EV Industry

In today's China, whether to jump on the car-making bandwagon seems to be a choice every powerful tech company has to make.

Its pre-sale price starts at RMB 29,800 ($4,588), not far off the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV's starting price of RMB 28,800.

An impressive test ride experience.

The vehicle is the first production model in China with L4 driverless capability, equipped with Baidu Apollo's unmanned autonomous parking system AVP, and is also the first vehicle in China to apply SOA (service-oriented architecture).

DJI Automotive, a subsidiary of Drone maker DJI, has started working with car companies, and mass-produced cars equipped with DJI's intelligent driving system will be released as soon as this year.

"Range anxiety" is seen as a major factor holding back the development of the electric vehicle industry, but in the opinion of CATL, China's largest power battery supplier, it's a false proposition.

For Ofilm, a camera supplier that relies heavily on Apple, being kicked out of the iPhone maker's supply chain would mean a major blow. But now it sees a new opportunity in China's budding smart car market.

Hongguang Mini EV sales reached 39,745 units in March, up 130 percent from February. This is the model's highest monthly sales since its launch last July.

You may ask, with so many tech companies joining the car-making industry, do they feel crowded? In fact, the answer is that we have a tradition of enjoying a crowded life.

"If the car has to rely on 5G and 5.5G to drive itself, what happens when the network goes down?" Xu asked, adding that this is also very demanding and unrealistic for operators.