Voyah will allow customers to pay to upgrade the cockpit chip in the Voyah FREE to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip starting May 1.
(Image credit: Voyah)
Voyah, the premium electric vehicle (EV) brand owned by Dongfeng Motor (HKG: 0489), will offer a cockpit chip upgrade for its only current model, the Voyah FREE, ahead of a similar move Nio expects to make next month.
Voyah will begin allowing users to purchase a service package in its online store on May 1 that will upgrade the cockpit chip in their Voyah FREE vehicles to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip currently used in mainstream flagship models, the company said Friday night.
Voyah FREE went on sale in China in June 2021, offering a version with extended-range technology and an all-electric version.
The list of specifications displayed on the company's website provides no information about the cockpit chip, although local media reports suggest that the Voyah FREE uses a lower-cost chip from Texas Instruments.
There have been some previous complaints on social media about the Voyah FREE's lagging center screen, perhaps related to the chip's lack of performance.
As a user-centric technology company, Voyah is offering the upgrade with the goal of giving users a smoother, more enjoyable smart-cockpit experience, the company said Friday.
The 8155 chip is the mature flagship cockpit chip, the performance "ceiling" for cockpit chips in current production vehicles, Voyah said.
The chip uses a 7-nanometer manufacturing process and has an 8-core processor with up to 8 TOPS of computing power, which will improve the overall experience of voice interaction, navigation, audio and video entertainment, according to the company.
The upgrade package will be available from May 1 at a price of RMB 12,999 ($1,970). However, the company is offering a limited-time discounted price of RMB 4,999 for those who purchase before May 31.
Nio (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866) has previously planned to announce the 2022 ES8, ES6 and EC6 at the end of May, which will feature a major upgrade with the 8155 chip and 5G communication module.
Nio will also provide post-installation upgrades to the above hardware for existing customers. The current cockpit of Nio's NT 1.0 platform-based SUVs is equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra X1 chip.
Nio to unveil ES7 at end of May, instead of April as originally planned
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