Amid the accelerating distribution of self-driving vehicles worldwide, China’s Big Tech Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has proposed to increase smart car-related content in future driver’s license tests.
According to the Chinese media Observer Network, CEO Ray, the representative of the National People’s Congress, made a proposal on the joint construction of a traffic safety and civilization system in the era of smart cars ahead of the opening of the National People’s Congress the next day.
In China, related technologies have been rapidly applied, with the penetration rate of new car driving assistance systems exceeding 60% as of January to July last year, but existing driving education is not keeping up with the new technologies of smart cars.
CEO Ray said, “Let’s speed up the establishment of standards for car intelligence technology and improve car driver’s license test items. Let’s expand the test items to the area of intelligence and gradually increase the proportion of smart car-related content in the test.”
Through this, the driver will be equipped with the concept of safe driving related to ‘cooperation between humans and machines’.
Regarding the traffic safety system, he said, “Let’s put ‘the act of taking your hands or eyes off’ in the level 2 (partial automation) driving assistance system and clarify safety standards for levels 3 to 4 as soon as possible.”
CEO Ray also proposed that China’s smart car sector be officially incorporated into the ‘National First-class Science List’ to foster talent, saying that China’s combined talent is about 1 million short in the ‘smart, connected, and new energy vehicles’.
Xiaomi, a well-known electronics company, launched its first EV model SU7 in March 2024 after announcing its entry into the EV market in 2021. The SU7 sold more than the Tesla Model 3 in the Chinese market last year.
Xiaomi also announced that it will invest 200 billion yuan over the next five years in R&D of science and technology, including smart cars and humanoid robots.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
