Experts attending the Longzhong Forum on Wednesday emphasized the significance of building an integrated “vehicle-energy-infrastructure-cloud” industrial ecosystem as a pivotal direction for advancing the next phase of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China. This development is expected to stimulate extensive cross-industry collaboration and contribute to China’s economic advancement.
The concept of this ecosystem revolves around the integration of new energy vehicles, new energy industries, intelligent road infrastructure, and cloud computing technology. In early June, China’s State Council designated the creation of an industrial ecosystem for the integrated development of vehicle-energy-infrastructure-cloud as a national strategic priority.
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Ouyang Minggao, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, highlighted the vibrant nature of China’s NEV sector, even in the face of economic challenges. He underscored its pivotal role domestically and in exports, emphasizing that this integration would not only bolster the NEV sector but also act as a catalyst for China’s new economy. This would particularly benefit trillion-dollar industries like energy storage, hydrogen, intelligence, and full transportation electrification, which hold immense development potential.
Zhang Yongwei, vice-president of the automotive think tank China EV 100, noted the two main technological approaches in autonomous driving: standalone vehicle intelligence and vehicle-infrastructure coordination. As the industry evolves, it has become increasingly evident that these approaches are complementary rather than competing.
Automakers’ representatives also echoed these sentiments, sharing practical experiences and recommendations. Zhang Ying, head of the intelligent transportation project at Great Wall Motor, emphasized their significant investments in vehicle-to-everything technology. Based on their experiences, the development of intelligent connected vehicles will require a collaborative approach to achieve higher levels of autonomous driving. Zhang suggested that the government should lead in promoting such collaborative efforts and establish management and operation platforms for intelligent driving.
Hao Jinlong, chief engineer of intelligent vehicle cloud services and data engineering at Changan Technology, highlighted the challenge of effectively reusing massive amounts of data faced by companies working on autonomous driving. He proposed that the government could play a crucial role in facilitating collaboration among different demonstration zones, thereby reducing future development costs through resource sharing.
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Over the past two years, 16 Chinese cities have participated in coordinated development pilot projects for smart city infrastructure and intelligent connected vehicles, achieving significant progress in urban digital infrastructure construction and testing autonomous vehicle application scenarios.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially designated Xiangyang as a national pilot area for vehicle-to-everything technology. A local official stated that the city aims to drive the growth of electric, intelligent, and connected vehicles, accelerating the integration of a vehicle-energy-infrastructure-cloud ecosystem. This initiative aims to establish a 50-billion-yuan smart connected vehicle industry and a 100-billion-yuan new energy and materials industry.
