China’s largest proprietary automobile brand, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely), has announced that it plans to launch the first domestically mass-produced 5G and C-V2X-enabled (cellular vehicle-to-everything) connected vehicles in 2021.
The launch of the new vehicles will be done in collaboration with Chinese Internet of Things (IoT) technology developer Gosuncn Group, and the USA-based chipset maker Qualcomm Technologies Inc., which will assist Geely with 5G and C-V2X products based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive 5G Platform through Gosuncn.
Geely initially proposed its four steps G-Pilot strategy for autonomous driving in 2018, and currently its self-driving technology is at SAE Level 2, with the aim of providing Level 3 services with 5G and C-V2X technologies in 2021 for selected brands. Geely’s portfolio includes the Geely Auto, Lynk & Co, PROTON and Yuan Cheng Auto brands, as well as the Swedish passenger car maker Volvo, and the UK sportscar maker Lotus and London EV Company taxi maker.
Geely has accumulated a considerable amount of experience in developing intelligent advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), including front camera, front millimeter wave radar, 12 ultrasonic radars, and two 24G rear millimeter wave radar units.
It is also at the forefront in forward-looking systems such as a collision reduction system, an ACC self-adaptive cruise control system for reducing driving intensity, an AEB system for avoiding accidents, as well as a monitoring and reminding system with limited speed identification and fatigue detection.
Geely anticipates that future models released in 2021 will increase the demand for 5G and C-V2X on the basis of Level 2 and be equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving technology.
“Future cars will be equipped with T-BOX products that include smart antenna and built-in 5G and C-V2X. It is our first vehicle model with Level 3 technology and will be a pioneering vehicle model that realizes the 5G network intelligent strategy,” said Shen Ziyu, vice president of the Geely Research Institute. “Going forward, we will also become a proprietary automobile brand with the highest networking rate in China.”
Nakul Duggal, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies, commented, “We are committed to accelerating the commercial deployment of 5G and C-V2X direct communication technology with the aim of featuring rich, virtually always connected in-vehicle experiences and improving road safety-consciousness and traffic efficiency, while promoting the development of autonomous driving. We are excited to work with Gosuncn and Geely to support the anticipated deployment of their first vehicle with 5G and C-V2X utilizing our Snapdragon Automotive 5G Platform.”
Liu Shuangguang, chairman of Gosuncn Group, added, “5G is an inevitable trend of the development of the communications industry. 5G and C-V2X, as a special non-line-of-sight sensor, will become one of the core technologies of autonomous driving. We insist on continuous input in the connected car field, and will delivery safe and reliable 5G and C-V2X connections and products for Geely together with Qualcomm Technologies.
“We are very glad to bring 5G and C-V2X technologies and products for Geely’s new models, and will cooperate with them to implement the technology certification of high-bandwidth and low-latency scenarios to realize new models launched on schedule.”
