2 Asar, Kathmandu – Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers have started designing their own “smart-driving” chips. These custom silicon chips are set to become key tools in leading the world’s largest auto market’s semiconductor industry. On Monday, Li Auto unveiled its 5-nanometer artificial intelligence chip, the Mak M100, specifically designed for autonomous driving. This chip, created for the company’s new L9 Liweis SUV model, delivers 1,280 trillion operations per second (1280 TOPS) of computing power, according to Li Auto. This metric reflects how quickly the AI system can process data. The company also reported that the chip achieves an 82 percent utilization rate.
This announcement comes amid a series of successes by competing firms. Just weeks ago, the world’s leading EV manufacturer BYD introduced its 4-nanometer smart-driving chip named SuanZi A3, which is currently being produced on a large commercial scale. BYD stated that the three SuanZi A3 chips working together provide over 2,100 TOPS of processing power, supporting Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities. The high TOPS capacity enables the vehicle’s computer to rapidly process data from radar and lidar sensors in unison, facilitating accurate decision-making.
Meanwhile, Nio has relaunched its 5-nanometer NX9031 chip, and XPeng is developing its Turing chip for the next generation intelligent driving systems. Chinese automakers are increasingly taking control of advanced driver-assistance system hardware by designing their own chips. They aim to reduce dependency on U.S. companies like Nvidia and Hong Kong-listed Chinese automotive chip and software firm Horizon Robotics.
As smart-driving technology becomes more widespread across China, efforts toward self-reliance are intensifying. Previously limited to luxury cars, this technology is now available in mid-range and affordable vehicles. According to Horizon Robotics’ annual report, passenger cars equipped with intelligent driver-assistance features are expected to reach a market penetration of 67.6 percent by 2025. The share of new smart vehicles equipped with mid- to high-level systems such as highway and urban “Navigate on Autopilot” is projected to grow from 21.6 percent in 2024 to approximately 42.6 percent in 2025.
This transformation is especially rapid in lower-priced vehicles. In cars priced under 200,000 yuan, the market penetration of mid- to high-level driver-assistance systems is expected to rise from 5 percent at the start of 2025 to over 50 percent by the end of the year. This shift in the general market has increased pressure on automakers to reduce the costs of intelligent driving hardware. Goldman Sachs analysts noted that BYD’s urban No-Autopilot (NOA) enabled “Gods Eye B” system is now available as an optional package for an additional 12,000 yuan across all models. This effectively lowers the starting price of BYD’s urban NOA models to 78,800 yuan.
The bank further reported that over 60 percent of customers buying the Seagull and other models have opted for this package. Goldman Sachs analysts stated that BYD’s recent smart-driving initiatives “effectively reduce parts costs and improve profit margins.” They also forecast a total gross margin of 75 percent for Nvidia and 65 percent for Horizon Robotics by 2025. Proprietary chip designs help automakers to reduce component costs in the long term, improve coordination between hardware and software, and strengthen control over manufacturing processes. Analysts at Huatai Securities highlighted that BYD’s SuanZi A3 chip lowers vehicle costs while enhancing smart-driving capabilities. Citing Nio’s in-house chip as an example, they noted that such innovations directly cut production costs by around 10,000 yuan.
