China New-Energy Passenger Vehicle Registrations: Up and Up!
1,106,772 Chinese-made new energy passenger vehicles (NEPVs) were registered in mainland China this past September, a 61-per-cent increase over September ’23. BEV models held the largest share at 57 per cent, followed by PHEVs at 32 per cent and range-extended electric vehicles (REEV) at 11 per cent.
China’s indigenous brands dominated the top 20, except for Tesla (3rd) and Volkswagen (14th).
In September 2024, Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), delivered 39,931 vehicles—six models from their three main brands Aito, Luxeed, and Stelato. All were equipped with Huawei Lidar.
Xiaomi EV, with just one model on the market, achieved 13,573 unit registrations, ranking 18th.
RoboSense Lidar Sales Up in Q3-24
By the end of September 2024, RoboSense’s lidar sales for the year had reached approximately 381,900 units, of which 365,800 were automotive lidar products and the other 16,100 were for robotics and other industries.
Hesai, SAIC-VW Sign Cooperation Intent Pact
SAIC Volkswagen has signed a cooperation intent agreement with Hesai Technology. This partnership recognizes Hesai’s advanced lidar products and technologies. The company specializes in optics, mechanics, and electronics, holding over 1,700 patents worldwide. By Q2-24, Hesai had delivered more than 470,000 lidar sets.
Hesai to Supply Lidar for New Leapmotor Platform
Hesai Technology has entered an exclusive lidar supply agreement with Leapmotor. Hesai will be the only provider of lidar products for several models on Leapmotor’s new platform. This partnership strengthens their strategic collaboration in intelligent driving, demonstrating Hesai’s expertise in lidar and Leapmotor’s trust in their technology. The first model from this platform is expected to enter mass production in 2025.
RoboSense Wins GAC Aion Lidar Supply Contracts
RoboSense and GAC Aion have entered a partnership under which RoboSense will supply lidar systems for GAC Aion’s NEVs. The two companies have been collaborating since 2021.
Aeva’s 4D Lidar Picked for AV Validation
Aeva says their 4D lidar has been selected by a prominent European automaker for an AV validation program. Aeva’s Aeries II sensors will serve as the benchmark for validating next-generation vehicle automation systems.
DoIT Boasts 1st Taiwan-Made ‘AI’ Solid-State Lidar
Taiwan’s Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) in Taipei announced the launch of Taiwan’s first ‘AI’ solid-state lidar system. Funded by DoIT and developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), one key player is Compertum Microsystems, a MEMS company supported by leading connector supplier Lotes.
Waymo Expansion Funded
Waymo has closed a USD $5.6bn investment round, led by Alphabet. This funding aims to accelerate the growth of Waymo One ride-hailing services and improve the Waymo Driver, their ‘AI’-powered AD system. Expansion will cover cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and new markets such as Austin and Atlanta through a partnership with Uber. Waymo recently launched a safety impact hub to offer insights into how the Waymo Driver affects road safety.
Zeekr to Launch Public No-Map HD Nav Test
Geely’s premium new energy vehicle brand Zeekr has announced nationwide public testing of their latest Haohan 2.0 ‘smart’ driving system, featuring HD map-free urban NZP (Navigation Zeekr Pilot) function, which allows users to set specific daily routes, which the vehicle ‘learns’ and memorizes over time, enabling automatic navigation on frequently-travelled paths. Zeekr also launched the Mix model, which comes standard with lidar sensors and dual Nvidia Orin-X, with capabilities for remote intelligent parking and HD map-free NZP.
QCraft, NavInfo Launch Urban NOA for C¥150kCars
Autonomous driving solution developer QCraft and NavInfo have unveiled what they say is the industry’s first cost-effective urban NOA (navigation on autopilot) solution based on the Horizon Robotics’ Journey 6M platform. The system has demonstrated highway NOA performance with over 1,000 km between safe interventions, 99 per cent ramp passage success, and 99.5 per cent lane change accuracy.
