BYD’s new in-house 4nm smart driving chip, China’s first, unlocks “the highest level of vehicle intelligence” with L3 and L4 autonomous driving capabilities.
BYD unveils China’s first 4nm in-house smart driving chip
During its Intelligent Strategy Launch on Thursday, BYD unveiled its latest breakthrough technology, “Xuanji A3,” China’s first self-developed 4nm assisted-driving chip.
CEO Wang Chuanfu said during the event that the new chip supports Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving, claiming it “represents the highest level of intelligent driving chips in China.”
Combined with its in-house algorithms used in its God’s Eye ADAS system and Xuanji architecture, BYD said computing power utilization has doubled, up 100%.
Powered by three chips, the combined computing power exceeds a whopping 2,100 TOPS. According to BYD, the new Xuanji A3 smart driving chip has already entered mass production.
The bigger news, however, is that unlike most automakers that outsource chips, BYD builds the chips entirely in-house, along with nearly every other vehicle component.
Chuanfu said that BYD is now the only automaker in the world with full control over its assisted-driving supply chain, enabling it to cut costs and continue advancing the new tech.
Since establishing its first dedicated department for computer chips in 2002, BYD has introduced over 2,000 chips and owns five semiconductor manufacturing (wafer fab) facilities. The company has invested over 100 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) into semiconductors with a current team of over 7,000 dedicated to chip R&D.
Electrek’s Take
The breakthrough assisted-driving chip comes after BYD launched its Blade Battery 2.0 and Flash Charging system during a disruptive tech event in March, enabling a CLTC range of over 1,000 km (621 miles) and fast charging in as little as five minutes.
BYD is betting not just on new technology like autonomous driving to fuel its rapid growth, but also on developing it in-house, giving the company full control over its supply chain.
While most automakers still rely heavily on outside suppliers, BYD is establishing a near-complete vertical supply chain, allowing it to roll out new tech and vehicles faster while keeping costs down.
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