NIO entered into a strategic partnership with Tencent, its largest institutional shareholder, to leverage the tech giant’s resources to boost autonomous driving technology development, according to CnEVPost.
In a press release, the tech giant said the two would deeply collaborate in smart driving maps, autonomous driving cloud, and digital eco-community to back NIO’s autonomous driving technology development and user experience innovation.
In addition to witnessing the NIO facility’s opening, CEO William Li’s main purpose for coming to Guangdong was maybe for the Tencent partnership.
NIO’s largest shareholder
For a background, Tencent is NIO’s largest institutional shareholder, holding 9.8% of NIO shares, second to the 9.9% of the company’s founding team, according to the EV company’s Hong Kong IPO prospectus in late February.
The tech giant says that Tencent Cloud will back the huge data storage, computing, and model training required to take NIO’s self-driving technology from development to operation.
Integrated hybrid cloud infrastructure
NIO will collaborate with Tencent Cloud to make an integrated hybrid cloud infrastructure for the smart car sector to meet the automaker’s diversified business development requirements and offer efficient, secure, open, and stable platform services.
In addition, Tencent will offer different computing engine support to aid NIO in further tapping the value of data and boosting autonomous driving R&D and applications, according to its press release.
Tencent to support EB-scale autonomous driving data storage
In addition, Tencent Cloud could support NIO’s EB-scale autonomous driving data storage at trillion file sizes with up to 100W QPS access efficiency.
Tencent says this will significantly lessen algorithm development’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and enhance R&D efficiency.
The company states it will offer capabilities, including intelligent driving maps, to help NIO make an enjoyable and reassuring pilot-assisted driving experience.
Specifically, Tencent will aid NIO in achieving a human-vehicle co-driving experience that seamlessly integrates high-precision navigation and standard navigation through a map data system, including high-precision maps, lane-level maps, and standard maps.
Intelligent service networks
Furthermore, the two parties are exploring intelligent service networks based on location services and Internet ecology, like next-generation power-up map navigation, to intelligently plan replenishment plans for car owners based on real-time range conditions.
“Tencent is an important partner of NIO, and the two are deeply cooperating in core technologies including intelligent cockpit applications and autonomous driving, which will provide users with a product experience beyond expectations,” said Li.
Notably, Li mentioned in an analyst call after NIO announced its Q1 earnings on June 9 that the high-precision map the electric vehicle maker will employ is based on an in-house research perspective built in collaboration with Tencent.
Improvements in the assisted driving system
In the last two months, NIO saw significant improvements in the capabilities of its assisted driving system, with multiple improvements in contrast to the first-generation system, Li said.
Moreover, NIO had planned to begin pushing the NOP+ assisted driving software to owners by Q3 at the latest. However, it is yet to become a reality.
Li stated during the new NIO House opening ceremony in Dongguan on November 27 that NOP+ should be released in Q4.
“NIO will respect basic principles for the software’s launch, including whether it has met delivery standards, and considerations for factors including safety and experience,”
Li said he “drove an ET5 equipped with NOP+ from Shanghai to Hefei in November and the overall experience was OK.”
