Leshi Internet Information & Technology, also known as LeEco, just launched an all-electric concept that aspires to someday, beat Tesla at its own game.
After launching a concept model together with Faraday Future at CES2016, LeEco presented its first self-driving automobile, dubbed LeSEE Super EV, at the Beijing Motor Show. Described as a “smart connected electric vehicle” the autonomous car sports a four-door design, with fastback proportions and sloping roof, reminiscent of the Model S – although its simple aspect just maps out the final product.
According to the Chinese car manufacturer, the vehicle’s platform, battery packs and electric motors have been allegedly developed together with Faraday Future and Aston Martin, pointing out that they have filled 833 patents last year. To make everything very Tesla-like, LeEco plans to share its hardware with other companies, in order to allow a faster growth in the EV market; furthermore, the management announced the vehicle will be used to create a driverless car-sharing service.
Although the company hasn’t provided precise details on the technical side, leaving many aspects of the vehicle obscure, we know that the LeSEE has a self-parking feature and it can be summoned via the smartphone.
Either way, the company isn’t scared about the potential competition (Google and Apple), as the Jia Yueting, CEO and chairman of LeEco, was quoted saying:
“We think the difference between us and Apple is very large. Apple is a mobile phone company focused on hardware and software. LeShi [another name for LeEco] is focused on the internet first, and only then on software, and finally on hardware.”
“Apple only has individual apps. This was the right choice during the first generation of mobile net, when CPUs [central processing units] and the mobile network speeds were not fast enough,” Jia said. “However now we’re moving into the next era of mobile internet, these problems no longer exist. Moreover, having separate apps just means great obstacles in the user experience. We hope to break down these obstacles.”
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