AI Drives Future of Transportation at Asia’s Largest Automotive Show

Automakers showcase next-generation vehicles built on NVIDIA DRIVE at Auto China.
by Danny Shapiro

The latest trends and technologies in the automotive industry are in the spotlight at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, aka Auto China, which opens to the public on Saturday, April 27.

An array of NVIDIA auto partners is embracing this year’s theme, “New Era, New Cars,” by making announcements and showcasing their latest offerings powered by NVIDIA DRIVE, the platform for AI-defined vehicles.

NVIDIA Auto Partners Announce New Vehicles and Technologies

Image courtesy of JIYUE.

Electric vehicle (EV) makers Chery (booth E107) and JIYUE (booth W206), a joint venture between Baidu and Geely (booth W204), announced they have adopted the next-generation NVIDIA DRIVE Thor centralized car computer.

DRIVE Thor will integrate the new NVIDIA Blackwell GPU architecture, designed for transformer, large language model and generative AI workloads.

In addition, a number of automakers are building next-gen vehicles on NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, including:

smart, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, previewed its largest and most spacious model to date, an electric SUV called #5. It will be built on its Pilot Assist 3.0 intelligent driving-assistance platform, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, which supports point-to-point automatic urban navigation. smart #5 will be available for purchase in the second half of this year. smart will be at booth E408.

NIO, a pioneer in the premium smart EV market, unveiled its updated ET7 sedan, featuring upgraded cabin intelligence and smart-driving capabilities. NIO also showcased its 2024 ET5 and ES7. All 2024 models are equipped with four NVIDIA DRIVE Orin systems-on-a-chip (SoCs). Intelligent-driving capabilities in urban areas will fully launch soon. NIO will be at booth E207.

Image courtesy of GWM.

GWM revealed the WEY Blue Mountain (Lanshan) Intelligent Driving Edition, its luxury, high-end SUV. This upgraded vehicle is built on GWM’s Coffee Pilot Ultra intelligent-driving system, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, and can support features such as urban navigate-on-autopilot (NOA) and cross-floor memory parking. GWM will be at booth E303.

XPENG, a designer and manufacturer of intelligent EVs, announced that it is streamlining the design workflow of its flagship XPENG X9 using the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. In March, XPENG announced it will adopt NVIDIA DRIVE Thor for its next-generation EV fleets. XPENG will be at booth W402.

Innovation on Display

On the exhibition floor, NVIDIA partners are showcasing their NVIDIA DRIVE-powered vehicles:

Image courtesy of BYD.

BYD, DENZA and YANGWANG are featuring their latest vehicles built on NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. The largest EV maker in the world, BYD is building both its Ocean and Dynasty series on NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. In addition, BYDE, a subsidiary of BYD, will tap into the NVIDIA Isaac and NVIDIA Omniverse platforms to develop tools and applications for virtual factory planning and retail configurators. BYD will be at booth W106, DENZA at W408 and YANGWANG at W105.

DeepRoute.ai is showcasing its new intelligent driving-platform, DeepRoute IO, and highlighting its end-to-end model. Powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, the first mass-produced car built on DeepRoute IO will focus on assisted driving and parking. DeepRoute.ai will be at booth W4-W07.

Hyper, a luxury brand owned by GAC AION, is displaying its latest Hyper GT and Hyper HT models, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. These vehicles feature advanced level 2+ driving capabilities in high-speed environments. Hyper recently announced it selected DRIVE Thor for its next-generation EVs with level 4 driving capabilities. Hyper will be at booth W310.

IM Motors is exhibiting the recently launched L6 Super Intelligent Vehicle. The entire lineup of the IM L6 is equipped with NVIDIA DRIVE Orin to power intelligent driving abilities, including urban NOA features. IM Motors will be at booth W205.

Li Auto is showcasing its recently released L6 model, as well as L7, L8, L9 and MEGA. Models equipped with Li Auto’s AD Max system are powered by dual NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoCs, which help bring ever-upgrading intelligent functionality to Li Auto’s NOA feature. Li Auto will be at booth E405.

Image courtesy of Lotus.

Lotus is featuring a full range of vehicles, including the Emeya electric hyper-GT powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. Lotus will be at booth E403.

Mercedes-Benz is exhibiting its Concept CLA Class, the first car to be developed on the all-new Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture. The Concept CLA Class fully runs on MB.OS, which handles infotainment, automated driving, comfort and charging. Mercedes-Benz will be at booth E404.

Momenta is rolling out a new NVIDIA DRIVE Orin solution to accelerate commercialization of urban NOA capabilities at scale.

Image courtesy of Polestar.

Polestar is featuring the Polestar 3, the Swedish car manufacturer’s battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV powered by DRIVE Orin. Polestar will be at booth E205.

SAIC R Motors is showcasing the Rising Auto R7 and F7 powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin at booth W406.

WeRide is exhibiting Chery’s Exeed Sterra ET SUV and ES sedan, both powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. The vehicles demonstrate progress made by Bosch and WeRide on level 2 to level 3 autonomous-driving technology. WeRide will be at booth E1-W04.

Xiaomi is displaying its NVIDIA DRIVE Orin-powered SU7 and “Human x Car x Home” smart ecosystem, designed to seamlessly connect people, cars and homes, at booth W203.

ZEEKR unveiled its SEA-M architecture and is showcasing the ZEEKR 007 powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin at booth E101.

Auto China runs through Saturday, May 4, at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing.

Learn more about the industry-leading designs and technologies NVIDIA is developing with its automotive partners.

Featured image courtesy of JIYUE.