Overview
- BYD publicly introduced the Xuanji A3, a self-developed 4-nanometer automotive driving chip the company says supports Level 3 and Level 4 autonomy and has entered mass production.
- The chip is the compute core of an upgraded God’s Eye driver-assistance stack that BYD is offering with a LiDAR-based 'God’s Eye B' city-navigation option priced at 12,000 yuan for many models.
- To encourage take-up BYD pledged a free one-year guarantee to cover compensation and repairs for accidents that occur when its city-navigation feature is activated and said payouts will not raise owners’ insurance premiums.
- BYD framed the May 28 launch as part of a push to make urban assisted driving a mass-market feature by using in-house silicon, large-scale sensor suites and software optimizations to lower costs and improve performance.
- The technology drive comes as BYD faces slowing domestic demand and a sharp quarterly profit decline, and the company says its vertical chip and fab capability gives it control of supply and a pricing edge against rivals such as Tesla and domestic EV makers.