Intelligent connected vehicles set trends for auto industry

This photo taken on May 26, 2023, shows new energy and intelligent connected vehicles displayed at the exhibition center of the Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone in Beijing, the capital of China. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Customer preferences for enhanced driving and passenger experiences, characterized by robust performance, attractive aesthetics, longevity and intelligence, were evident at the 2023 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICVC), which concluded on Sunday.

Intelligent connected vehicles may bring about a wide range of positive factors in the future, said Turing Award laureate Whitfield Diffie at the conference.

He further explained that transportation costs are likely to decrease further, safety will significantly improve, urban traffic efficiency will be enhanced, transportation will become more flexible and faster, and overall, people’s mobility will be significantly facilitated.

Electrification, intelligence and connectivity are reshaping the automotive industry, with intelligent connected vehicles emerging as a crucial area of global collaborative innovation. This was a highly discussed subject at the WICVC, bringing together industry leaders from both the upstream and downstream of the industry chain.

It has been widely held within the industry that efforts should be made to leverage the technological innovations of companies globally, enhance collaboration between supply chain partners, and promote industry-wide cooperation in research, technology development, industrial synergy and market adoption.

As the global economy gradually recovers from the impact of the pandemic, there is an increasing reliance on batteries and electronic products in automotive technology, said Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), during the event.

She added that the innovative project led by China for the market access and road operation trials of intelligent connected vehicles is poised to have a significant impact on the global autonomous driving industry.

German luxury carmaker BMW has set up four research and innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing, comprising its largest research and development network outside Germany.

With over 3,200 research personnel, the company is utilizing cutting-edge technology to build a sustainable, digitized automotive industry.

BMW recognizes China’s great potential in the auto sector, particularly with the country’s strategic support for autonomous driving technology, said Frank Weber, a member of the board of management of BMW AG.

As software takes center stage in the future of electric and intelligent vehicles, AI chip giant NVIDIA is placing its emphasis on intelligent driving and advanced cabin technology.

The current single-chip computing power has a capacity of 254 TOPS (one trillion operations per second), and by 2024, the next-generation single-chip computing power is expected to reach 2,000 TOPS, said Liu Tong, NVIDIA automotive general manager in China. “Thus, it will ensure a strong technological foundation for the next era of autonomous driving.”

In 2022, around 7 million new passenger vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems and intelligent connected vehicle technology were sold in China, achieving a market penetration rate of 34.9 percent. In the first half of this year, the market penetration rate further increased to 42.4 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

According to data released by the National Innovation Center of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, by 2025, the added value of China’s intelligent connected vehicle industry in the automotive sector alone is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan.  ■