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Tesla officially pushes Christmas car update
On the evening of December 23, 2021, local time in the United States, Tesla officially began to push Christmas car updates in the United States. Compared with Tesla’s “rearrangement” of the car’s UI in last year’s Christmas update, Tesla’s Christmas update in 2021 can be said to be a phased reconstruction of the car’s interaction level.
Light show: After opening the corresponding function, the vehicle will start playing Christmas songs and perform light show performances in conjunction with the vehicle lights.
Custom application launch bar: The application launch bar of the new version car machine now supports freely dragging the order of the app, and can customize deleting or adding relevant apps from the application menu.
Simplified vehicle control buttons: The information displayed on the central control screen is more focused on navigation, multimedia, and commonly used functions after the update.
Turn blind spot display: Added turn blind spot display function. After enabling this function in the Autopilot settings, when the user uses the turn signal, the rear view ADAS camera on the vehicle’s fender will automatically display the real-time image of the corresponding side of the vehicle on the central control screen.
Application and new game updates: The car’s TikTok has improved the theater mode, the game “Low Polygon War” has added multiplayer mode, and the car has added two new games, “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Sudoku”.
Quick Review:
The design and interaction philosophy of Tesla’s in-car system can be summarized in one sentence: accommodating as many functions as possible while ensuring efficiency and user experience.
To strike a balance between the two, Tesla’s approach is to combine addition and subtraction. Tesla’s addition includes cultivating user habits and predicting future needs, such as the constantly increasing visual UI display area and the increasing number of derivative functions under the open electrical architecture.
However, what is more worthy of attention is how Tesla challenges users’ established habits and minimizes discomfort or even improves their experience.
Priced at 250,000-320,000, AITO WENJIE M5 begins pre-sale.
On December 23, at the Huawei Winter Flagship Conference, AITO WENJIE M5 was officially announced for pre-sale. The rear-drive version costs RMB 250,000, the four-wheel drive version costs RMB 280,000, and the four-wheel drive flagship version costs RMB 320,000.
- The length, width, and height are 4,770mm, 1,930mm, and 1,625mm respectively, with a wheelbase of 2,880mm;
- It features a 15.6-inch landscape screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 90%, which is the one showcased at HDC 2021;
- Its equipped HarmonyOS smart cockpit uses Huawei’s leading end-cloud combined architecture, supporting continuous voice input, four-tone area voice recognition, intelligent environment, location, scene sensing, and self-learning capabilities;
- When logged into the same Huawei account, the phone and car system can share navigation, music, video, and other services through HarmonyOS’s distributed technology, and supports more application extensions in the open Hongmeng ecosystem;
- AITO WENJIE M5 offers a familiar interface and interaction method with Huawei’s terminal users, and allows most settings and information to be readily available via a large visual interaction area and customized UI design. The Smart Dock can also independently recognize and analyze vehicle conditions and owner status, among other things;
- The panoramic roof can block 99.9% of UV rays;
- HUAWEI SOUND has a professional-level audio system with peak power of over 1,000W, 19 units and 7.1 & 5.1 surround sound.- Fast charging service. There is 1 Type A & Type C interface on the driver’s side and 1 Type C interface on the passenger’s side, and 2 Type C interfaces facing the rear seats. Wired fast charging up to 66W, wireless charging up to 40W.
Quick Review:
After the sale of Seres electric vehicles through Huawei’s sales channels, the monthly sales jumped from double digits to close to 2,000 vehicles. However, this number is not enough to meet the sales target of 300,000 Huawei HiCar smart vehicles set by Richard Yu in 2022.
From Seres Huawei HiCar SF5 to AITO AITO M5, Huawei has gradually empowered Seres in terms of sales channels, function development, and even reservation channels. We can see from AITO AITO M5 that everything is firmly controlled by Huawei.
In the face of a new round of competition from Apple, Xiaomi, Jidu, and traditional car makers’ new energy sub-brands, let’s wait and see if Huawei can make AITO AITO M5 a sales champion for Huawei HiCar.
Momenta Raises Nearly CNY 1 Billion in Series A Financing
On December 22, Momenta announced that it had raised nearly CNY 1 billion in Series A financing, becoming China’s first unicorn in mass-produced autonomous driving just two years after its establishment.
Momenta believes that autonomous driving is one of the most challenging and persistent entrepreneurial paths in the entire smart vehicle industry, and completing Series A financing is the first battle it has won for its survival.
Investors in this round include Meituan, Hillhouse Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Shoucheng Holdings, and 9Z Capital. Momenta stated that the funds raised will mainly be used for research and development and talent development in autonomous driving.
Momenta CEO Gu Weihao stated that the company’s passenger vehicle ADAS project will expand sevenfold in 2022, and the autonomous logistics vehicle project will expand threefold. At the same time, the Momenta supercomputing center is also under preparation to promote the rapid development of the Momenta data intelligence system.
Quick Review:
Momenta is currently one of the world’s leading front-mounted autonomous driving AI companies in terms of scale of fixed-point models, revenue, and autonomous driving data warehouse.The all-stack self-developed autonomous driving solution of Hozon Auto has been gradually installed in vehicle models including WEY Mocha, Tank 300 City Edition, WEY Latte, WEY Macchiato, Haval Chariot, and others, with assisted driving mileage exceeding 4 million kilometers. It is estimated that by the end of 2022, the Hozon-assisted driving system will be installed in 34 models of Great Wall passenger cars. The number of passenger cars equipped with this system in the next three years is expected to exceed one million.
With the help of policies, markets, talents, technologies, capital, and other comprehensive factors, Hozon Auto hopes to become a world-class autonomous driving company. Hozon also stated that it will continue to cooperate with domestic and foreign partners and investment institutions in the future, maintain its technological innovation and business landing speed, and accelerate the launch of new products and services.
2021 Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution Ecological Forum Held
On December 21, Huawei held the 2021 Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution Ecological Forum with the theme “Gathering to Share the Ecology and Co-create the Future” through live streaming.
At the forum, Huawei proposed to adhere to the development strategy of “platform + ecology” and focus on ICT technology. Based on the three major platforms of iDVP, MDC, and HarmonyOS intelligent cabin, Huawei aims to build an ecosystem and work with partners to help car companies build better cars.
Quick Comment:
“Walk alone fast, walk together far.” Huawei once again emphasized its position of “not building cars” at the Intelligent Automotive Solution Ecological Forum, aiming to be an integrated supplier of incremental parts for the intelligent car era and focusing more on helping companies build cars with ICT technology advantages.
In the upcoming 2022, the Alpha S HI version in cooperation with BAIC Jinjue will be delivered soon; the Avita in cooperation with Changan and NINGDE Times will also officially debut in Q2; meanwhile, the HI version model developed by Huawei in cooperation with GAC is already in development, and Huawei’s HI version model that is the crystallization of its painstaking efforts is getting closer to consumers.
Li’l NETA Auto Launches Children’s Car Product “Magic Li’l NETA”
On December 22, Li’l NETA Auto launched its own children’s car product “Magic Li’l NETA,” positioning itself as a boutique children’s car.
Li’l NETA Auto stated that in terms of material selection, design, and electrical appliances, Magic Li’l NETA meets the standards of infant toys and has obtained 3C certification. The power is powered by lead-acid batteries, which will not pose a risk of ignition and explosion during charging and discharging. The wheels are made of foam soft wheels, which will not cause harm when rolling over the foot.The appearance of the children’s cart is similar to that of the NETA S, which will be launched at the end of next year. Its maximum carrying capacity is 30 kg, and the maximum speed is 5 km/h. It supports remote control and the remote control command takes priority over self-driving. Parents can intervene at any time in case of danger.
This children’s cart adopts double-motor rear-wheel drive, four-wheel independent shock absorbers, and uses automotive-grade paint technology. The wrapping material of the seat and the steering wheel is also made of automotive-grade leather, and comes with a five-point safety belt and a music player. This product can travel up to 8 km on a single charge and is expected to be sufficient for continuous use for 2 hours. NETA also claims to have tuned the cart with a linear acceleration curve.
Quick Review:
Tesla has previously launched a children’s cart product “Model S For Kid” priced at $499. However, NETA is the first domestic automaker to release a miniature version of its own model. With the upcoming Spring Festival, many parents will consider preparing gifts for their children. NETA’s choice to launch a children’s cart product at this time is advantageous. If sales are good, it will also have a positive impact on expanding the brand’s reputation.
The official price of Magic Child is 2,999 yuan. At the same time, NETA will establish the world’s first children’s car owner club to provide a platform for families with children to communicate.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.