Some of the Things This Chinese Smart SUV Can Do Should Get Tesla Worried

Today's example of exciting electric-vehicle-stuff-not-made-by-Tesla comes from all the way in China. It's there where at the end of last week the country's largest carmaker, Geely, showed the world the JiYUE 01.

Geely is used to making electric vehicles, and the JiYUE is exactly that. It is to be offered in either single or dual-motor configurations. No matter which version customers choose, every single one of the car's electric motors is capable of delivering 268 hp.

That means the dual-motor, all-wheel drive Max Performance version should be capable of delivering 536 hp, enough for a naught to sixty-two mph acceleration time of 3.8 seconds.

There will also be two battery options on the table, 71.4 kWh and 100 kWh, ensuring ranges of up to 550 km (342 miles) and 720 km (447 km), respectively. That's as per measurements conducted under the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle. The batteries can be charged to 80 percent capacity in just 30 minutes, when fast-charging is used.

Granted, all of the above kind of depicts an average electric vehicle, one Teslas would have no problem eating for breakfast. And that would probably have been the case, if it weren't for the things this car is capable of in other departments.

Tesla has always taken great pride in making smart, autonomous vehicles. The things the JiYUE 01 claims to be capable of getting the Americans worried.

The car is described by Geely as its first AI-powered robocar. That's because it is the world's first production vehicle to use the Baudi-made Apollo suite of autonomous driving solutions. If you don't know what that is, it's enough for us to tell you that's Level 4 - there is no need for human input in specific environments.

Baidu is one of the world's largest producers of AI systems, and it introduced the Apollo (or Apolong) back in 2017. It relies on Qualcomm 8295 vehicle cockpit chips, NVIDIA DRIVE Orin chips, 11 high-definition cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, and millimeter radars to make its way to wherever it needs to go.

The system is capable of performing a variety of actions, including lane changing, overtaking, maneuvering on and off highway ramps, and avoiding obstacles on multi-lane roads. In more crowded environments, it can identify crossing areas and traffic lights and give way to pedestrians if need be.

All the other technologies that have become commonplace in today's vehicles (stuff like collision warning, cruise control, and lane departure warning) are also included in the package.

In itself, those are not unheard-of things, so nothing really impressive there. But what comes next might just get Tesla and the others thinking.

Geely hails the JiYUE as the "world's first model to support voice-activated/controlled parking while outside the vehicle." More specifically, using a smartphone and the valet parking function owners can request by voice that the car park itself, even when the ones giving the commands are some two km (1.2 miles) away from where all the action is taking place.

At the time of writing the feature is supported on 90 percent of China's highways, but in only three major cities: Hangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. By the end of next year, though, voice-activated self-park, along with all the other autonomous features, should become available in over 200 of the country's urban centers.

You all know how over the years electric cars have raised all sorts of issues for their owners, from impromptu fires to the doors staying locked when a sudden loss of power occurred. Those are not things that will happen in the JiYUE, if we are to trust it maker.

That's because the vehicle has been fitted with an independent power supply for the doors, something that is too hailed as a first in the industry. This system should ensure the vehicle stays unlocked and allows its passengers to remove themselves in case of danger, regardless of what happens to the main power.

Another new feature the car brings to the industry is a new AI assistant. It's called SIMO, and it's needed especially because most of the buttons you usually get in a vehicle are gone. This is the first time the Baidu-made assistant is deployed in a vehicle.

The thing is supposed to be highly capable, offering 500 ms speech recognition speed, four-way simultaneous conversations, and even continuous chit-chats. It responds not only to voice commands but to some degree even to gestures and other visual cues.

Geely says all of the above will become commonplace on Chinese roads after the vehicle's launch, but it doesn't go as far as to say when that will be. It will however make it onto the market, with all those insane capabilities, and it will be followed by a second machine, equally as pontent, that's yet to be announced.