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author | shen tianxiang

editor | li guozheng

intelligent driving, especially high-level intelligent driving, is a jewel in the crown of automotive technology and a new world in the current automotive industry.

"advanced intelligent driving is still a luxury for a few people, because it is mostly installed in models with a price of more than 200,000 yuan." on august 30, 2024, xiao yong, deputy general manager of gac aion, vowed at the press conference of aion's booth at the chengdu auto show, "aion has decided to stand up and become the popularizer of advanced intelligent driving."

with the slogan of "popularizing advanced intelligent driving", aion's confidence comes from its products.

more than a month ago, the second-generation aion v was launched, with three types of range and seven configurations, priced from 129,800 to 189,800 yuan. among them, the 650 lidar version priced at 189,800 yuan attracted the most attention in the market - it is the first model to equip a million-yuan-level intelligent driving experience in a 190,000-yuan model.

after the second-generation aion v aion tyrannosaurus was launched on the market, it was well received by users and continued to sell well. in the first month of its launch, sales exceeded 6,000 units, of which the 650 lidar version accounted for more than 31%.

immediately afterwards, at the chengdu auto show, aion launched the 520 lidar version with a suggested price of only 169,800 yuan, which is 20,000 yuan lower than the 650 lidar version, allowing more users to enjoy high-end intelligent driving.

aion is not the first person to claim to be the “popularizer of advanced intelligent driving.”

since 2024, as the battle of intelligence continues to escalate, the trend of high-end intelligent driving has gradually blown from the high-end to the mid- and low-end mainstream markets, and some 100,000 yuan-level models are also claiming to achieve high-end intelligent driving.

however, in the mid- and low-end mainstream markets, most companies rely on vision and sensors, eliminating high-precision maps and lidar, saving a lot of hardware costs, as well as the licensing and maintenance fees of high-precision maps.

judging from actual experience and user complaints, some mid- and low-end models equipped with so-called high-end intelligent driving solutions have not given users a good experience. instead, they have caused some users to resist intelligent driving.

aion's approach is different.

on the aion tyrannosaurus, aion not only did not cancel the laser radar in order to reduce costs, but it also set a precedent in the industry by allowing models equipped with laser radar version of high-end intelligent driving to enter the 160,000 yuan price range, so that ordinary consumers can also have a better intelligent driving experience.

for the popularization and development of high-end intelligent driving, this step taken by aion tyrannosaurus is undoubtedly a milestone.

safety, safety, and safety

"at the current stage, if car companies want to create reliable, safe and reliable smart driving, lidar is indispensable," said xiao yong.

at present, in the field of intelligent driving, the competition between pure vision and lidar routes is becoming increasingly fierce.

strictly speaking, apart from tesla's autopilot assisted driving system, there are no other real pure vision solutions. the industry's intelligent driving solutions are basically based on vision and supplemented by radar. most of them are not equipped with laser radar, but cameras plus millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, etc.

putting aside the cost, the advantages of pure vision solutions are mainly rich visual information, strong scalability, and similarity to human driving perception, but the disadvantages are also obvious, mainly sensitivity to environmental conditions, limited ability to analyze complex scenes, and high computing requirements.

the advantages of lidar are high-precision measurement, rapid response, strong anti-interference ability, target recognition and classification, high-precision map generation, and a large field of view, and it can also be used in many special environments.

overall, at the current stage, the most obvious benefit of using lidar is greater safety.

among all the new energy vehicle brands, aion is like a "contradiction" - both radical and conservative - radical in innovation and development, but very conservative in terms of bottom line.

in the field of intelligent driving, aion has always insisted on walking on two legs, one is self-research, the other is cooperation. even in the field of self-research, it also walks on two legs. aion intelligent driving includes two technical routes: multi-sensor fusion (including lidar) and pure vision, both of which are mainstream in the industry.

in fact, neither the pure vision nor the lidar solution is absolutely safe. there is no absolute difference between the two, and it is difficult to say which is the only way.

industry authorities generally believe that with the development of autonomous driving technology, the future will be a diversified and integrated process, combining different sensors, algorithms and technologies to continuously optimize and improve the performance of autonomous driving systems.

xiao yong said: "it is too early to conclude whether lidar will be used in advanced intelligent driving or even autonomous driving in the next three to five years. but at the current stage, lidar is indispensable for advanced intelligent driving."

like aion, huawei also attaches great importance to driving safety. they believe that lidar provides higher safety guarantees than pure vision solutions in providing accurate environmental perception.

"multi-vision driving is the real direction of intelligent driving, while lidar intelligent driving is a higher-level option." yu chengdong, huawei's executive director, chairman of the terminal bg, and chairman of the intelligent automotive solutions bu, once said.

in the current market, models below 200,000 yuan are usually not equipped with lidar. the reason is simple: cost constraints. this route is more expensive, on the one hand, the cost of lidar, and on the other hand, the cost of high-computing chips. most models below 200,000 yuan have to "abandon" lidar if they want to have intelligent driving capabilities.

of course, this is just the choice of other companies. for aion, on the road to the development of intelligent driving, everything should start from user safety, which is the original intention and bottom line of the brand.

even though the industry is so competitive, in order to ensure safety, maximize road adaptability and scene applications, and bring users the most secure and efficient experience, aion still chose the 5r11v1l high-end intelligent driving solution with lidar on the aion tyrannosaurus rex, and the hardware configuration was directly maxed out.

in addition to lidar, as one of the few automakers in the world that focuses on the ev+icv full-stack self-developed route, aion has accumulated a lot of experience and continuously refreshed the heights of intelligent driving technology: in 2019, it was ahead of its peers and mass-produced models equipped with l2 intelligent assisted driving systems; in 2024, it was the first to obtain the national l3 autonomous driving system road test license, and made in-depth layout in the field of l4 autonomous driving...

at the same time, the world's only new energy vehicle lighthouse factory's leading intelligent manufacturing level, a complete and controllable industrial chain, and a base of more than 1.3 million car owners have laid the foundation for aion to popularize high-end intelligent driving.

in aion's view, as aion's first global strategic model, the aion tyrannosaurus is a pioneer in the popularization of high-end intelligent driving, and should give priority to safety and quality. in fact, the aion tyrannosaurus has done it.

160,000 yuan, leading the way to equal rights for smart driving

as mentioned above, in the past few years, high-end intelligent driving solutions using lidar have not been able to be popularized rapidly, mainly because lidar is relatively expensive.

however, with the rise of domestic lidar manufacturers, an increasingly exciting "equal rights movement" has emerged in the lidar field.

the significant reduction in the cost of lidar has helped various companies to launch high-end intelligent driving functions on a large scale. high-end intelligent driving is showing a trend of blooming in multiple places, and is expected to move from the introduction stage to the explosive growth stage.

at the same time, under the influence of price wars and other factors, it has become a new trend for car companies to provide high-end intelligent driving as standard to consumers.

however, when the unit price of laser radar has not yet dropped below 1,000 yuan, it is not easy to install it on cars priced between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan.

even so, the hardware of the intelligent driving system of the aion tyrannosaurus 520 lidar version has not been reduced due to high costs. instead, it is equipped with industry-leading technologies and configurations, such as 5 millimeter-wave radars, 11 high-definition cameras, a new generation of solid-state variable-focus lidar, nvidia orin-x high-computing power platform, and fourth-generation end-to-end large models, which are all top in the industry.

at the same time, this car has first-class hardware and software, and performs better in actual experience.

since july this year, aion tyrannosaurus has held a national public beta test, inviting media and users to participate in a 12-day, 28-city large-scale test to test its intelligent driving capabilities. in the national public beta test, aion tyrannosaurus fully demonstrated the three outstanding advantages of the nda without a map.

firstaion pioneered a model of the driver’s “psychological safety zone”. when it predicts that an obstacle invades the psychological safety zone, it immediately calibrates the vehicle control to make the vehicle control more in line with the driver’s psychological expectations, bringing a stronger sense of security.

second, based on the comprehensive efficiency of "long-distance navigation + short-distance comprehensive target", the planning model is improved. for example, in the scenario of continuous short intersections, after turning right, the vehicle can directly merge into the left-turn lane on the left, improving the traffic efficiency of the intersection.

thirdit adopts the industry's most advanced transformer architecture, which can efficiently understand the scene and the behavior of other vehicles. it can drive like an experienced driver, make continuous predictions, avoid maneuvers smoothly, and execute dynamic multi-tasking in one go.

in addition to high-level intelligent driving, users who participated in the public beta also reported several outstanding advantages, such as no compromise in battery life and less hassle in recharging; comfortable ride and well-tuned chassis; and the ai ​​cockpit is convenient and easy to use.

on this basis, the newly released aion tyrannosaurus 520 lidar version has a long range of 520km, low energy consumption of 12.8kwh/100km, and 400v+3c fast charging technology, which can replenish 260km of energy in 15 minutes of charging.

moreover, aion's exclusive charging piles cover eight national high-speed arteries. the compatibility of the tyrannosaurus rex 520 lidar version with other brands of charging piles is also very good, and it can be charged wherever there is a pile.

if you need longer battery life and more luxurious enjoyment, you can choose the 650 lidar version for 189,800 yuan. this is also the comfortable configuration that the first batch of car owners like. it not only has front seat massage, a small table for the co-pilot and rear seats, but also a hot and cold dining bar that supports three modes of freezing, refrigeration and heating - making the million-level comfort within reach.

according to data released by the china passenger car association in august this year, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in my country has exceeded 50%. the industry consensus is that the popularization of high-level intelligent driving will become the second growth curve of new energy vehicle development.

according to aion’s statistics, the penetration rate of advanced intelligent driving above l2++ is only 6%, which shows that advanced intelligent driving has huge room for development.

with the launch of the aion tyrannosaurus 520 lidar version, aion is accelerating towards the inflection point of high-end intelligent driving penetration.

advanced intelligent driving is a new world ushered in by the development of new energy vehicles. aion has entered this new world and is shaping a new self in it. its new label is clear and firm - the popularizer of advanced intelligent driving.