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LUXEED S7 equipped with Huawei’s Visual Intelligent Driving premiers
On April 11, 2024, at the Huawei HarmonyOS Ecosystem Spring Communication Meeting, the LUXEED S7 showcased its latest iteration. This smart sedan integrates Huawei’s advanced technology, especially significant improvements in intelligent driving and battery performance.
The LUXEED S7 Pro version will be equipped with Huawei’s Visual Intelligent Driving HUAWEI ADS base version, which supports intelligent driving assistance functions for highways and urban expressways, as well as intelligent parking solutions suitable for various parking spaces. In addition, the vehicle’s battery pack is upgraded to 82kWh, with an estimated range reaching 705 kilometers. This substantial increase will help meet long-distance driving needs.
LUXEED S7’s intelligent driving system covers the entire country, adding urban viaduct and parking functions that features valet parking and remote parking, further enhancing driving convenience and safety. The CAS2.0 omnidirectional collision prevention system extends the active safety features to a wide speed range, and Huawei’s extensive simulation testing in the field of AI training aims to enhance the system’s intelligent driving capabilities.
In terms of performance, the LUXEED S7 Ultra version introduces a 100 kWh battery pack, with an estimated range of 751 kilometers. This upgrade further strengthens its competitive position in the new energy vehicle market. The vehicle’s design follows the C-NCAP five-star collision safety standard and implements multiple layers of safety protection measures in the design of the battery pack. In addition, the use of the HUAWEI DriveONE 800V high-voltage power platform and Huawei’s intelligent chassis jointly optimized the vehicle’s acceleration and handling performance.
The interior design of the LUXEED S7 also embodies a pursuit of efficiency and comfort, demonstrating a commitment to sustainable development through the effective utilization of space and the use of environmentally friendly materials. The inclusion of the ICAS Intelligent Clean Cabin System has improved the quality of the car’s internal environment, and reduced internal radiation further enhancing the riding experience.
The LUXEED S7, equipped with the HarmonyOS 4 system, supports mobile application synchronization and data security features. This proves particularly important against the backdrop of growing user expectations for intelligent vehicle systems. In May, the vehicle’s intelligent assistant, Xiaoyi, was integrated with Huawei’s Pangu large model, signifying continuous progress in intelligent interconnectivity.
The LUXEED S7 Pro was released again with a price tag of 249,800 yuan. The battery is an 82 kWh Huawei 800 V Whale battery, manufactured by CATL, and also equipped with an advanced version of Huawei ADS.
In addition, for an extra 20,000 yuan, you can upgrade to the LUXEED S7 Max RWD long journey smart driving version, priced at 269,800 yuan. The large battery version of the LUXEED S7 Max+ RWD super journey smart driving version has added a good deal of seat comfort features and is priced at 299,800 yuan.
Finally, there are two top 4-wheel-drive versions available: the LUXEED S7 Max RS 4WD performance version and the LUXEED S7 Ultra 4WD flagship version, priced at 329,800 yuan and 349,800 yuan, respectively.
For existing car owners, there are also offers including a 3,000 yuan MagLink tablet kit and a 10,000 yuan cash gratitude red envelop.
Review:
The re-launch of LUXEED S7 can be seen as Huawei’s swift response to the burgeoning new vehicles and price reduction in the current mid-large pure electric vehicle market. Huawei has not only re-adjusted the configurations -all models come with 800V and large batteries, the high-end smart drive is standard on models above the second-lowest spec, but also offers benefits and care packages worth tens of thousands for new car buyers and old car owners. This raises the price competitiveness of LUXEED S7 to a certain extent, possibly further promoting its sales.
GACGROUP’s Solid-State Battery and Smart Driving Debut in 2026
On April 12, 2024, GACGROUP held a Science and Technology Day event at the GAC Research Institute with the theme “Technology Vision”, highlighting the group’s latest technological achievements in the field of new energy vehicles. These achievements include a mapless pure visual smart drive system and a high-safety large-capacity solid-state power battery. These technologies are expected to be mass-produced in 2026 for GACGROUP’s car products.
In the Tech Day, Zeng Qinghong, Chairman of GACGROUP, and General Manager Feng Xingya personally attended and showcased GACGROUP’s dual-track parallel strategy in the field of autonomous driving technology, namely “multi-sensor fusion technology” and “mapless pure vision technology”. Among them, the highlight of the mapless pure vision smart drive system is that it does not depend on high-precision maps and LIDAR but combines visual sensors with AI algorithms to achieve autonomous driving ability in complex scenarios, showing excellent visual recognition, decision-making, and action abilities, and has the potential for continuous learning and evolution.
The solid-state power battery, another highlight of the event, symbolizes GACGROUP’s progress in battery technology. This battery boasts high energy density, high safety, and large capacity. The tests indicate its excellent safety performance, with a capacity reaching 30 Ah. It is planned to be used in Hyper models.
In addition to this, GACGROUP also showcased cutting-edge technologies such as electromagnetic suspension, MLounge Qiji first-class cabin, and MBoard2.0 Qiji core smart chassis at the event. Among them, the MBoard2.0 Qiji smart chassis uses an innovative “software-defined chassis technology,” heralding the trend of intelligent development of automobile chassis. Meanwhile, the unveiling of the GAC New Energy E9 welfare vehicle, equipped with a detachable electric welfare seat, demonstrates GACGROUP’s efforts in societal responsibility, providing more convenience for disabled individuals.
According to official data, GACGROUP’s independent R&D investment in 2023 was close to RMB 8.4 billion, with nearly 3,200 new patent applications, and the proportion of invention patents was about 50%. These figures reflect GACGROUP’s ongoing commitment and accumulation of patented achievements in technological innovation.
Overall, GACGROUP’s Tech Day showcased its latest achievements and future vision in the field of autonomous driving and new energy vehicles, signifying its determination and capacity to promote high-quality development in the automobile industry.
Quick Review:
GACGROUP’s hosting of Tech Day is predominantly a display of its technical prowess in the new energy sector, whether it’s the current trend of chartless smart driving or the appearance of solid-state batteries, they all demonstrate GACGROUP’s substantial investment and determination in technological innovation. Nevertheless, GACGROUP’s smart driving needs to strive continuously at the practical application level, given that the competitive landscape of smart driving has been switched from the highway to city traffic.
Geely A00 Class Panda Kart EV Launched
Geely’s Panda family recently announced the launch of its latest A00 class micro-electric car – the “Panda Kart”. The vehicle is inspired by go-kart design, aiming to provide more flexible travel solutions in urban transport.
The “Panda Kart” is compact in size, with a body size of 3,150 × 1,540 × 1,685 mm and a wheelbase of 2,015 mm, as well as a maximum extended loading space of 800 L. It offers a tailored design for the daily use scenarios of urban residents. The car’s interior is equipped with a 9.2-inch dashboard and an 8-inch central control screen, supporting various modern functionalities to enhance both the driving and riding experience.
In terms of power, the “Panda Kart” uses a rear-mounted rear-drive driving system, and is equipped with a front MacPherson independent suspension and rear multilink non-independent suspension system. The motor’s output power is 30 kW, and the torque is 110 N·m. It also offers Normal and Sport driving modes and a three-level adjustable energy recovery function to accommodate different driving needs.
In charging technology, the vehicle supports 22 kW DC fast charging and 3.3 kW AC slow charging, capable of quickly charging the battery from 30% to 80% in 30 minutes, meeting the charging efficiency requirements of a fast-paced urban lifestyle.
Safety is also one of the key aspects in the design of the “Panda Karting”, featuring a cage-like vehicle body structure, side impact steel beams, laser-welded roof, and over 50 battery system tests. In addition, the vehicle is equipped with hill-start assistance, reversing camera and radar, electronic safety system, safety airbags and tire pressure warning system among its safety configurations.
The Panda family offers remote control functions via a smartphone APP, including remote query, car search, control of locks and air conditioning and more, as well as smartphone Bluetooth key function and seamless entry startup function, further enhancing user convenience.
Since its launch in February 2023, sales of the Geely Panda family have exceeded 130,000 units. The introduction of the “Panda Karting” aims to attract younger consumer groups and further expand the Panda family’s market share.
Quick Review:
The launch of the Panda Karting is undoubtedly another attempt by Geely in the A00 pure electric vehicle market. Its compact size and refreshing interior design make it a suitable electric vehicle for urban life. However, market reaction still requires the validation of the market and consumers. After all, the competition in the A00 pure electric vehicle market is also fierce, so the price will be a very important factor. Let’s see how well the Panda Karting plays its cards in terms of pricing.
This article is a translation by AI of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.