Beijing — Stellantis’ Chinese partner Leapmotor plans to roll out vehicles equipped with its smart-driving technologies in Europe next year, the company’s senior vice-president said on Wednesday.
That is the first timeline announced by a Chinese vehicle maker for advanced driver-assistance technologies outside China and comes as manufacturers scramble for an edge in the hyper-competitive market for EVs and long-range hybrids.
Leapmotor will launch a research & development team in Europe that will focus on algorithm training for self-driving systems based on data collected from roads there, senior vice-president Cao Li said. Cao did not say where that development team would be based.
“The biggest challenge, I think, is that overseas road conditions and traffic rules are different from those in China. We need to have a lot of data and to understand local regulations to adapt to local road conditions for localised training,” said Cao.
Chinese carmakers led by BYD are racing to launch affordable EVs capable of autonomous highway driving and parking assistance.
Zeekr and Xpeng have announced plans to sell cars with level 3 autonomy — systems that allow the vehicle to drive itself as long as the driver remains ready to take over when prompted.
Leapmotor also plans to make an update by the end of the year to equip its new B10 crossover with urban navigation autopilot features, which Cao described as “equivalent to what’s traditionally known as L3”.
Cars with level 3 autonomy allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while more limited level 2 capabilities, such as Tesla’s current system, require drivers to be ready to take over with hands on the wheel.
Earlier this month, Leapmotor began presales of the B10 in China with a starting price of 109,800 yuan (about R276,000). A variant with lidar and urban navigation is priced from 129,800 yuan (about R326,000).
The planned B10 upgrade will be delivered via over-the-air software updates, Cao said. That will be subject to review by China’s industry ministry and new rules mandating autonomous driving-related OTA upgrades to be subject to regulatory approval.
“We have to apply for the approval at least one to two months before the upgrade,” Cao said.
Tesla said on Monday it would release its smart driving-assistance feature in China once it has completed regulatory approval, after complaints that a limited-time free trial of its full self-driving service had been temporarily paused.
In 2023, Stellantis invested $1.6-billion and acquired a 21% stake in Leapmotor. The two automakers formed a joint venture, Leapmotor International, in which Stellantis holds a 51% stake.
Stellantis and Leapmotor favour Spain for production of the B10 model for the European market from next year.
European car makers Volkswagen and Mercedes have been working with suppliers on advanced driving assistance systems for their home markets.
Volkswagen said on Tuesday it would collaborate with Valeo and Mobileye as it deepens its network of suppliers to develop assisted and autonomous driving. Mercedes has teamed up with Momenta and Nvidia to develop such capabilities.
Tesla is also aiming to roll out its full self-driving software in Europe this year.
A second model under the Leapmotor “B series” will be introduced during the Shanghai car show in April, Cao said.
Reuters
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