Despite recent negative headlines surrounding Tesla and General Motors, Chinese companies are making steady progress in the self-driving car industry. The article highlights three Chinese-developed systems for automotive autonomy (NIO’s NOP+, Li Auto’s NOA, and XPeng’s XNGP). While these systems still don't match the perception and reactivity of a human driver, they are closer to achieving this than any current U.S. offerings.
Key takeaways:
- China is outperforming the U.S. in the development of self-driving cars due to their focus on ensuring every car understands its surroundings as much as possible.
- Chinese vehicles equipped with semi-autonomous functionality were found to be superior to comparable American self-driving systems, largely due to the implementation of Lidar technology.
- While Tesla and General Motors have been facing issues such as mass recalls and huge losses, Chinese companies are making steady progress towards self-driving technology.
- Despite the use of Lidar, the perception and reactivity of these self-driving systems are still inferior to a human driver, but they are closer than any systems developed in the U.S. so far.