World’s First DJI-Powered 2023 KiWi EV Launched
On September 15, Chinese automobile marque Baojun, a joint venture under SAIC-GM-Wuling, launched the 2023 KiWi EV, offering three configuration options, with a listing price ranging from 87,800 yuan to 102,800 yuan ($12,525 – $14,664). Baojun’s KiWi EV is an annually updated mini electric vehicle model. This year, the new version continues the design style of past models, mainly bringing upgrades to the configuration.
The 2023 KiWi EV is available in six colorways, including Brown, Green, Purple, Red, Black, and Deep Green. The interior of the new car uses high-end suede materials, covering a large area, and has a new integrated big screen. The maximum power of the 2023 KiWi EV is 40kW, while the maximum power of the DJI version can reach 50kW, and the maximum torque is 150Nm. Its cruising range under NEDC is 305km, and that of DJI version is 301km.
The most striking thing about the new upgrade is that it is equipped with DJI’s vehicle-mounted intelligent driving system “Lingxi.” It can realize intelligent parking functions such as multi-state parking space identification, 360-degree parking, and 30-second efficient parking. It also has intelligent driving assistance system functions such as active recommendation of expressway, lane changing assistance functions by shifting the turn signal lever, intelligent speed regulation in corners, and emergency situation response.
At the press conference, the new functions of the intelligent driving system were previewed. It is expected that by the end of this year, the model will have an OTA upgrade to realize new functions such as intelligent starting and stopping based on identification of traffic lights, memory parking, and cross-layer memory parking.
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It is worth mentioning that DJI’s vehicle business has been in preparation for six years, and the firm has also announced its cooperation with Volkswagen Group. The main sensor configurations of the intelligent driving system jointly developed this time by DJI and Baojun include a set of forward-looking binocular cameras, four round-looking fisheye cameras, one forward millimeter wave radar and 12 ultrasonic radars. Industry insiders told 36Kr that the cost of this set of hardware ranges from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan ($428 – $713), which is almost impossible to buy a lidar. However, it provides quite complete functions. DJI seems to give the industry another answer: low-cost car and hardware configuration can still provide a fully functional intelligent driving system.
In addition, a “Scenario Cube” jointly created by SAIC-GM-Wuling and ByteDance’s Volcano Engine, a cloud service brand, was officially released at the event. The 2023 KiWi EV became the industry’s first model carrying the solution, bringing users an active recommendation interactive experience, which will be upgraded through OTA in the future. Also, the new car can realize intelligent interaction such as voice features, remote vehicle control, multi-device communication and multi-device aggregated navigation.