Full speed ahead for intelligent vehicles

China is rapidly advancing Level 3 autonomous driving technology commercialization, supported by government policies and the accelerated testing and development by automotive enterprises.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other departments released a work plan in September, outlining conditional approval for L3 vehicle production and encouraging revisions to road safety and insurance laws.

The plan also supports businesses in the automotive, communications and transportation sectors to explore new data-driven business models and advance the development of diversified value chains.

The MIIT and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued guidelines on accident handling for intelligent connected vehicles in May, stating that manufacturers would bear primary responsibility for L3 and higher autonomous driving incidents, ensuring legal support for L3 technology.

In addition, Beijing introduced regulations on autonomous vehicles in April, supporting their application in various mobility scenarios and laying the legal foundation for the commercialization of L3 technology in the city.

These policies have laid a foundation for the commercialization of intelligent driving and accelerated the adoption of L3 technology.

As a result, according to Cailian Press, 2026 will mark the first critical period for large-scale commercial deployment, with several companies scaling up road tests and commercialization.

"Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving system is undergoing high-speed L3 road tests in seven cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," said Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei's intelligent automotive solution business unit.

"We are preparing for the official commercial launch of high-speed L3," Jin added.

GAC recently received L3 test permits for specific scenarios in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, for its Hyptec A800 sedan, becoming one of the first cars in China to conduct L3 testing at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

Xia Xianqing, general manager of GAC Group, said that the Hyptec A800 is a flagship model developed through strategic collaboration with Huawei. It is equipped with Huawei's Qiankun Advanced Driving System 4 and HarmonyOS 5.0 intelligence systems.

Other automakers, including Changan, Voyah, IM and XPeng, are also accelerating the commercialization of L3 technology.

"The company has already obtained L3 testing certifications and will quickly roll out L3 autonomous driving models in line with national regulatory changes," said Lu Fang, CEO of Voyah, during the Auto Guangzhou.

XPeng also showcased its second-generation Vision-Language-Action system and a robotaxi concept at the auto show, announcing that VLA 2.0 is expected to pave the way for the transition from L2 to L4 autonomous driving.

In July, XPeng unveiled the G7 SUV, which the company claims is the world's first vehicle with sufficient computing power for L3 autonomous driving, thanks to its in-house Turing AI chips, delivering up to 2,250 tera operations per second.

Changan is also speeding up the commercialization of L3 technology. It plans to deploy consumer-grade L3 by 2026 and transition from L3 to L4 for robotaxi demonstration operations by 2027.

wangyuchen@chinadaily.com.cn