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The view from the inside of a Zeekr electric vehicle in one of the company’s exhibition halls in Shanghai, China, on March 16, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty images
Beijing – Chinese electric car company Zeekr He is launching advanced drivers assistance capabilities to his local customers for free as the competition is heated, the Zeekr CEO, Andy An, told CNBC before an launch event on Tuesday.
Technology allows the car to drive almost autonomously from a pre -established destination to another, provided that drivers keep their hands in the steering wheel and there is regulatory approval, which is increasingly the case in most of the main Chinese cities.
It is the latest brand of Chinese electric vehicles to update its driver assistance products such as Tesla Try to attract more buyers of their own version, called full automatic driving, in China.
After the initial criticism that the 64,000 yuan software ($ 8,850) was Too expensiveSome Chinese social media users said on Monday that Tesla was Offering some users the controller assistance system for free Until April 16. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The Zeekr version will be free, will be implemented in a pilot group initially and then launched to the public in April, according to the company.
“At this time, in this period of development, I think that subscriptions are not so significant,” said the CEO and in an interview on Friday, according to a translation of CNBC of his comments in Mandarin.
Given the intense competition, he said, Zeekr needs to close the gap in driver assistance with market leaders and become a superior player. “Therefore, we must have some cost,” said An, and said that Zeekr previously only offered more basic driver assistance capabilities, as for parking.
Zeekr, which appears in the USA, is scheduled to publish quarterly profits on Thursday ahead of the US market. UU. The shares rise approximately 6% in the year in which they will be carried out.
Nvidia chips
The CEO and said that the Zeekr driver assistance system uses two sets of Nvidia Orin X chips and a lidar, or a light and range detection unit that allows a vehicle to navigate roads without trusting too much in the conditions of sunlight.
He said that an upcoming version of the system will use the most advanced Thor Thor Chip in Nvidia, a long -range Lidar and four shorter rank lidar units.
“The use of Lidar can increase the cost, but this reflects how much we value security,” said An. He said that the Zeekr car driver assistance system sold abroad will not use NVIDIA chips for now, given the different regulations and demand for the local market.
The Zeekr driver assistance system will also be used for EV Brand Lynk & Co. cars, and potentially vehicles of the Geely matrix company. Zeekr officially Acquired Lynk & Co. This year.
From the price war to the driver’s assistance competition
The sales of the “Autonomous Driving Platforms” of Nvidia helped boost the chips manufacturer Automotive and Robotics income to a record of $ 570 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
Also reflecting market demand, the main producer of Lidar Sheesai He said this month that his shipments of Lidar have more than duplicated annually for four consecutive years from 2024.
Hudai’s financial director, Andrew Fan told CNBC last week that the company expects significant growth in advanced driver assistance systems this year since last year, and pointed out a joke in the industry that the China electric car market has changed a price war to a war for driver assistance.
In the last two years, technology has more and more becomes a point of sale For new energy vehicles in China, which include cars only for battery and hybrid energy.
Nev Gant Byd In February he announced that he was implementing assistance capabilities for drivers to more than 20 of his car models. Although the current characteristics focus mainly on parking and road navigation, the company said that an update with point -to -point driver assistance would probably be broadcast at the end of 2025.
The most basic version of the BYD controllers assistance system uses the Horizon Robotics chipset together with NvidiaOrin, while the most advanced versions only use other Nvidia chips, according to Nomura’s investigation.
Startup China EV XpengAnother Nvidia customer who made the driver’s advanced assistance an early point of sale, has delivered more than 30,000 cars per month since November, thanks in part to his new P7+ car that also also He let additional subscriptions for driver assistance.
Child According to the company, he has announced subscriptions for his assistance functions for drivers, but has not yet charged users for the company.
