Known for its smartphones, Huawei will be responsible for the self-driving software and intelligent cockpit functions of upcoming Avatr Technology-branded vehicles. Four electric cars are planned.
On June 25, during the motor show in Chongqing, a city in southwestern China, the manufacturer of smartphones and telephone network equipment Huawei signed a cooperation agreement with Avatr Technology, an automobile manufacturer.
Avatr Technology intends to develop four electric vehicles by 2025. The latter (SUV, crossover, sedan and minivan) will be based on a platform called CHN and whose wheelbase can reach three meters. Under the floor, there are battery packs (750 V) signed CATL whose autonomy will vary from 555 to 680 km (Chinese standards). CATL claims that it will be possible to recover 200 km of autonomy in less than 10 minutes.
Huawei will be responsible for contributing its expertise as responsible for autonomous driving software and intelligent cockpit functions. It will be remembered that the firm with the red petals had signed, in 2017, a technological partnership with the automobile group PSA, before its merger with Fiat. This agreement concerned the development of a connected car from a dedicated platform: “Connected Vehicle Modular Platform“.
The first vehicle, the Avatr 11, a compact SUV, will be launched on August 8. It will be endowed”Huawei’s comprehensive solutions for smart cars, including Huawei Smart Driving, Smart Cockpit, Smart Internet Connection, Smart Electric and Smart Car Cloud Services“.
To do this, the Avatr 11 has three Lidars, six millimeter wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 13 cameras. The processor will have a computing power of 400 TOPS allowing it to “support high-level intelligent driving for complex urban road conditions“.
Before being renamed Avatr Technology, the manufacturer was called Changan NIO, a joint venture created in 2018 by Changan Automobiles and NIO. Today, NIO’s stake has fallen from 50% to 4.62%, while Changan’s has increased to 95.38%. The new entity saw the arrival of CATL, whose stake amounts to 23.99%, against 39.02% for Changan.
For the record, the acronym CHN which is used to designate the platform not only refers to China, but also to the partners: “C” for Changan, “H” for Huawei and “N” for Ningde, the headquarters of CATL.