Intelligent Connected Vehicles Bring a New Round of City Development
Author | Yun Ge
The automobile industry has a long industrial chain, high attention, and a broad employment market. From Detroit, the historical automobile city, to Phoenix, the automobile industry has always been a powerful driving force for urban development.
Since 2009, China has continuously become the world’s largest auto-producing country for ten years. In 2018, China’s auto production accounted for 30.4% of the global total. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changchun, Liuzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Beijing, Hefei, these are all automobile cities with an annual output of over one million units.
In 2022, with the landing of various intelligent connected vehicle applications such as mining areas, unmanned delivery, ports, and unmanned taxis, smart connected vehicles will begin commercial operations, and the industry agglomeration effect will become more and more obvious.
The role of cities in the development of intelligent connected vehicles has gradually evolved from “laying the stage for the play” to “participating in the game”’.
First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, as well as new first-tier cities such as Changsha, Chongqing, and Wuhan, and cities outside of first-tier cities, such as Wuxi and Cangzhou, have all participated in this competition. The most intuitive aspect is the development of test demonstration areas in various cities, such as Yizhuang in Beijing, Jiading, Lingang in Shanghai, and Pingshan in Shenzhen, which are all building roads and testing operations for the development of intelligent connected vehicles.
Industrial transformation has driven a new round of automobile city reshuffling. From the perspective of the promotion of autonomous driving vehicles, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are more prominent in the industry foundation and policy support.
The competition between cities is becoming increasingly fierce. In this round of transformation, which automobile cities can stand firm and become the leaders of the future automobile city?
Shanghai: Dare to Pioneer
As a pioneer in the development of intelligent connected vehicles in China, Shanghai has actively explored in road testing, demonstration applications, and the construction of intelligent roads.
In June 2016, the first “National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Shanghai) Pilot Demonstration Zone” closed test site approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was launched in Jiading, Shanghai.In March 2018, the first three intelligent connected vehicles test licenses were issued in Shanghai, marking the official transition of China’s intelligent connected vehicle industry from the research and development stage to the testing stage.
On September 5, 2022, the “Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Innovation and Development of Intelligent Connected Vehicles in Shanghai” was officially announced. The plan proposes that by 2025, the city will initially build a leading domestic innovation and development system for intelligent connected vehicles. The industry scale strives to reach 500 billion yuan, and vehicles with L2 level combination driving assistance functions and conditional L3 level autonomous driving functions will account for more than 70% of new car production. Vehicles with L4 level and higher highly autonomous driving functions will achieve commercial application in limited areas and specific scenarios.
Statistics show that as of the end of 2021, Shanghai has opened 615 test roads with a total distance of 1,289.83 kilometers, and can test 12,000 scenarios. There are four automatic driving test areas in Jiading District, Lingang, Fengxian District and Pudong New Area.
Currently, Shanghai has a unique advantage in the automobile industry cluster, gathering a large number of traditional automakers and international auto parts suppliers. Traditional automakers include SAIC, and new car-making forces include NIO and Tesla. Horizon is a chip supplier for vehicles, while Zebra is for connected vehicles.
Whether viewed in terms of breadth or depth, Shanghai’s intelligent connected vehicles have played a leading role in the “demonstration application” stage.In general, Shanghai’s goal is to achieve an annual output of over 1.2 million new energy vehicles produced locally, breakthroughs exceeding CNY 350 billion in new energy vehicle output, and new energy vehicles accounting for over 35% of the city’s automobile manufacturing output by 2025. In reality, Shanghai’s new energy vehicle production accounted for nearly 18% of the national total in 2021, which has earned the city the nickname “New Energy Vehicle First City.”
Beijing: Policy First
From taking autonomous taxis to receiving deliveries from autonomous delivery vehicles to driving through green lights all the way, this scenario in sci-fi movies is gradually becoming a reality in the southeastern district of Beijing’s Yizhuang, and it is due to the reform of intelligent connected vehicle policies that underpins these experiences of happiness for residents.
In September 2020, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area officially announced the construction of a high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone in Beijing and established a policy experimental zone for intelligent connected vehicles on this basis. The area has built a forward-looking policy system in areas such as road testing, demonstration operation, commercial applications, and roadside infrastructure reconstruction. The policy breakthroughs, such as testing autonomous vehicles during peak hours, cross-recognition of results from offshore testing, allowing unmanned delivery vehicles on roads, opening commercialization pilot projects for autonomous driving travel service providers, and opening freeway testing, have provided policy support for the landing and application of new technologies and products in the intelligent connected vehicle industry. The intelligent connected vehicle industry has diversified and prospered in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.
In July 2022, the Beijing high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone officially launched the first commercial pilot project for unmanned travel services in the country. It allows safety officers to move from the driver’s seat to the front passenger seat, which means you can hail a taxi in Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area with no one in the driver’s seat.Up to now, more than 300 vehicles in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area have undergone normalized testing and commercial services, with a cumulative testing mileage of over 5 million kilometers. The commercial pilot of autonomous driving travel services has served more than 80,000 people. This year, the 3.0 stage construction will be launched, extending to a larger area of Beijing.
In addition to the advantage of policy guidance, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has formed a solution supplier group led by companies such as Beijing Benz and BAIC New Energy, as well as pioneers such as Baidu and Xiaoma Zhixing.
To evaluate the development level of intelligent connected vehicles in a city, it is necessary not only to look at the number of testing vehicles, but also at the transformation of road facilities.
In terms of infrastructure, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has achieved full coverage of 332 digital intelligent intersections within the 60 square kilometers, forming a unified data base cloud control platform, dedicated communication network, and high-precision dynamic map platform.
Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area adheres to open innovation and gradually forms the “Beijing Plan” for intelligent connected vehicles, driving innovation and development of the intelligent connected vehicle industry in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as well as the whole country and even the globe, promoting the application of digital new infrastructure and intelligent connected vehicle technology in more scenarios, and benefiting the general public with the development of the intelligent connected vehicle industry.
Shenzhen: Enactment of Laws
In July 2022, the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress issued the “Regulations on the Management of Intelligent Connected Vehicles in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone” (hereinafter referred to as the “Management Regulations”), which shocked the intelligent connected vehicle industry like thunder and once again led the country!The promulgation of the “Regulations” undoubtedly makes Shenzhen a new height for the development of China’s autonomous driving industry, and also gives a powerful “throttle” to the development of China’s autonomous driving industry. With the promulgation of this regulation, Shenzhen may become the first city in China to regulate the management of intelligent connected vehicles in the form of legislation, and promote the commercial operation of intelligent connected vehicles from road testing to commercial use.
As we all know, China implements a market access management system for motor vehicle products, and those not listed in the automobile product catalog cannot be sold.
Currently, the intelligent connected vehicle is not included in the national product catalog, and according to the relevant provisions of the “Regulations” of Shenzhen, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Shenzhen will list intelligent connected vehicle products that meet Shenzhen’s local standards into the Shenzhen intelligent connected vehicle product catalog upon application by the producer. Intelligent connected vehicles listed in the product catalog can be registered by the traffic management department of the public security agency and can be driven on the road.
In terms of liability determination, the “Regulations” for the first time clearly stipulates the responsibility for autonomous driving traffic accidents. In the event of a traffic violation in an intelligent connected vehicle with a driver, the driver shall bear the illegal and compensation responsibilities. In the event of a traffic violation in a fully automatic intelligent connected vehicle, the vehicle owner and manager shall be dealt with in principle. If the traffic violation is caused by the defect of the intelligent connected vehicle itself, after the driver or manager of the vehicle completes the stipulated compensation, they can claim compensation from the producer or seller in accordance with the law.
In addition, in terms of construction of intelligent connected vehicle testing demonstration platforms, various regions such as Nanshan District, Pingshan District, and Shenshan Cooperation Zone in Shenzhen are competing to build testing demonstration platforms, and combining their advantages to create key projects for intelligent connected vehicles.
With regard to road testing, Shenzhen has already released three batches of intelligent connected vehicle test roads, with a total mileage of about 201.37 kilometers and 187 open test roads.
It is worth mentioning that not only does Shenzhen have many leading companies in the automobile industry such as BYD, Huawei, and Tencent, but also it has attracted well-known autonomous driving solution providers such as AutoX, JingChi, and Momenta.Furthermore, there is an intelligent connected vehicle industry cluster in Shenzhen, covering full-stack solutions, operating systems, intelligent cabins, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, LiDAR, triple-electric systems, vehicle-level chips, and driving safety, among other fields.
According to experts from Shenzhen New Energy Vehicle Industry Association, Shenzhen has become the city with the most complete global energy vehicle industry chain.
From the above three representative cities, government support, policy promotion, and practitioners’ positivity have created a soil for the commercialization of China’s intelligent connected vehicles.
Cities in the first tier of autonomous driving are putting the whole city’s efforts into creating auto industry highlands with international influence. Some top cities have achieved impressive results by virtue of their achievements in the “demonstration application” stage, aggregated industry chain support, and the industry synergy of surrounding cities.
To compete for the title of the first city in autonomous driving, it is necessary to find the power point. Cities need to form a vivid development situation through the policy framework and application scenarios that conform to their own development characteristics, drive industrial development through urban management, and bring in more excellent development opportunities.
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.