This week, the new smart car Avatr 11 was introduced, which is a joint effort of Changan New Energy, CATL and Huawei.

The Avatr 11 received a 578 hp powerplant, 680 km of CLTC cycle and a starting price of $51,800 in China. The first deliveries will begin in December this year.

This is an all-electric mid-size crossover coupe built on the EP1 platform. The exact dimensions are 4880 x 1970 x 1601 mm with a wheelbase of 2975 mm. It is close in size to Voyah Free and NIO EC6. Avatr 11 has a 4- and 5-seat layout.

The car received two electric motors with a capacity of 265 and 313 hp. with a total torque of 650 Nm. Acceleration Avatr 11 from zero to 100 km / h takes 3.98 seconds. As for the maximum speed, it is limited to 200 km/h.

The battery of the basic version has a capacity of 90.38 kWh and is designed for 555 km. As for the top configuration, it has a 116.79 kWh battery, which is enough for 680 km. Avatr 11 also supports 240kW charging. As a result, it can be charged for 200 km in 10 minutes.

The Avatr 11 is equipped with the AVATRANS intelligent driving system. It includes 34 different sensors, including 3 laser rangefinders. The computing power of this system reaches 400 TOPS. Avatr says the intelligent driving system supports lane change assist, pedestrian detection, traffic light recognition. Some features require a subscription.

The main display has a diameter of 15.6 inches, the multimedia system runs on Huawei’s HarmonyOS operating system. As for the instrument panel and passenger screen, they have a diagonal of 10.25 inches. The central tunnel has a huge area for wireless charging of two phones and hidden cup holders. The sound system consists of 14 speakers and a 12-channel amplifier.

The older version of the car is priced at $88,865.

Baidu’s electric vehicle maker Jidu Auto said it will be one generation ahead of Tesla in terms of autonomous driving technology.

“Our understanding of smart vehicles is that being electric is the semi-final and being smart is the final,” Baidu chief executive Robin Li said yesterday.

Jidu plans to deliver 800,000 of its smart cars (called “robots”) by 2028, as well as launch its second model into mass production in 2024. In June, Jidu unveiled its first Robo-01 concept car, which has no door handles and can be fully controlled by voice control, with the model planned for mass production in 2023.

In addition to equipping the car with Baidu-based autonomous driving software technology, the Jidu “robots” will have two laser rangefinders (lidars) and 12 cameras. At the same time, Tesla does not use lidars.

Tech companies around the world are competing to develop smart cars following Tesla’s success in commercializing electric vehicles. We should see Xiaomi smart car next year.

Nio, which is known in China for its electric vehicles, intends to develop a new market. They plan to develop and produce smartphones there.

On August 4, the manufacturer registered a division of Nio Mobile Technologies Co Ltd with a starting capital of $100 million. The division is headquartered in Shanghai and co-founders include Nio President Qin Lihong. According to media reports, the company is preparing the first smartphone in 2023, while it will be cheaper than the iPhone. Smartphones are expected to be released once a year.

In addition to smartphones, the new company will sell mobile devices, wearable electronics, hardware solutions for artificial intelligence and communication devices. There will also be software development.

By the way, earlier the Chinese car manufacturer Geely acquired Meizu to also enter the mobile electronics market.