Automakers and suppliers are turning the industry green with NVIDIA DRIVE.
Electric and autonomous vehicle concepts are lining the floor this week at the Auto Shanghai show, bringing new technology and energy to production cars. Some of the biggest reveals are rising above the noise with technology powered by NVIDIA DRIVE.
China, the world’s largest automotive market, is rapidly adopting electric vehicle technology. In the first half of 2018, Chinese consumers bought 390,000 EVs, according to consultancy Roland Berger. The rate nearly doubled in the first two months of this year, with 114,000 EVs sold.
NVIDIA partners are picking up on this trend, delivering sleek “new energy” vehicles for the fast-growing market.
They’re also offering AI driving solutions for the near term — ZF debuted its coPILOT Level 2+ automated driving platform. At its core: NVIDIA DRIVE software and the NVIDIA Xavier system-on-a-chip. The AI supercomputer will bring intelligent driving capabilities to production vehicles in the next year.
“ZF coPILOT has a range of functions ideal for passenger cars in private transport,” said Torsten Gollewski, head of autonomous mobility systems at ZF. “Our system offers an enormous amount of comfort and security.”
EV Upstarts Coming to the Market
A new wave of Chinese companies developing EVs is beginning to roll their futuristic concepts into production reality.
Xpeng, an EV startup based out of Guangzhou, debuted its high-performance P7 four-door coupe. The vehicle, slated for production by the end of this year, uses DRIVE AGX Xavier for progressive Level 3 AI-assisted driving features.
Seres, formerly known as SF Motors, revealed its electric SUV, the SF7. Seres uses the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Xavier platform to build its next-generation autonomous system.
AI Inside
In addition to the innovative EV designs, automakers showed off the latest in intelligent cockpit design.
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the new GLB concept vehicle, a rugged SUV packed with next-generation technology. Complementing the suede and leather interior is the MBUX AI-powered infotainment system, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE. The intelligent system uses brilliant graphics displays and natural language processing to deliver a seamless driving experience to a growing number of Mercedes-Benz models.
Following on the heels of its first vehicles, the ES8 and ES6 SUVs, EV maker NIO unveiled its ET sedan series. The electric vehicle product line will come with a smart cockpit powered by NVIDIA DRIVE.
From electric powertrains to autonomous driving to AI assistants, the new offerings from NVIDIA partners at Auto Shanghai might make it a bit easier being green.