On November 1st, He Xiaopeng, Chairman of Xiaopeng Motors (09868. HK/XPEV. US), said in an interview with the media, "My friend told me about the AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking System), and I think 99% of it is fake. It's just fake, and all the publicity is not officially released by the company. It's all from small videos. Our people also asked, and its AEB can't be driven at all. There are too many cases of accidental braking on the road
The Red Star Capital Bureau has noticed that although the name of the friend has not been listed, AEB is precisely the promotional highlight of the new Wenjie M7. Many consumers choose the new Wenjie M7 precisely because they value AEB active safety technology. With this car, Wenjie successfully secured a large order of over 80000 units, and sales returned to 10000 units in October.
On the evening of November 3rd, Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive director and CEO of terminal BG, posted on his Moments that "even what AEB is, there are car company leaders who have not yet understood it"; Some car companies are busy doing intelligent driving all day, and the AEB active safety test results are very poor. I was surprised to find out that they didn't even do the basic functions of AEB. Either they were fooled by their subordinates, or they lacked the most basic understanding of the development of the automotive industry
On the evening of November 4th, He Xiaopeng responded on his Moments: "I recently evaluated an industry disorder, but the industry was not in a hurry, while non industry players were in a hurry. I don't know what he was in a hurry about
Why is Yu Chengdong and He Xiaopeng focused on the AEB function when they are interconnected across the air?
AEB dispute?
The debate over the discourse power of top manufacturers of intelligent driving
According to public information, AEB is an electronic system that assists in braking. It detects the distance from the vehicle or obstacle in front through radar and analyzes it through an electronic control unit. Based on different distances and speeds, it determines whether there is a risk of collision, alerts the driver, and automatically brakes or slows down the vehicle to the maximum extent possible, thereby reducing the probability of collision with the vehicle or pedestrian in front and avoiding accidents.
According to previous analysis by Euro NCAP, when a rear end collision is about to occur, 20% of drivers can apply full braking, but it is possible that the collision cannot be avoided due to the late braking timing; 49% of drivers experience collisions due to insufficient braking force; 31% of drivers have not taken any effective measures. AEB technology can reduce rear end collisions by 38% in the real world, significantly improving driving safety.
Independent automotive analyst Liu Hao told Red Star Capital Bureau, "AEB is a function of intelligent driving, which to some extent reflects the level of intelligent driving technology of car companies. Some in the industry believe that AEB is the foundation for achieving high-level intelligent driving. I believe that the AEB dispute between Yu Chengdong and He Xiaopeng is actually a brand discourse power dispute among top domestic intelligent driving manufacturers
Xiaopeng Automobile has always been branded with intelligent technology, and intelligent driving is its core selling point. And Huawei is also pushing for the HUAWEI ADS 2.0 advanced intelligent driving system. The new Wenjie M7 equipped with this system is selling well, and the Zhijie S7, also equipped with this system, will start pre-sale on November 9th. This is the first sedan that Huawei Zhixuan collaborates with Chery.
Both Xiaopeng Automobile and Huawei have launched urban intelligent assisted driving systems that do not rely on high-precision maps. Xiaopeng Automobile plans to achieve urban NGP functions without maps in 50 cities by the end of this year; Huawei is more aggressive and is expected to cover the entire country by December of this year.
He Xiaopeng stated: Everyone is starting to attach importance to intelligent driving, which is a very good thing. However, intelligent driving cannot be achieved quickly. If it is an internet company, doing so may have a first mover effect. However, the manufacturing industry is not like this, and it may be able to take the money to develop the first step, but later it must change its thinking because it is difficult to continue doing so. Therefore, in the field of intelligent driving, if you want to catch up, it must be a long way to go Accumulation, willingness to work hard, combined with hard work
Mandatory installation of AEB for commercial vehicles
There are no mandatory regulations for passenger cars
The Red Star Capital Bureau has learned that commercial vehicles have been mandatory to install AEB since 2021, while the AEB installation specifications for passenger cars have not yet been implemented. However, a report from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out that AEB, as an important active safety feature, has been fully equipped as standard in most new cars launched this year. Overall, as of the middle of this year, the proportion of passenger cars equipped with AEB function is 49.5%, with new energy vehicles equipped with this function accounting for a slightly higher proportion, reaching 55.8%. The popularity rate of this feature for passenger cars priced over 160000 yuan has reached 67%.
AEB is actually not simple. Mr. Chen, an automotive engineer, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that AEB needs to identify vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians on bicycles, pedestrians on foot, and also consider various scenarios such as night time and lighting. It should not be triggered by mistake, started too early, or stopped later than the latest braking time. He revealed, "Although AEB is mandatory for commercial vehicles, some manufacturers' products are not easy to use and are easily triggered by mistake. Many vehicles are turned off on the road
At the launch conference of the new Wenjie M7 in September, Yu Chengdong stated that the new M7 is equipped with the industry's first omnidirectional collision prevention system, which can achieve forward, lateral, and backward omnidirectional collision prevention capabilities; Increasing the maximum braking speed of AEB to 90km/h can reduce traffic accidents caused by lack of concentration and complex road conditions by 90%.
Stopping at a speed of 90km/h is the focus of debate. He Xiaopeng stated that currently in the automotive industry, the main focus is on vertical AEB, which is triggered at speeds mostly within 60km/h. If the speed is too high, once the brake is accidentally applied, it will be a huge shock to the user.
The China New Car Evaluation Program (C-NCAP) stipulates in the active safety ADAS system test method that the maximum test speed of AEB is 50km/h, and the maximum test speed of the front collision warning system is 80km/h. In the testing standards of the European Union New Car Safety Assessment Association (E-NCAP), the maximum speed is also 80km/h.
He Xiaopeng said, We are now (using) We will focus on AEB as one of the directions in the future for XNGP technology. For example, the term we have been mentioning is called static AEB, which means that once there are obstacles around, the vehicle will actively avoid them and cannot hit them even if they want to. I think it's wrong to treat customers like mice. Some companies dare to do so, but there will also be backlash. I have been working in the automotive industry for a few years and I am not very willing to do so. But we will definitely do AEB better
Red Star News Reporter Wu Danruo
