no map" war is over, and the XNGP urban intelligent driving using the light map solution will not be limited to the use of high-precision maps and the update timeliness. Xpeng said at the time that the XNGP system has the technical ability to support urban intelligent driving across the country, and after completing rigorous engineering testing and verification, it can be fully pushed in batches according to user coverage and travel needs.
Xpeng Motors XNGP City Intelligent Driving.
In addition, Momo Zhixing, Li Automobile, and Zhiji Automobile have also started public testing and internal testing of high-precision mapping, and have successively implemented the urban high-end intelligent driving program.
"With a picture" or "without a picture" has become one of the biggest differences in the intelligent driving industry.
In October last year, Cheng Peng, CEO of NavInfo, a veteran map manufacturer, said, "The reason why some car companies emphasize the 'no map' technical route is mainly because there is no map qualification, no intellectual property rights, and no security awe. At that time, he also said that the car companies that claimed to have "no map" still have map information after covering all the sensors, that is, these companies still use the "map" scheme. As soon as this statement came out, it once again sparked a fierce debate in the car circle.
There is no doubt that "no graph" has a high threshold, and higher requirements are put forward in terms of perception, algorithm model, planning control, and data volume, and the engineering quantity and technical complexity have also been greatly increased.
Whether 2024 can become the first year of "mapless" intelligent driving still needs time to verify.
AI-powered intelligent cockpit
Another key area of automotive intelligence is undoubtedly the intelligent cockpit.
At the Global Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, automotive giants have unveiled intelligent cockpit technology solutions based on AI large models: the all-new MB. released by Mercedes-BenzThe OS in-vehicle system, which integrates AI virtual assistants, can provide more personalized services according to the driver's emotions; Based on Amazon's Alexa large language model, BMW has created a new generation of BMW intelligent personal assistant, which realizes intelligent interaction between people and vehicles through voice. Volkswagen announced that its existing IDA voice assistant will introduce ChatGPT artificial intelligence technology to provide more intelligent control and answering services.
Not only that, Zhang Mingjun, vice president of Runxin Micro Technology, told the "IT Times" reporterIn 2023, the intelligent cockpit industry is gradually "sinking", and intelligent cockpit technology is penetrating and popularizing mid-to-low-end models.
At the same time, the development of AI technology has also had a positive impact on the experience of intelligent cockpits. Zhang Mingjun said that with the application of advanced technologies such as large language models, the quality of voice interaction in the intelligent cockpit has been significantly improved. This kind of voice interaction based on large models is not only more intelligent and natural, but also can more accurately understand user intent, providing a smoother and more natural conversational experience.
In addition, the intelligent cockpit further improves the user experience through scenario-based applications. These applications can automatically adapt to different scene needs according to the user's behavior habits, such as automatically adjusting the air conditioning, **, etc., so as to create a more comfortable and personalized driving environment for the user. This kind of intelligent and scenario-based application not only makes the vehicle function more intelligent and personalized, but also makes it more suitable for the needs and expectations of users.
At the end of 2023, emerging car manufacturers have also shown strong strength in the field of intelligent cockpits. Xiaomi's first prototype SU7 achieves comprehensive voice control functions through "Xiao Ai"; Xpeng upgraded to XMART OS 4 via OTA5.Version 0, which expands the intelligent navigation and assisted driving function to 52 cities across the country, and adds advanced functions such as traffic light recognition, start and stop, and autonomous light and lane change; Ideal ONE also passes OTA 34. A number of new functions have been pushed, such as the traffic light countdown of AutoNavi Map, the mobile version of the task master, etc., to bring users a more convenient and intelligent driving experience.
Enabled by AI models, human-computer interaction has shifted from passive interaction to active interaction. In recent years, Hongmeng, Meizu, and NIO have begun to launch a common ecosystem of mobile phones and car machines to achieve ecological integration, information flow, and computing power sharing, creating a closed-loop experience.
At the same time, the in-vehicle display is moving from the basic HUD to a diversified form, and the on-board HUD, as the in-cabin intelligent display carrier, can improve driving safety and enhance the human-vehicle interaction experience, and many models have been equipped.
The pursuit of "cost performance" is still the focus
Standing at the inflection point of China's intelligent driving industry, both intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities, and car companies are in the whirlpool of this change.
Wang Bo, research manager of IDC China, said in an interview with the IT Times that in terms of intelligent driving, the driving assistance functions that have been implemented in the passenger car market have been extended from high-speed and ring road scenarios to urban scenarios. Elements such as intersections, pedestrians, and two-wheeled vehicles increase the complexity of the traffic environment, and the robustness of autonomous driving systems is required. There are many development routes for autonomous driving technology, and different development routes have different preferences for data types. The market will be recognized by the solution for the driving task, i.e. the extent to which it frees up the driver's energy.
Yuan Shuai, deputy secretary-general of the Zhongguancun Internet of Things Industry Alliance, said in an interview that "no map" intelligent driving has great potential for development, but there are also some technical difficulties and limitations; In the future, with the continuous progress of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, "mapless" intelligent driving will gradually mature and be widely used.
On the other hand, in the case that high-precision maps are subject to the large-scale mass production of high-end intelligent driving in cities, and the technical solutions of "no maps" are not yet mature, "light maps" are gradually becoming a new choice for the industry. , Tencent, NavInfo, AutoNavi and other leading companies have launched lightweight map products to increase the frequency of updates and reduce costs.
The emergence of "light map" indicates that although the technical route is still controversial, under the premise of pursuing more intelligence and higher security, seeking cost performance in the involution will become an important theme for car companies to enhance their competitiveness in the future.
The same is true for the intelligent cockpit, Zhang Mingjun told the "IT Times" reporter that in 2024, with the increasingly fierce competition between car companies, the cost pressure will be further intensified. Car companies will seek ways to reduce costs, which will pose higher challenges to smart cockpit vendors. Businesses need to continuously innovate and optimize their production processes to reduce costs and remain competitive. On the other hand, in order to meet the demand of OEMs for localization, the first manufacturers will actively promote the substitution of domestic chips and components to reduce costs and improve competitiveness.
Zhang Mingjun said that OEMs have increasingly higher requirements for the stability and performance of cockpit software, and leading manufacturers need to continuously improve the stability and performance of their products to ensure user experience. On the premise of ensuring cost performance, the company will be committed to providing differentiated products and services, and winning customer trust and market share through technological iteration and innovation.
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