Advanced autonomous driving is entering the fast lane of commercial implementation. This week, NVIDIA announced on its WeChat official account that it is expanding its autonomous driving team in China. Tesla China responded to the landing of FSD (Full Self-Driving Capability) in China by stating, “It is indeed being promoted at present.” On the policy front, significant changes have occurred in the field of L3 and L4 intelligent driving in China. Recently, four ministries jointly issued a notice to deploy pilot projects for intelligent connected vehicle access and on-road testing, requiring L3 and L4 level intelligent connected vehicles with mass production conditions to conduct on-road trials within designated areas. It also clarifies accident liability determination for the first time. CICC pointed out that this policy will promote the development of technology and business models for passenger car L3 and mobility service L4, accelerating their implementation. Hu Yang from Huaxi Securities stated in a research report on November 26th that as of August 2023, more than 20,000 kilometers of test roads have been opened nationwide, with extensive research and development testing verification of intelligent connected vehicles; this pilot project will help accelerate the improvement of technology levels for intelligent connected vehicles and speed up industrialization processes within the smart car industry. Hu believes that L3/L4 automated driving will also be implemented faster next year.
According to Guotai Junan Securities’ research report on October 18th by Zhu Haibin et al., according to MIIT’s “Classification Criteria for Automotive Driving Automation,” autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems are usually classified into six levels: L0-L5. Autonomous driving technology is gradually advancing from Level 2 towards Levels 3 and 4, with major automakers accelerating their layout for Level 3 or higher automated driving capabilities. It is reported that Level 3 intelligent driving systems are considered a watershed between assisted driving and automated driving since after Level 3, the control gradually shifts from the driver to the automated driving system. Data shows that starting in 2023, there will be a significant penetration rate of L3 and higher level intelligent driving. NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) will move from highways to urban areas, and autonomous vehicle companies represented by NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Huawei have all planned for urban assisted driving implementation this year. For example, at the Guangzhou Auto Show on November 17th, models with high attention such as Zhiji S7, Wanjie M9, Li ONE MEGA Edition, and Xpeng P5 all showcased their advancements in intelligent driving.
Huang LePing et al. from Huatai Securities stated in a research report on June 12th that they systematically analyzed the autonomous driving industry chain and representative companies from top to bottom. They believe that due to improvements in domestic players’ product performance across various links of the industry chain and the rise of downstream independent brands, there is a significant trend towards local substitution of components. In terms of chips: NVIDIA leads in iterative development of intelligent driving chips; Mobileye’s technology is mature; domestic players like Horizon Robotics and Black Sesame are gradually catching up with pioneers such as TI. In terms of domain controllers and solutions: domestic players Desay SV Automotive Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., J.W.Renewable Energy Technology Holdings Limited (JWRE), ZongMu Technology Co., Ltd., ZhiXing Technology Co., Ltd., have all achieved scale production while continuously improving their technological maturity levels. Regarding lidar: Domestic suppliers Hesai Photonics Technologies Co., Ltd., Toodii Tech Inc.(TDT), SureStar Information &Technology Corp.(SureStar) are moving faster towards mass production pace. As for 4D millimeter-wave radar: Domestic players include GATELAND(MMIC chip), Sensortech, etc. In terms of high-speed connectors: Rosenberger has deep technological accumulation; Elec & Eltek International Company Limited (Elec & Eltek), Ruike Technology Co., Ltd.(RUIKE) and others are catching up rapidly.
Focusing on L3/L4 level autonomous driving, Hu Yang pointed out that under the drive of intelligent connected vehicle policies, leading automakers are accelerating the upgrade of autonomous driving technology and paying attention to the upstream automotive electronic opportunities brought by the implementation of L3/L4. Beneficiaries include: LiDAR (Hesai Technology, Yongxin Optics, Changguang Huaxin, Juguang Technology), CIS (Valeo), AR-HUD (Crystal-Optech), optical cameras (Sunny Optical Technology, Unigroup Guoxin Microelectronics, Yutong Optics), connector components (Delian Technology, Xingrui Technology, Ruikeda), domain controllers (Desay SV Automotive, JW Holding Group), PCBs (Shenghong Science and Technology , Shiyun Circuit).
According to Cailian Press’s incomplete compilation, Hongying Intelligent, Ruiming Technology,Yanshan Science andTechnology,Zhongguo Haifang,and APT Satellite Holdings have recently responded on interactive platforms regarding their layouts in L3/L4 autonomous driving.
In addition,Dongli New Energy previously stated on an interactive platform that its wholly-owned subsidiary SAIC Hongyan has developed commercial applications for unmanned driving technology in heavy-duty trucks such as tractors,cargo trucks,and dump trucks based on SAIC Commercial Vehicle’s integrated technology.The company has completed L4-level(highly automated)operating scenarios at ports including Yangshan Port,Caofeidian Port,Jingtang Port,and Wuxi Logistics Park.Similarly,XingruiTechnology also indicated on an interactive platform that it mainly supplies T1 customers such as Boschand Hella inthe field of unmanneddriving,focusingon precision components such as embedded injection-molded products for mid-range radar.Currently,the company primarily supplies hardware with applications in L3 level.