Author / Text: Chen Han
Photography / Post Production: Zhong Chuwen, Zeng Chaowen
Producer: Jiang Yanlin
Is this the smartest mass-produced car?
Video length: 16 minutes, click below to watch
As the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Auto Show opens, we had the opportunity to test drive the new Arcfox Alpha S Huawei Inside Edition at Huawei’s research and development center in Shenzhen. As the name implies, this car is a result of a deep collaboration between Arcfox and Huawei.
The Arcfox Alpha S Huawei Inside Edition is 4980mm long and its wheelbase is 2915mm. According to traditional car classification, it belongs to the mid-to-large-sized sedan, but its official positioning is a “high-end intelligent pure electric sedan.”
As a joint product of Arcfox and Huawei, this car has many highlights. For example, it is equipped with front and rear dual motors, and can reach 0-100km/h in just 3.5 seconds. It uses the first 800V high-voltage mass-produced vehicle platform in China, and can charge from 30% to 80% battery capacity in as little as 15 minutes, and up to nearly 200km of range can be added in just 10 minutes. Its NEDC range is 500km.
However, when it comes to the selling points of this car, the smart features are what stands out!
According to the official introduction, the Arcfox Alpha S Huawei Inside Edition is the “world’s first mass-produced car equipped with the Huawei Inside full-stack intelligent automotive solution,” “the world’s first mass-produced car equipped with the Huawei intelligent cockpit–HarmonyOS car system high-end pure electric mass-produced sedan,” and “the world’s first mass-produced car supporting high-end intelligent driving on urban roads.”
Intelligent Cockpit Testing
In order to test the HarmonyOS cockpit of the Arcfox Alpha S Huawei Inside Edition, we arranged three tests with high difficulty:
- Multi-tasking smoothness test
1. One-minute multitasking test
It was tested that the new HI version of the Alpha S from Jihoo can open and close 25 in-car applications within one minute, and the switching time between applications is almost instantaneous, with hardly any application being killed in the background. After performing a series of high-load operations, the screen temperature only increased from 34.8℃ to 36.7℃, indicating that multitasking operation did not pose a great challenge to its in-car performance.
- One-minute voice command test
It was tested that the new HI version of the Alpha S from Jihoo can execute 15 consecutive voice commands within one minute. The intelligent voice system supports advanced features such as continuous dialogues, visible speech, and zone recognition. Whether it is the ability of voice control or the user experience, it belongs to the first-class level in the industry.
- Seamless switching and screen casting test
It was tested that the new HI version of the Alpha S from Jihoo can achieve seamless switching from in-car video calls to mobile phones within 1-2 seconds when using the smooth connection APP. The seamless switching function is an open interface theoretically, and any APP can adapt to it. Currently, it has been adapted to third-party APPs such as Litchi Podcast.
In addition, the in-car system of the new HI version of the Alpha S from Jihoo also supports screen casting for all Android system mobile phones. After screen casting, not only can the in-car system be controlled through the mobile phone, but also the mobile phone can be controlled from the in-car screen.
Intelligent driving test
From the appearance of the new HI version of the Alpha S from Jihoo, we can see that the intelligent driving ability of this car is absolutely not to be underestimated.
The whole car is equipped with 34 high-perception intelligent driving hardware elements, including 3 LIDARs, 6 millimeter-wave radars, 13 cameras, and 12 ultrasonic radars, realizing 360-degree full coverage fusion perception. Among them, 3 126-line LIDARs have a maximum detection distance of 200m, with a horizontal FOV of 120° and a vertical FOV of 25°. With the assistance of LIDARs, the system’s ability to recognize small and irregular obstacles is greatly enhanced.
Not only that, the new HI version of the ARCFOX Alpha S is also equipped with the Huawei MDC intelligent driving computing platform, with a computational power of up to 400 TOPS, more than twice the 144 TOPS of the Tesla Model 3. Together with Huawei’s centimeter-level high-precision map, it can achieve NCA high-speed intelligent driving navigation assistance and urban smart driving navigation assistance.
After testing, it can be said without exaggeration that in most cases, its driving level has surpassed that of many novice drivers.
The test was conducted during the evening rush hour in Shenzhen, with city roads as well as highways. In about 30 minutes of driving, the driver only took over once, because the left traffic volume was too high when merging onto the expressway, and the auxiliary road had reached the end, and the system requested the driver to take over.
At other times, the car’s performance was very stable, without any sudden movements, and it could give passengers sufficient confidence. The 3 most memorable scenes were:
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When encountering a bicycle crossing diagonally in the opposite direction on the road, the vehicle reacted very quickly, quickly and actively turning left to pass, and at this time, a car came from the left rear, and the vehicle immediately recognized it and quickly returned to the original lane. The entire operation was smooth and without hesitation.
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When changing lanes and encountering a vehicle that did not give way, the ARCFOX would drive along the lane line, playing a game of chicken with the car behind it. If it detects that the car behind is slowing down, it will quickly merge into the target lane, and if the car behind continues to move forward, it will quickly return to the original lane to avoid collision. This driving strategy is consistent with that of the average driver.
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When encountering tree branches encroaching on the lane on the road, ARCFOX can also recognize it quickly and take initiative to avoid it.
In summary, its auxiliary ability is definitely stronger than any mass-produced car on the market today, and the user experience is also very good, with smooth following and reasonable following distance, making it difficult to cut in. When being cut in, it can predict and respond reasonably in advance. In terms of traffic light recognition, the new HI version of the ARCFOX Alpha S can not only achieve stop on red, go on green, but also has corresponding response strategies when the yellow or green light flashes.Given the time, such features could really make our travel easier and safer. If you still hold the idea that “staring at the assisted driving is more tiring than driving by myself”, I suggest you try it out whenever you have a chance.
Concluding Remarks
After our testing, it is not difficult to see that the new HI version of the Alpha S from Hycan is one of the most intelligent production cars currently available.
Imagine, if we have such a high-end intelligent vehicle in the future, our lives will definitely become better. At least the commute congestion will no longer exhaust us, and it can also provide us with a private third living space, equivalent to adding a private place for life and work.
Currently, the new HI version of the Alpha S from Hycan is about to start delivery, and its intelligent driving function has been widely tested in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and other places for several months. I believe it will be the high-end city-assisted driving function that reaches users earliest in the market.
Due to time constraints, many aspects of this assessment have not been covered, such as the acceleration capacity, chassis quality, and so on. We will conduct more in-depth testing on this vehicle in the future, and welcome everyone to follow it.
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.