The Chinese manufacturer Avatr, which collaborates with the smartphone giant Huawei, could give Tesla a good beating with its autonomous driving system. The latter has been put to the test in real conditions, and it proves the usefulness of LiDAR which Elon Musk does not want to hear about.
Today, car manufacturers are engaged in a merciless war. And this is played out on several grounds: price, autonomy as well as technologies. And among them, autonomous driving. Indeed, almost all brands want to offer the most advanced hands-free piloting possible in order to give their competitors a beating.
An efficient system
We obviously think of Tesla, which is making a lot of noise with its Autopilot as well as its FSD (full self-driving), which is however not yet offered to European customers. At the beginning of the summer, the firm hired drivers to test its system in real conditions. But the American manufacturer is obviously not alone in this market, quite the contrary.
Moreover, it is not even the most advanced, since it is Ford with its BlueCruise. We were also able to test it a few weeks ago and the result amazed us. But Chinese manufacturers, not content with invading the whole world with their cars, also want their share of the pie in this area. This is for example the case of Xpeng with its NGP but not only that.
Impressive, Huawei autonomous driving pic.twitter.com/qjxLsXzE0h
— Jason (@Jas0nYu) September 25, 2023
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And for good reason, the young Chinese brand Aito does not want to miss his chance and also has some advantages to show in this regard. This is what a recent video published on X (formerly Twitter) by the specialist proves Jason Yu. The latter had the opportunity to test the level 3 autonomous driving system of the Aito M5 which we were able to take in hand a few days ago in China.
And the least we can say is that this video is rather convincing. Judging by the images, the vehicle appears perfectly capable of detecting obstacles on the roadway and on the side. Additionally, it is also able to differentiate between vehicles and humans. In this respect, this does not differ from what Tesla is already doing with its Autopilot.
Impressive !
But where the Aito M5 stands out is that the system designed in partnership with Huawei works perfectly in the city, in a very complicated environment, with many pedestrians on the road and cars parked in a chaotic manner. This system thus resembles Tesla’s FSD, which is in beta and only available in the United States at the moment.
Moreover, European regulations also authorize level 3 autonomous driving, but again only on motorways. By Jason Yu’s own admission, Avatr’s system would also be far superior to that of Tesla and Nio. But how could the Chinese giant manage to do better than Tesla? The answer would lie in the technologies used.
Indeed, the Aito M5 uses a LiDAR sensor, a system also used by Nio and Lotus and Volvo. The latter is capable of precisely analyzing what is happening in front of the car and knowing the exact position of obstacles. Except thatElon Musk doesn’t want to hear about it of this technology, although a Tesla equipped with such a sensor had been seen a few months earlier.
The brand is currently using cameras, considered more precise according to the businessman. We were recently able to test the Tesla Vision in real conditions and we were quite disappointed. Could these images convince the American firm to switch to LiDAR? Perhaps, since Mercedes firmly believes in this technology and also has a head start over its American rival.
But be careful, however, since some equipment manufacturers are leaving the world of LiDAR, due to insufficient demand from manufacturers. So, who will be right between Huawei and Tesla? See you in a few years.
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