BYD to take on Tesla’s Autopilot with new driver-assist software – report
The competition between the world’s largest EV makers is about to heat up. According to a new report, BYD is set to unveil a new advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) later this year that will rival Tesla’s Autopilot.
While Tesla delivered another record 422,875 vehicles in the first quarter, maintaining its hold on the US EV market, BYD continued its dominance in China.
BYD delivered 264,664 fully electric models in the first three months of the year, overtaking Volkswagen in passenger car sales to become China’s best-selling brand.
The competition between the two is about to go beyond hardware. A new report from HiEV Research Institute, a Chinese think tank, has learned BYD will roll out its new high-speed navigation-assisted driving function (NOA), called DNP, in the third quarter of the year.
According to Car News China, the first electric model to feature the software will be the upcoming 2023 Han premium EV sedan, set to launch in Q4. BYD’s new ADAS will also be featured in its upcoming premium F brand, including an electric pickup and electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon SUV competitor.
Functionally speaking, the new software will support assisted driving on highways and may be upgraded to include assisted driving capabilities on some urban streets.
BYD intensifies competition with Tesla with new ADAS
BYD competes with Tesla head-on in a rapidly expanding Chinese EV market. Although the two are often compared to one another, they are two very different companies with a common mission – to advance EV adoption and reduce emissions from passenger vehicles.
BYD, initially a battery maker that later became an automotive manufacturer, has evolved its business to produce affordable EVs. On the other hand, Tesla has focused on the software side of things with self-driving tech, including Full Self Driving (FSD) and Autopilot.
The HiEV report suggests BYD aims for assisted highway driving, which would indicate the tech will compete against Tesla’s Autopilot and Chinese EV maker XPeng’s new ‘XNGP’ ADAS.
Electrek’s Take
After seeing automakers like Tesla and other EV makers in China drastically improve margins with software solutions such as ADAS, BYD is set to follow suit.
BYD isn’t the only automaker chasing software revenue. GM revealed its GM Envolve fleet solutions, and Porsche announced a new partnership with Mobileye this week. Ford’s CEO Jim Farley also stressed this idea on the company’s Q1 earnings call, saying buyers in China are no longer just attracted to traditional luxury brands or hardware design at all.
Instead, the best brands are offering software-defined experiences.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
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Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
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