Tech heavyweight Baidu and auto juggernaut Geely have rolled into China’s booming electric vehicle (EV) market with JiYue 01, an SUV designed to give Tesla’s Model Y a run for its money. And guess what? They’re not holding back on the bells and whistles.
The car comes with level 4 autonomous tech
With a price point ranging from 249,000 to 339,900 yuan, JiYue 01 goes toe-to-toe with Tesla’s Model Y, priced between 263,900 and 363,900 yuan. But it’s not just about the price. This SUV comes packed with Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving tech, a first for passenger cars globally. Meaning? The car can mostly drive itself, although you can still take the wheel if you want to. It can also go an impressive 720 km on a single charge.
COO Luo Gang of Hangzhou Jiyue Automotive Technology, the joint venture behind this marvel, admits they’re new to the game. “We have high confidence in our product but we still lack brand awareness to gain a considerable market share,” he said. But hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
Beijing is still a bit skittish about self-driving tech, with no green light for even Level 3 autonomous driving. Plus, JiYue 01’s doesn’t include high-precision mapping, which usually offers 20cm location accuracy.
Formed back in January 2021, the Baidu-Geely alliance isn’t just eye candy. They’re seriously committed to intelligent EVs. Geely owns 65% of Jiyue Automotive, focused on car assembly, while Baidu holds the remaining 35%. They even have plans for a JiYue-exclusive charging network.
With one in three new cars in China being battery-powered, and an expected 8.8 million EVs to hit the road this year alone, the competition is stiff. JiYue 01 is entering an arena with over 200 players, including tech giants Huawei and Xiaomi.
JiYue 01 might be the new kid on the block, but it’s definitely not one to overlook. It’s like Baidu and Geely are saying, “Tesla, you’re cool, but we’ve got something pretty awesome up our sleeves too.”
And that, folks, could just be the beginning.
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(Via)
