A second Chinese electric carmaker has launched a vehicle with Huawei’s 5G HiCar system. On Sunday, BYD launched the Han EV. The new car will be equipped with 5G and run on Huawei’s software for cars that’s based on its HarmonyOS operating system introduced last August.
The simplest scenario for using 5G in a car is for entertainment or navigation. With its own internet connection, the vehicle doesn’t need to connect to your phone to download your favorite podcasts or connect to Google Maps (or perhaps Baidu Maps in this case).
But Huawei has more 5G plans for the auto industry. The company has been leveraging its 5G expertise to develop autonomous driving technology. This includes testing C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) systems in China and overseas, enabling vehicles to communicate with each other and road infrastructure. Huawei also disclosed new autonomous vehicle-related patents last week, according to enterprise repository Tianyancha.
Huawei announced in May that it would be working with 18 auto companies on 5G-connected cars in China. The partnerships include big names like FAW and SAIC. SAIC was the first to release a vehicle running the HiCar system with its Baojun RC-6 last December.
This article was first published by Abacus.