In July this year, we released the 42Mark ADAS test system V1.0.

In this version, we tested ADAS usability in eight scenarios with 51 sub-items, including congestion, corner cases, night and rainy conditions, lane change assist, curve test, human-machine interaction, and automatic parking.

These scenarios were selected from the 42HOW team’s long-term use of ADAS-equipped models that cover scenes affecting the ADAS experience.

To date, we’ve tested the ADAS of 11 models. Check the version numbers for the tested vehicles below, and see their scores in the 42Mark ADAS test system:

• The Tesla Model 3 equipped with HW 3.0 hardware and FSD software achieved the highest score.
• The BMW X5 with the Driving Assistant Pro package ranked second, but its score was 75 points lower than that of the Model 3.Ranked third, fourth, and fifth are NEV startups from China, NIO, Li Auto and Xpeng. Legacy automakers Volvo XC60 and Cadillac CT6 ranked sixth and seventh, and the rest were models from Chinese self-owned brands.

Model 3, the best performing car in the test, won 6 out of 8 sub-scene championships. It only failed to secure first place in the congestion and automatic parking tests.

• Congestion Test
  In terms of congestion, the shortest stopping and following distance of the Tesla Model 3 was 5m. Given frequent cut-ins under road conditions in China, the experience of the Model 3 in congestion was not good enough.

The winner in this category was the Cadillac CT6. With its Super Cruise function turned on, the CT6 can be driven hands-free, with the shortest following and stopping distance of only 2.2 meters, making it difficult to cut in line. The car’s acceleration and deceleration are very smooth and comfortable.Therefore, in congested situations, the Cadillac CT6 offers a better experience and efficiency with its ADAS system compared to the Tesla Model 3.

The BMW X5 is capable of enabling hands-free, low-speed following function at speeds lower than 60 km/h. Even with this function, the driver can remain hands-free, providing an experience similar to that of Cadillac’s Super Cruise.

However, due to regional restrictions, we were unable to test this function of the BMW X5 in our section.

In areas where the function cannot be activated, the X5 can only provide basic driver assistance. If parked for more than 5 seconds in a traffic jam, the driver must intervene to reactivate the system. The experience in congested situations is not satisfactory enough. Tesla Model 3, Cadillac XT6, Li One and Xpeng G3 all exceeded 60 seconds. As a result, the score of the X5 in congested scenes is quite low.

• Automatic Parking# Automatic parking with Chinese features

In first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, parking spaces are limited and narrow. Therefore, a useful driver-assistance system can help rookie drivers save a lot of trouble.

To meet the requirements of Chinese parking scenarios, we have set test indicators, including feasible parking space types, minimum parking space requirements, and parking time.

For available parking space types, both the Xpeng G3 and NIO ES6 adopt a visual fusion parking system. This system can detect not only parking spaces with cars on both sides but also those with only parking lines.“`markdown
However, in the actual test, we found out that the “detection speed” and “detection accuracy” of the Xpeng G3 are much higher than those of NIO ES6, and the Xpeng G3 does not need to specifically turn on this function before automatic parking and drive the car to the proper place. It is very convenient, all you need to do is switch to the reverse gear to choose the parking slot directly.

Although the size of X5 is very large, automatic parking can be used as long as the parking slot is 87cm larger than the body. 42 seconds for parallel parking and 38 seconds for vertical parking, which are also very fast, not only far exceeding other test models, but also faster than many skilled drivers.

Tesla Model 3 and Cadillac CT6 are not very good at automatic parking.

Tesla Model 3 not only needs a large space to detect the parking slot, but also not as standard as BMW in terms of parking posture.
“`With the application of rear-wheel steering technology, the Cadillac CT6 can perform automatic parking as long as the parking slot is 100cm longer than the vehicle body. However, the CT6’s automatic parking function is not very advanced, requiring the driver to manually activate the function for it to detect the slot. This can be troublesome as the driver needs to switch gears back and forth during the parking process.

• Corner Cases
  Corner cases refer to unconventional road conditions that may arise when using ADAS, such as unclear lanes, tunnels, backlighting, traffic light intersections, etc.

The higher the model scores in corner cases, the better the ADAS’s continuity.

Tesla Model 3 has successfully navigated most of the situations presented in our special road conditions testing, thanks to its strong perception and lane prediction capabilities. It only struggled with an extremely difficult lane change guided by a traffic cone. However, the Model 3 is the only model that can detect the traffic cone out of all the models tested.We also believe that Tesla can readily pass all of our tests for the FSD Beta if it were to be released in China.

Cadillac CT6’s Super Cruise is limited to use only on road sections which are covered by high-precision maps. Unfortunately, most of the test sections located in our special scenes are comprised of urban ground roads that are not covered by high-precision maps, thereby limiting our ability to test the Super Cruise.

This also highlights the limited availability of the Cadillac Super Cruise.

• Curve Test
  The curve test is an equally important aspect of ADAS. A superior performance on curves indicates a strong lateral vehicle control.

Even though the Model 3 we tested was not equipped with the FSD Beta, it still stably passed the most difficult curve, curve A.

Upon seeing the US launch of the FSD Beta-equipped model pass the U-shaped curve, we wondered whether we should increase our level of testing difficulty.

The BMW X5 and NIO ES6, which employ the Mobileye EyeQ4 chip and the front trinocular camera, also demonstrated excellent performance on the curve.The NIO ES6 successfully passed the most challenging test, Curve A. However, the entire process was not entirely smooth and the steering control did not possess the same level of finesse as Tesla.

Although the BMW X5 failed the Curve A test, during testing, it demonstrated strong low-speed tracking abilities. It can successfully navigate high curvature turns while following a preceding car, although it cannot do so independently.

Unfortunately, the Cadillac CT6’s high-precision map, which predicts road curvatures, still requires a relatively conservative approach from GM’s Super Cruise. The system will advise the driver to take control of the car when approaching curves with large curvatures.

In extreme weather conditions such as rain and darkness, ADAS systems face great challenges. In these conditions, Tesla’s exceptional sensory abilities provide a stable experience.
ADAS has improved significantly, leading to higher degrees of vehicle automation. Therefore, Lane Change Assist has become an essential component of ADAS.

Tesla Model 3 was the first vehicle to introduce the automatic lane change with indicator, offering an exceptional experience. It provides a lane change process with acceleration and deceleration, along with very low available speed. The experience is similar to that of a skilled driver.

BMW X5 also includes the lane change with indicator function, but it is only effective for speeds over 70 km/h. This means it cannot be used on most urban roads.

Although the Cadillac CT6 lacks this function, GM has announced that the enhanced Super Cruise will include automatic lane change with indicator and will be released in the second half of 2021.The NEV startups from China, namely NIO, Li Auto, and Xpeng, have also introduced the automatic lane change function with an indicator, albeit not as user-friendly as Tesla.

Human-Machine Interaction

We believe that interaction plays a critical role as it is the primary means of communication between drivers and cars. An excellent interaction enables the driver to have a better collaborative experience with the car.

A good interaction feature requires the car to report what it perceives on the road in a detailed manner and present clear feedback regarding the road conditions it encounters.

Among all electric vehicle manufacturers, Tesla undoubtedly offers the best visualization that not only displays comprehensive information but also runs smoothly.

While NIO, Li Auto, and Xpeng from China also provide visualization, their features are still slightly inferior to Tesla’s.# BMW X5 and Cadillac CT6 have no visual display at all. Fortunately, these two cars have clear light strip displays under working conditions. This is also the difference in the practices of the two automakers.

42HOW’s Take
After testing these 11 models, we have good reasons to believe that the Tesla Model 3 is definitely the best. The experience in most road sections is very good. More importantly, Tesla’s Autopilot is very reliable under working conditions. It helps to make driving easy.

Of course the BMW X5 is not a weak one. The control of the car shows BMW’s rich experience as a legacy automaker. However, there is still a gap compared to the Tesla Model 3.

Among the NEV startups from China, NIO ES6 and Li One are also very good. These two basically carry the same functions as Tesla. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of functional stability and tuning.The experience of Cadillac CT6 with Super Cruise is comparable to that of Tesla Model 3. In some road conditions, it even exceeds Model 3. But due to the limited coverage of high-precision map, we cannot test it under most of the road conditions. The scenes are also limited in daily life, and can only be used under high-speed road conditions, which is the main reason for its low score.

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.