[Autohome?Technology]?Perhaps it is because of the possible constraints in the future in the trade war, or it may be that it feels the threat of Tesla's self-developed FSD. In the past year, autonomous driving chips seem to have become a hot word in the automotive industry. Whether they are suppliers or technology companies, anyone whose business is related to semiconductors is busy saying that they will "develop their own chips." But for many OEMs, semiconductor technology is obviously not part of their previous technology reserves. Instead, Leapmotor, backed by Zhejiang Dahua, a giant in the security field, took the first step with its unique advantages and released its first newly developed independent mass-produced chip - Lingxin 01.
Parameters: Mainstream level Different from the chip releases of many other manufacturers, Leapmotor’s press conference can be described as “simple and crude”. There are neither fancy promotional videos nor various data charts that rub competitors to the ground. Instead, he posted a fairly detailed product parameter list, which seemed full of confidence. The Horizon Journey 3 chip uses a 16nm process technology, has a computing power of 5Tops and a power consumption of 2.4W. The Lingxin 01 of Leapbo uses a 28nm process technology, has a computing power of 4.2Tops, and a power consumption of 4W. Judging from the comparison of these data alone, it seems that the performance of Lingxin 01 is slightly weaker and the power consumption is not as good as that of Journey 3. The difference in process technology used by the two is one of the reasons. In addition, for car-grade autonomous driving chips, it is not scientific to simply compare performance and power consumption. Algorithms also account for a considerable proportion of them. . As a product that was mass-produced and installed as early as 2018, it is reasonable for EyeQ4 to not be able to match the performance of the new chip released two years later. On the other hand, it is also one of Mobileye's business strategies to not pursue extreme pressing performance, but to quickly bring products to market. After all, there were almost no competitors of the same type on the market at the time of tapeout, and Mobileye, a dominant winner-take-all company, relied heavily on EyeQ4 to make money. But now that Chinese chips are coming out one after another and their performance exceeds that of overseas competitors, the answer is self-evident as to how Chinese automakers and even some overseas brands will choose. Therefore, launching products as soon as possible is the first priority, and performance indicators may not really be the focus of Zero Run. Because their definition of this chip is - China's first car-grade AI smart driving chip with completely independent intellectual property rights. The keyword "completely independent intellectual property rights" is worth noting here.
Keywords: independent intellectual property rights. Many chip products of the same type will inevitably use some foreign patents or products from overseas suppliers. For example, ARM, a company recently acquired by Nvidia for 40 billion pounds, has more or less used its ARM architecture in more than 90% of the world's mobile smart devices. Wouldn’t the zero-running Lingxin 01 encounter constraints from the ARM architecture? Of course not, because the CPU of Lingxin 01 uses the Pingtou Ge Xuantie C860 processor. Although the name is jaw-dropping, the Alibaba Group is behind this CPU. At the 2018 Yunqi Conference, Alibaba announced that it would integrate the chip business team of Damo Academy and the newly acquired Zhongtian Micro to establish "Pingtouge Semiconductor Co., Ltd." The honey badger was once certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the most fearless animal in the world", relying on its character of "taking no chances in life or death". Even lions and tigers that are several times the size of a honey badger dare to give it a try. No wonder people say, "Brother Badger has the final say whether Africa is in chaos or not." From this characteristic, we can also understand that Alibaba probably had a hint of honey badger consciousness when it officially entered the semiconductor business. Even in the face of Europe and the United States where there are many semiconductor giants, Alibaba still wants to compete. Although Lingxin 01 is a highly customized product based on its own software algorithm, Leapmotor does not plan to use it only for its own use. At the press conference, Leapao Motors Chairman Zhu Jiangming also said that Leapao is very willing to carry out in-depth cooperation in autonomous driving chips if other manufacturers are interested.
However, this product will be the first to be installed on the new SUV model Leapmo C11, which will be unveiled at the 2020 Guangzhou Auto Show. It is not only an empowerment of its own products, but also a more intuitive product display.
New car: Leapmoon C11 Since we are talking about a brand new SUV product, it is natural to disclose some information about the new product at the press conference. Leappo has already demonstrated its three model platforms before: S platform, T platform and C platform. The two models currently on sale, Leapmoon S01 and Leapoo T03, come from the S platform and T platform respectively. Judging from the naming rules, Leapoo C11 will be the first mass-produced model of the C platform. Judging from the current official information, the overall performance indicators of Leapmoon C11 are quite good. The new car will be equipped with a large-capacity power battery pack, providing a cruising range of more than 600 kilometers under NEDC standards. The electric drive system uses the Hercules powertrain independently developed by Leappo, with a maximum output power of 400kW and a peak torque of 720N·m. It is reported that the car was developed with a focus on driving pleasure. In order to improve the vehicle's handling experience in dynamic driving, the front axle chose a double-wishbone independent suspension with a higher adjustment limit, while the rear axle used a more comfortable suspension. degree of multi-link independent suspension. Although it cannot be said that double-wishbone multi-link is definitely a performance-oriented model, at least we have seen that many luxury brand models with good performance have indeed chosen such a suspension combination. In addition, Lingxin 01 chip can also support the Leap Pilot intelligent driving assistance system, providing multiple driving assistance functions for the Leap C11.
Editor’s comment: In the officially disclosed product information, the benchmark model clearly says Tesla Model Y. This echoes what Zhu Jiangming, chairman of Leapmotor, said at the press conference to "comprehensively surpass Tesla in the field of intelligence." In the era of fuel vehicles, although Chinese automakers are also struggling to catch up with overseas brands, they have never dared to make such ambitious claims. However, the advent of the era of electrification and intelligence has given Chinese brands strong self-confidence. Whether you can overtake in a curve is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to have the courage to overtake in a curve. Of course, goals and dreams require product strength to fulfill them. Currently, neither Leapmoor C11 nor Tesla Model Y has been officially unveiled, so there is no way to judge this competition. We might as well look forward to whether the official release of Leapmo C11 at the Guangzhou Auto Show will bring some new surprises and "nirvana." (Pictures/text? Autohome? Yang Peng? Some pictures are from the Internet)