By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Proving its dominance in technological development and innovation, Huawei unveils the first vehicle integrated with Huawei’s intelligent automotive solution was launched today at the 2021 ARCFOX Brand Night and New Product Launch in Shanghai. The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI is the first mass-produced vehicle featuring autonomous driving for urban roads and is being billed as a new global benchmark for autonomous driving.
Huawei is a provider of new components for intelligent vehicles that works closely with car OEMs through the Huawei Inside model to build high-quality intelligent vehicles. This model offers OEMs a brand-new digital architecture for intelligent vehicles, more than 30 intelligent components, and five intelligent systems – Intelligent Driving, Intelligent Cockpit, mPower, Intelligent Connectivity, and Intelligent Vehicle Cloud.
The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI is the first premium intelligent electric vehicle co-branded with Huawei Inside (HI). Through partnerships such as the ARCFOX Alpha-S HI, Huawei has promised to use its 30-plus years of experience in ICT to help OEMs build better intelligent cars and drive China’s automotive industry to evolve in new cutting-edge areas such as intelligent and autonomous driving.
Huawei’s automated driving system creates new use cases
The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI will be the world’s first commercial vehicle with autonomous driving for urban roads thanks to Huawei’s full-stack automated driving system (ADS). The car will be able to navigate itself through busy urban terrain, high-speed roads, and parking lots.
It will be able to recognize and analyze a full array of road features from traffic lights to oncoming traffic. From there, the vehicle can operate without instruction to any situation from going straight, turning, and stopping for pedestrians or other objects, to navigating on- and off-ramps and unprotected turns. For example, at intersections without left-turn waiting areas, it is able to adjust its route to turn left safely based on analysis of oncoming traffic and other vehicles turning left. In addition, the ADS comes equipped with self-learning technologies to constantly self-evolve, increasing its intelligence based on actual experience to become the ideal driver.
This full-stack ADS was specifically adapted to China’s complex roads and transportation systems to provide users with a better driving experience across all scenarios.
Huawei has been researching artificial intelligence applications for nearly ten years, with their current autonomous driving algorithms entering development five years ago. This decade of research has produced a trifecta of technologies perfect for an ADS – super full-stack algorithms, a super data lake, and supercomputing and sensing devices.
The ADS will also support continuous optimization and iteration through over-the-air (OTA) updates to provide users with new and exciting features and to keep up with quickly evolving urban use cases.
During the upcoming Auto Shanghai 2021, the ARCFOX Alpha-S HI will be available for attendees to experience autonomous driving in dense urban areas.
Huawei Inside: New experiences with software-defined cars
The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI is equipped with HarmonyOS and a large HD display for premium interconnection between what Huawei calls “1 + 8 + N” scenarios. By bringing together smart cockpit units with users’ other devices, these technologies allow services like navigation, video, music, and voice to be seamlessly switched between the car and other devices, making driving easier and more enjoyable. These latest technological advances turn your car into your phone, enabling seamlessly connected video calls and more while driving.
The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI also comes equipped with new power technologies that are going to change the game for new energy vehicles. The exclusive AI-powered, high-voltage flash charging power domain solution Huawei has created by leveraging their 30-plus years of experience in power electronics means that cars no longer need to be left charging for hours at a time. In just 10 minutes, the ARCFOX Alpha-S HI can take on enough charge to power 197 km of driving. The dual-motor, intelligent four-wheel drive also lets drivers go from 0 to 100 km/h in just three seconds.
The ARCFOX Alpha-S HI brings together the best of Huawei’s advanced technologies and BAIC Group’s comprehensive experience in vehicles.
The HI intelligent automobile solution is comprised of powerful computing resources and operating systems to form three computing platforms — intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, and intelligent vehicle control — and three operating systems — AOS (intelligent driving), HOS-A (intelligent cockpit), and VOS (intelligent vehicle control).
Together, these elements create a software-defined vehicle, which means that new functions can be continuously developed. This ability to constantly iterate for better user experiences redefine how we view cars.
Both of the ARCFOX Alpha-S HI models, priced at 388,900 yuan and 429,900 yuan respectively, are expected to hit the market at the end of 2021.
The commercial debut of the ARCFOX Alpha-S HI is just the start for Huawei as its presence expands into the automobile industry. Huawei has committed to providing solutions for automakers that will help them build future-oriented, intelligent vehicles. The company has already announced it will also be helping GAC Group and Chang’an Automobile build high-end intelligent vehicle sub-brands. These vehicles are slotted to hit the market in Q4.
Any new vehicle affixed with the HI logo will come equipped with Huawei’s highest-level ADS and all intelligent automobile solutions, delivering an intelligent, enjoyable, and reliable experience.
The auto industry is poised for a transformation the likes of which it hasn’t seen in almost a century. As a global leader in technology, Huawei is perfectly placed to provide the ICT technologies needed for future autonomous driving and electric vehicles.
Huawei’s R&D investment into intelligent automotive components is forecasted to exceed US$1 billion in 2021. The company has stated it will ramp up investment in components for intelligent vehicles, especially autonomous driving software, to help automakers make vehicles that are more connected, intelligent, electric, and shared. Future integration of the automotive and ICT industries will create many new strategic opportunities both for Huawei and other industry players for years to come.