BAIC Motor to Adopt Huawei’s HarmonyOS in New SUV Model
BAIC Motor officially announced on Thursday that it would adopt the in-house Harmony operating system recently launched by Huawei in the Arcfox Alpha S Huawei HI model and a new petrol SUV, both of which will be unveiled later this year.
Under pressure from US sanctions, Huawei began transitioning last year to HarmonyOS, its own Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform. The company predicts that by the end of 2021, the number of smart devices equipped with the new operating system will reach 300 million, of which Huawei’s devices will exceed 200 million and third-party partners accounting for the remainder.
As a leading passenger car manufacturer in China, BAIC Motor has been working closely with Huawei to promote the application of its technology and products in the automotive industry.
“BAIC and Huawei adopt a brand-new model of joint development. We work together to crack down on technical problems. In spite of some disputes, our mutual goal is to bring users the ultimate driving experience,” Zhou Bingfeng, chief engineer of BAIC Motor, said.
Arcfox is an electric vehicle brand under BAIC Motor. The Arcfox Alpha S carries a price tag between 251,900 yuan ($39,323) and 344,900 yuan ($53,840), while the Alpha S Huawei HI version is priced between 388,900 yuan ($60,710) and 429,900 yuan ($67,111), depending on different configurations.
The highlight of the Alpha S Huawei HI version is that it is equipped with Huawei’s automatic driving technology, which makes it more intelligent while going straight and making turns without any safeguard procedures.
As early as the beginning of 2019, BAIC Motor signed a comprehensive business cooperation agreement with Huawei and jointly established the “1873 Davidson Innovation Lab” to develop intelligent electric vehicle technology.
During the Shanghai Auto Show, BAIC Motor unveiled its cooperation with Huawei within the field of petrol vehicles. Under the arrangement, both sides will jointly build an intelligent platform covering vehicle cockpit, internet of vehicles, automatic driving and other fields. With the support of HarmonyOS, the cockpit can connect and collaborate with smartphones and home appliances.
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The two companies will also make full use of the various advantages presented by 5G – such as high reliability and high bandwidth – to support further development of automatic driving technology, with the intention of realizing L3-level automatic driving within the speed domain of 0-120km/h by the end of 2023.
According to the latest data, Huawei benefits from more than 300 partners including Midea, iFlytek, Supor and SZ DJI Technology for their operating system. It is estimated that more than 40 mainstream brands will join the group this year.
