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27/12/2021

Huawei Competes With Tesla In China’s Electric Car Market




Huawei Competes With Tesla In China’s Electric Car Market
Just under a week following Chinese electric car startup, Nio unveiled its next Tesla rival, Huawei unveiled details on a vehicle that it claims outperforms the Model Y in terms of specs.
 
Huawei, the Chinese tech company best known for its telecoms and smartphone devices, has stated that it will not produce cars on its own. However, it has been collaborating with automakers on automotive technology such as self-driving cars.
 
The Aito M5, a hybrid automobile that operates on both electricity and petrol, will be the first vehicle to run on Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system, according to Richard Yu, executive director and CEO of Huawei's consumer business group, who spoke at the company's winter product launch event on Thursday.
 
After the Lunar New Year, deliveries will begin around Feb. 20, according to Yu, who is also the CEO of Huawei's intelligent automotive business solution section.
 
Post-subsidy prices for the Aito M5 start at 250,000 yuan ($39,063). That’s lower than Tesla’s Model Y, which starts at 280,752 yuan after subsidies.
 
Nio announced on Saturday that deliveries of its ET5 electric sedan will begin in September, with a pre-subsidy starting price of 328,000 yuan ($51,250). Nio's ET7 car starts at 448,000 yuan and will be delivered in March.
 
In his one-hour presentation, Yu stated that the Aito M5 has more peak power and driving range than the Model Y. The Aito M5, unlike Tesla's automobiles, is not entirely powered by electricity; it features a fuel tank to increase driving range when the battery runs out.
 
Start-up Li Auto's Li One, the newest model of which lists a price of 338,000 yuan without subsidies, has a comparable fuel-powered range extension capability.
 
Double-layered sound-proof glass was one of the many other qualities Yu mentioned.
 
“You will know whether it is premium or not by the sound,” Yu said via the company’s English translation of his Mandarin-language remarks. “We are able to offer the ‘library grade’ quality experience.”
 
The Aito M5 is the company's first model, and its name stands for "adding intelligence to auto." It's part of the Seres automaker, which has previously used Huawei components but not design, according to Yu.
 
According to the parent company's website, Seres, also known as SF Motors, is a Silicon Valley-based subsidiary of Chongqing-based vehicle manufacturer Sokon. Seres claims to be "positioned to independently build and sell in two of the world's greatest marketplaces, the United States and China," according to its website.
 
The integration of HarmonyOS with the new Seres car in China is noteworthy because many electric car start-ups have been attempting to market the idea that automobiles would eventually take on the role that smartphones do in people's lives. Each of the electric automobiles has a touchscreen for controlling vehicle functions as well as listening to music or viewing movies.
 
The Aito M5 may be unlocked using one of Huawei's smart watches functioning as a car key.
 
HarmonyOS was released in 2019 after Huawei was placed on a blacklist by former President Donald Trump's administration, which barred American companies from providing technology to the Chinese firm due to national security concerns. Huawei has denied posing a threat of this nature.
 
However, Huawei's access to Google's Android operating system was restricted as a result of the blacklist. HarmonyOS was first developed in 2016 by Huawei.
 
Yu used the same depiction of the company as a survivor to begin and finish Thursday's event. The car presentation took up the final hour of a 2.5-hour event that also included announcements of a foldable phone, a new laptop, and prescription smart glasses.
 
“Many rounds of sanctions of the past three years have plunged us into the longest winter because no winter is as long as three years,” he said. “In spite of the great difficulties we have received strong support from consumers and partners across the globe.”
 
(Source:www.cnbc.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell

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