BYD’s new luxurious model Yangwang is promoting its first mannequin, the U8, for greater than 1 million yuan ($160,000).
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
SHANGHAI — Fully autonomous driving is “basically impossible” and the know-how could be higher utilized to manufacturing, in response to Chinese battery and electrical automotive firm BYD.
Many electrical automotive and tech firms are engaged on self-driving know-how. Using a type of the tech for helping drivers with parking and different duties is more and more a function that Tesla and electrical automotive manufacturers in China are utilizing to draw consumers — with an eye fixed on full autonomous driving.
But BYD, by far the most important home vendor of electrical vehicles in China, has taken a distinct view.
“We think self-driving tech that’s fully separated from humans is very, very far away, and basically impossible,” Li Yunfei, a spokesperson for BYD, mentioned in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
“When we think about [self-driving tech] from all aspects, from human psychological safety needs, from ethics, from regulation, from technology — including application in this industry — we haven’t figured out [the logic] and we think it is probably a false proposition,” Li instructed reporters on the sidelines of the Shanghai auto present on Tuesday.
“There may be many industries and businesses that invest a lot of money on this [tech], and after investing for many years it will prove it leads nowhere,” he mentioned.
Startups and established tech firms have labored for years in China to develop absolutely self-driving know-how. Some companies have gotten approval from native authorities in suburbs of Beijing, Shanghai and different cities to function self-driving taxis.
For private vehicles, absolutely self-driving automobiles aren’t but allowed on Chinese public roads.
BYD’s Li mentioned about 2 million folks get killed in visitors accidents annually, and in a totally self-driving situation it could be troublesome to pinpoint who’s at fault.
Developers of assisted driving know-how say its options — comparable to easy braking when sensing a highway impediment — might help make driving safer.
BYD additionally gives assisted driving know-how in some fashions. Earlier this month, the corporate introduced it could launch new shock absorption tech for its higher-end vehicles.
Factory automation
Despite elevated use of know-how in automotive factories, Li mentioned the ultimate meeting nonetheless depends on human employees.
He mentioned that in China, every manufacturing unit employee prices about 150,000 yuan a 12 months when contemplating month-to-month wages and advantages comparable to an on-site dormitory the corporate has to construct.
Over 5 years, that is a value of 600,000 yuan to 700,000 yuan, he mentioned. As lengthy as the corporate should purchase automated tech for a similar value, it is worth is way larger than being utilized in a automotive, Li mentioned. He identified how a machine would not have to eat or sleep.
It’s not but clear, nevertheless, how a lot funding and tech analysis remains to be wanted to create robots that may carry out the intricate welding and different last meeting duties.
Source: www.cnbc.com”