BYD's advanced driver-assistance system, called DNP, will be available on the new Han sedan in the third quarter, according to local media.
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BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) is a rare exception in China's electric vehicle (EV) space, not marketing its assisted driving capabilities much.
While this seems to have had no impact on its sales, it has left some with the impression that it lags behind in smart driving technology.
Now, a new report said BYD actually has technology built up in this area and will launch a feature similar to Tesla's FSD (Full Self-Driving) later this year.
BYD's advanced driver-assistance system will be available on the new Han sedan in the third quarter, giving the model the ability of pilot-assisted driving on the highway, local auto media HiEV said in a report today.
BYD's system is called DNP, and after the Han, it will also be available for some models of the Tang and Song of the Dynasty series, according to the report.
In addition to these models, BYD's higher-positioned brands including Denza, F brand and Yangwang will also be equipped with advanced smart driving features, the report said.
The first BYD advanced assisted driving solution available for Han models will be based on the Journey 5 chip from local chipmaker Horizon Robotics, according to the report.
Horizon Robotics is a leading provider of intelligent driving system solutions in China, and Li Auto is using its chips in some of its models, and use Nvidia chips in others.
Some models of BYD's Dynasty and Ocean series will also use the Nvidia DRIVE Orin computing platform to create assisted driving systems, the HiEV report noted.
On March 23, BYD announced a partnership with Nvidia on smart driving technology to equip some of its NEVs with the Nvidia DRIVE Hyperion platform for smart driving and smart parking of vehicles starting in the first half of 2023, as previously reported by CnEVPost.
Notably, on December 27 last year, BYD announced that it had established a joint venture with autonomous driving unicorn Momenta, officially kicking off a long-term partnership between the two companies to develop high-level intelligent driving technology.
Momenta, an industry-leading autonomous driving company, will further boost BYD's rapid breakthrough and mass production in the field of intelligent driving, BYD's announcement at the time said.
The high trim version of Denza N7 is equipped with city pilot assisted driving function, with 2 RoboSense LiDARs and an Nvidia Orin X chip, with some of the system's algorithms provided by Momenta, according to HiEV's report today.
The Denza N7 will have basic L2 assisted driving features when it goes on sale in June, with other more advanced features to be released later, the report said, citing a Denza insider.
For the Yangwang brand, which is positioned above Denza, its first model, the U8, is equipped with three LiDARs, while the autonomous driving computing platform uses an Nvidia Orin chip, according to the report.
The Yangwang U8 is priced similarly to the Lotus Eletre with its smart driving solution, and both will have highway as well as city road pilot-assisted driving capabilities, the report said.
Earlier today, another local media outlet, 36kr, reported that BYD's smart driving R&D system is rapidly adjusting and the company is planning to conduct its own smart driving chip design.
While BYD's existing models are currently largely dependent on solutions from external suppliers, including Baidu, Huawei and Momenta, the NEV maker is already accelerating its focus on smart driving, the 36kr report said.
BYD ramps up smart driving R&D efforts, forms chip design team, report says
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