The normalization of the use of autonomous cars It is one of the great challenges of China to remain at the forefront of global technology and beat the United States in a still unfinished area. The more routes in the cars’ AI, the greater the chances of achieving 100% self-driving. Where does the Asian giant stand on this issue?
On a recent visit to Beijing, Clarín had the opportunity to travel in a MEGAa 2023 electric MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) from the local brand Lixiang (o Li Carin Spanish).
The MEGA impresses at first sight. It looks like a bullet. The model is commanded by a female voice, as if it were Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa; It works largely through a voice command systemwhich is activated with a greeting. You can «order» him from opening the windows to giving him play to a song.
The experience of traveling on the MEGA
It should be noted that the car has a hybrid system. If the driver wishes, he can also drive it. The self-driving system works according to the possibilities of the map integrated into the system. They are routes with authorization that are updated via the internet. And in China, at the moment, these are the least.
If you are traveling in autonomous mode and due to the difficulties of the context the car requires human help, the voice will request that the driver get behind the wheel. If this command is ignored, the car goes into manual mode.
There were no shortage of surprises on the trip.. At one point, while traveling on the road, the MEGA abruptly decreased its speed because it interpreted that another vehicle was about to overtake it, leaving the safety of the passengers in the hands of the driver of the car behind. That moment raised some doubts.
Beyond self-driving, which the MEGA proved to have mastered even on narrow streets and tight curves, the model is packed with attractions: heated seats, multiple cameras, massagers, internal microphone, phone chargers in the armrests, table, refrigerator, etc..
The excess of screens, which can sometimes be overwhelming, is a show apart. The system allows you to know in great detail the characteristics of nearby cars. It has cameras in every corner that make rearview mirrors useless, they can project movies, and GPS even recognizes people walking nearby.
In China, cars like the MEGA can be charged in two ways: slow or fast.
At certain pumps, just 12 minutes are enough to charge the battery for 500 kilometers. In the slowest ones, charging takes between seven or eight hours, but the car achieves a range of more than 700 kilometers.
Regarding the price of the MEGA, Clarín was able to find out that it is available on the market at a figure close to $76,000.
Autonomous driving in China
The autonomy of cars in China is classified according to the level of assistance that the vehicle requires from the driver and, as we already mentioned, depends on the roads available on the maps integrated into the cars.
What do the Chinese think of this? Will one hundred percent self-driving be achieved? At the moment it seems difficult, but not impossible. It is true that there are more and more autonomous electric cars in China, but their limit is still unknown.
A study published by a local magazine showed that 86.07% of respondents believe that technological limitations are the biggest obstacle to achieving full autonomous driving in the country.
To test the partnership, China’s Ministry of Industry chose 20 cities as pilot zones, including Beijing. The capital invested 1,416 million dollars to develop an infrastructure suitable for self-driving.
As this medium was able to perceive, the majority of cars still do not walk «alone» on the streets. Although the routes surrounding the central ring of the city are increasingly popular for this type of driving. They are lightly traveled streets that are close to factories or large buildings that, for example, already have buses without drivers.
In his essay «The New China», the author Simone Pieranni confirms that «Xi Jinping established the gradual process of automation of Chinese society as a priority for the coming years.» He also notes that autonomous driving transportation, whether public or private, is the No. 1 goal in more than 600 smart cities being built in the country.
The issue was also debated in this year’s two sessions as a fundamental part of the new five-year plan. And investments like the one in the capital prove it.
