Chinese manufacturer, Huawei, has been working on a couple of self-driving automobile technology. However, the company will not release its own branded car. Nevertheless, it will cooperate with other automobile brands to release smart cars. BAIC is one of the few automobile companies that Huawei is cooperating with. A recent announcement revealed that BAIC second mass-produced model, Alpha S, is now official.
The
Polar Fox Alpha S Huawei HI version comes with a maximum range of 708 km, The
official announcement reveals that the starting price of this car is 251,900 (US$ 39,000). In addition, the basic Alpha S version with some additions is
selling for 388,900 yuan (US$ 60,000) while the high-end goes for 429,900 yuan
(US$ 66,000).
The Polar Fox Alpha S Huawei HI version
model does not only use the Huawei HI solution. It is also the first smart
electric car to come with the Huawei Lidar solution. The major selling point of
this electric car is that it comes with Huawei’s automatic driving technology.
According to the company, it achieves a level where the car can judge road
conditions and drive by itself. The Polar Fox Alpha S Huawei HI version uses 3
96-wire car-gauge lidars. It also comes with 6-millimeter wave radars, 12
cameras, and 13 ultrasonic radars. Furthermore, this smart car incorporated a
Huawei chip with a computing power of 352Tops.
Compared with millimeter-wave radars and cameras, lidars have excellent capabilities. It has excellent contour measurement, angle measurement, light stability, and general obstacle detection. Furthermore, in non-standard pedestrians, non-standard roads, and even non-standard driving behaviors in urban areas, lidar has no problem.
The Alpha S Huawei HI version also uses a
long-range high-definition camera. This helps the car to match high-precision
maps to accurately extract lane and traffic light information. Through
continuous machine self-learning and continuous iteration, the control
performance at intersections is closer to manual driving. In addition, this car
adopts Huawei’s HarmonyOS which connects to the cockpit. It supports up to 24
application ecosystems, including Changlian Call, Gaode, Kugou Music, Kuwo
Music, etc.
In terms of power, Alpha S uses front and rear dual motors, providing high and low power. The maximum power is 160kW and 320kW, and the maximum torque is 360 Nm and 720 Nm. The fastest acceleration from 100 kilometers is only 4.2 seconds. In terms of endurance, the new car has three types of endurance range, which are 525 km, 603 km, and 708 km.