EV-Maker Arcfox and Huawei Launch Urban Navigation System for Shanghai Drivers

What’s new: Arcfox, a premium brand owned by Beijing-based electric-vehicle company BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., has launched an urban navigation assistance function for use in Shanghai in vehicles it co-develops with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

The new feature — called Navigation Cruise Assist (NCA) — has been incorporated into the Alpha S cars that come with Huawei Inside, helping drivers handle urban traffic situations including overtaking, changing lanes and keeping an appropriate distance from the vehicles in front, Arcfox said on Monday.

If a car is labeled Huawei Inside, that means that it is powered by software functions including smart driving, as well as hardware including lidars and centralized control panels developed by the Shenzhen-based tech giant.

What’s the background: The launch came after Shanghai issued its first permits for making high-definition assisted driving maps, which are traditionally made using data collected by survey vehicles.

So far, most carmakers depend on high-definition maps to guide their cars, but they have a major shortcoming: current road information can’t be updated in real-time.

In light of this, some carmakers are exploring a new approach which allows sensors installed in vehicles to gather real-time road data. But some industry insiders said that this technology cannot function properly without well-established high-definition maps provided by licensed mapmakers.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)

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