Apple might reportedly be in talks with various automakers as well as battery suppliers for its Project Titan autonomous EV, but it’s far from the only tech company in that race. China’s Huawei, for one, is already looking to put an autonomous vehicle in the market in the near future.
It is well known that Huawei is venturing into the automotive market and during a recent industry conference, senior executive at its smart vehicle unit, Wang Jun, revealed just how ambitious the company’s autonomous vehicle plans are.
“Our team’s goal is to reach true driverless passenger cars in 2025,” he said, Auto News Europe reports.
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Huawei revealed in April that it is investing $1 billion into research into electric vehicles and self-driving car technologies. It has forged partnerships with BAIC Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. to develop self-driving vehicles. It is understood that these vehicles will sport Huawei badging and help the company rival fellow Chinese tech giant Xiaomi that is investing $10 billion into the manufacturing of electric cars.
After Huawei’s global smartphone business was stifled by U.S. sanctions imposed on it during the Trump administration, billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei has started to expand the Huawei business into smart agriculture, health care, and electric cars.
In April, Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu claimed that the company’s engineers had already developed a semi-autonomous driving system that can work without any human intervention for up to 1,000 km (621 miles).
Huawei first ventured into the automotive industry with the launch of the Seres SF5 that it has co-developed with car manufacturer Cyrus. Deliveries of it started recently kicked off and it can be viewed at various Huawei stores across China.
Huawei Seres SF5