Carmakers offer latest tech to stay ahead in biggest market

Auto sector in China an extravaganza of innovation as various brands vie to win sales in fierce contest

Chinese carmakers are rolling out new technology as part of their effort to stay ahead in the intensely competitive new energy vehicle market.

Voyah, the premium arm of State-owned Dongfeng Motor, unveiled two smart electric vehicle architectures last week, vowing to grow into a technology-driven carmaker. Its third model, which will make its debut in December, will be the first to be built based on the latest architectures, the carmaker said.

One of them is called the Electric Smart Secure Architecture or ESSA, which is a hardware platform. The scalable architecture is compatible with sedans, MPVs, SUVs as well as crossovers whose wheelbase runs from 2,800 to 3,200 millimeters.

The other architecture is called the Service-Oriented Architecture or SOA, which is focused on smart features. Voyah said the SOA integrates vehicle control, smart driving as well as smart onboard functions.

Wang Junjun, chief technology officer of Voyah, said the two architectures mark the start of its transition from a carmaker into a technology company.

Separately, GAC Aion, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, unveiled its latest electrical and electronic architecture on Nov 3.

The new E/E architecture, called Xingling, features one of the world's most powerful sensing systems to improve the safety of smart vehicles, said the carmaker.

The system is composed of 39 sensors, including three second-generation lidar units with variable focal lengths.

It also involves the infrared remote sensing technology, which can detect objects that cameras and radar may fail to spot. The Xingling architecture came days after its latest vehicle platform, called the AEP 3.0, was introduced.

GAC Aion said it introduced hyper car technology into the platform so its vehicles can take on Tesla in terms of acceleration.

The carmaker said vehicles built on AEP 3.0 can have a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour, and the acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes merely 1.9 seconds for multiple-electric motor vehicles and 4.9 seconds for single-electric motor versions.

Tesla's fastest model, the Model S Plaid, accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 2.1 seconds. It takes 5.3 seconds for the more popular Model 3 sedan to finish the sprint.

The AEP 3.0 platform also enables models to excel in terms of turning radius and braking distance, said the carmaker.