Huawei joins China’s electric car race in competition with Tesla
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Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group, announced that HarmonyOS cars will start deliveries February 20, 2022.
Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
BEIJING — Less than a week after Chinese electric car start-up NioIt announced the launch of its latest competitor TeslaHuawei revealed details about a new vehicle that it claimed beats the Model Y.
Chinese tech giant Huawei is well known for making smartphones and telecommunications devices. But it says that cars will not be made by Huawei. It has worked with carmakers to develop autonomous driving technology.
Aito M5, the first car to run on Huawei’s HarmonyOS, will be the Aito M5, Richard Yu, CEO and executive director of Huawei’s consumer group said at Thursday’s company’s winter product launch.
Yu is the chief executive officer of Huawei’s smart automotive business solution division.
The Aito M5 post-subsidy price starts at 250,000 Yuan ($39.063). It’s less than Tesla’s Model Y that starts at 280.752 yuan, after subsidies.
On Saturday, Nio revealed deliveries of its ET5 electric sedan would in September with a starting price of 328,000 yuan ($51,250) pre-subsidy. Nio’s ET7 sedan will be delivered in March at 448,000 yuan.
Yu stated in his presentation of one hour that the Aito M5 has better driving range and peak power than the Model Y. The Aito M5 does not run on electricity, but it also has a fuel tank that can be used to extend driving range after the battery is exhausted.
Start-up Li AutoIt also features an identical fuel-powered range extension feature on its Li One. This latest model lists at 338,00 yuan with no subsidies.
Yu mentioned the many other features, including double-layered sound-proof glasses.
Yu stated that “you will be able to tell whether it’s premium or not by its sound,” via an English translation of his Mandarin-language comments. “We can offer the library-quality experience.”
Huawei has its own operating system
Aito M5 represents “adding intelligence and auto” in its first model. Yu explained that the model is part of Seres Automaker. Previous models have used Huawei components but not design.
According to Sokon’s website, Seres (also known as SF Motors) is a subsidiary of Sokon-based automotive manufacturer Chongqing. Seres states on their website that they are “positioned to build and sell independently in the two largest global markets, China and the U.S.”
HarmonyOS is a significant integration of the Seres Chinese car with HarmonyOS. Many electric car startup companies have attempted to market the concept that automobiles could be likened to smartphones. Each electric car comes with an LCD touchscreen that can be used to adjust the vehicle’s functions, listen to music and watch movies.
A smart watch from Huawei can be used to unlock the Aito M5’s car using a key.
Huawei launched HarmonyOS in 2019 after former President Donald Trump’s administration put the company on a blacklistThe US government has prohibited American technology companies from selling to China, in part because of national security concerns. Huawei claims it does not pose a risk.
Huawei was then removed from Google’s Android OS system by the blacklist. Huawei started working on HarmonyOS back in 2016.
Yu opened and ended Thursday’s conference with the same portrayal of the company, a survivor. The presentation about the car took up most of the remaining hour in a 2.5-hour conference that also featured a new smartphone foldable, prescription smart glasses and a laptop.
“Many rounds of sanctions of the past three years have plunged us into the longest winter, because no winter is as long as three years,” he said. “Despite the difficulties, we received strong support from partners and consumers around the world.”
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