On October 17, the 2024 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICV 2024), co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Transport (MOT), and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, opened in Beijing E-Town. Currently, countries around the world are vigorously advancing the intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) industry, propelling it into the “fast lane” of tremendous achievements. A highlight of this conference was the inaugural release of the “Global Top 10 ICVs Breakthroughs”, a significant achievement in the field.

Commissioned by the conference, theChina Society of Automotive Engineers (China-SAE) has mobilized over 200 experts worldwide to engage in the effort. Since this August, through a process of global collection and nominations, expert reviews and recommendations, and conference deliberations, a total of 10 remarkable breakthroughs have been selected from representative results over the past 5 to 10 years. These breakthroughs, recognized for their significance in policy and regulation, market-oriented application, and technological innovation, aim to summarize the industry’s accomplishments, build consensus, and pioneer technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

Breakthrough 1: Large Model-based AI Technology Achieved Breakthroughs

Large model training methods, such as imitation learning and reinforcement learning, have expanded the ODD and facilitated the rapid deployment of ICVs. Major automakers have effectively integrated large model technology in areas such as perception, planning, and control, with several achieving full stack and end-to-end intelligent driving capabilities.

The application of large models in intelligent cockpits fosters more natural and intelligent multimodal interactions, enabling more proactive and convenient scenario-based services.

Breakthrough 2: Integration of Intelligence and Connectivity Becomes a Key Technical Route

China is actively piloting “vehicle-road-cloud integration”, with 20 pilot cities launching large-scale construction and applications. The US has launched the Saving Lives with Connectivity: A Plan to Accelerate V2X Deployment, setting goals for vehicle and infrastructure deployment. The EU has released the Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility Roadmap, which outlined top-level development plans for V2X to accelerate its large-scale deployment.

Breakthrough 3: Centralized Computing Architecture Enters Industrial Application

The centralized computing vehicle electronic and electrical architectures havebeen applied across the industry, with various enterprises successively introducing centralized computing platforms. The automotive operating system hasdeveloped a multi-core distributed and heterogeneous fusion architecture, supporting hierarchical decoupling for hardware and software and the integration and collaboration of multiple domains. High-performance computing chips are being applied, with single-vehicle computing power reaching 1,000 TOPS to supportthe development of the vehicle’s centralized computing.

Breakthrough 4: Intelligent Chassis Enhances Vehicle Control and Motion Safety

By leveraging intra-domain integration and cross-domain collaboration technologies, the intelligent chassis has gradually enhanced its capacity to recognize, predict, and control the interaction between wheels and the ground, as well as to manage the operating status. Major automakers have achieved continuous breakthroughs in intelligent chassis, including drive-by-wire systems and redundant reconstruction, thereby pushing safety boundaries.

Breakthrough 5: Autonomous Driving Sees Improved Safety Technology Framework

Extensive research on system safety, encompassing functional safety, cyber security, and SOTIF, has led to the development of a robust design methodology and technical standards framework. The safety requirement system for Level 3 and higher autonomous driving has been largely established, with major automakers building systematic safety protection capabilities to support the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving technologies.

Breakthrough 6: Vehicle-Cloud Closed-Loop Data Transforms Mainstream R&D Paradigm

The autonomous driving R&D paradigm has shifted from rule-driven to data-driven approaches, with data volume and capabilities to establish closed-loop data systems becoming critical to intelligent vehicles. Leveraging the vehicle-cloud closed-loop data, vehicle inference combined with cloud training has emerged as an important development model to explore data value while accelerating the iteration and evolution of models and algorithms.

Breakthrough 7: Combined Driver Assistance (L2) Achieves Large-Scale Deployment

From January to June this year, the penetration rate of new Level 2 passenger cars in China reached 55.7%, with 11.0% of new vehicles equipped with the NOA feature. In 2023, nearly one million new vehicles with the NOA feature were sold in North America.

Breakthrough 8: Level 3 and Higher ICVs Experience Accelerated R&D

Germany and Japan have completed type approval for Level 3 autonomous vehicles, while the US has granted permission for Level 3 autonomous vehicles to run on roads. In China, the first batch of nine consortia has been identified to pilot market access and on-road driving for Level 3 autonomous vehicles.

Breakthrough 9: Major Countries Made Key Advancements in Legislation

Germany has enacted theAct on Autonomous Driving, whichallows Level 4 vehicles to run on public roads; In Japan, amendments to the Road Traffic Act concerning Level 4 vehicles have officially come into effect; In the US, over 40 states have introduced or revised legislation related to autonomous vehicles; In China, the draft amendments to the Road Traffic Safety Law related to autonomous driving are currently open for public consultation.At the same time, major countriesactivelyupdate laws and regulations in such areas as cybersecurity, data security, and insurance.

Breakthrough 10: Global Efforts Accelerate the Development of Autonomous Driving Regulatory Standards

The UN/WP.29 established the GRVA and releasedtheFramework Document on Automated/Autonomous Vehicles. In 2020, three UN regulations on cybersecurity, software update, and automated lanekeeping systems(ALKS), were released.

As for international standards, theISO/TC22 issued the Report on Standardization Prospective for Automated Vehicles (RoSPAV) in 2021.

China has created an ICV standards framework, with the release of the Guideline for Developing National Internet of Vehicles (V2X) Industry Standard System (ICV).

The “Global Top 10 ICVs Breakthroughs” encapsulate the achievements of the ICV sector over the past 5 to 10 years, highlighting its development history. Looking ahead, the global ICV industry will achieve safer, more efficient, comfortable, and energy-saving mobility through ongoing collaboration and innovation, enhancing convenience in people’s travel.