There’s a new brand of automotive intelligence equipped with the brains — and the battery — to go the distance.
SAIC, the largest automaker in China, joined forces with etail giant Alibaba to unveil a new premium EV brand, dubbed IM, or “intelligence in motion.” The long-range electric vehicles will feature AI capabilities powered by the high-performance, energy-efficient NVIDIA DRIVE Orin compute platform.
The first two vehicles in the lineup — a flagship sedan and SUV — will have autonomous parking and other automated driving features, as well as a 93kWh battery that comes standard. SAIC will begin taking orders for the sedan at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, with the SUV following in 2022.
These models will have multi NVIDIA Orin SoCs (system-on-a-chip) at the core of a centralized computer system, achieving 500 to 1,000+ TOPS of performance for automated and autonomous capabilities in addition to in-cabin personalization that is continuously upgradable over-the-air for a truly software-defined experience.
By centralizing and unifying the compute architecture, IM vehicles will be able to receive advanced software features as they’re developed. Just like a mobile phone, which periodically gets software updates, these software-defined vehicles will do the same.
Premium Vehicles Inside and Out
Developing a top-of-the-line premium electric brand requires best-in-class in-vehicle compute.
Orin is the world’s highest-performance, most-advanced AV and robotics processor. This supercomputer on a chip is capable of delivering up to 254 trillion operations per second (TOPS) to handle the large number of applications and deep neural networks that run simultaneously in autonomous vehicles and robots, while meeting systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D.
With two Orin SoCs at the center of IM vehicles, these compute platforms will be able to deliver more than 500 TOPS of performance to achieve the redundancy and diversity necessary for autonomous operation.
Like all modern computing devices, these intelligent vehicles will be supported by a large team of AI and software engineers, dedicated to improving the performance and capability of the car as technology advances.
Intelligence in Motion
The new IM vehicle lineup is upping the ante for intelligent and electric mobility.
These electric vehicles will come standard with a 93kWh battery, and a 115kWh one on premium trims.
The software-defined IM vehicles don’t just improve like mobile devices, they also work seamlessly with such technology. The brand includes smartphone features for personalized driver and passenger experiences, creating a smart living space inside the car.
As a new, continuously upgradeable electric vehicle lineup, SAIC’s premium IM brand will drive further innovation in intelligent, personal transportation.