NIO has allowing all owners of its NT 2.0 platform vehicles to apply for a trial of its Navigate on Pilot (NOP) Plus assisted driving software. The feature was previously available to a limited number of beta testers, but now all primary users of the ET7, ET5 and ES7 vehicles can apply to receive trial access to NOP+ Beta until March 31st, 2023.
To apply, owners can sign up through the NIO App, but their vehicles’ systems need to be upgraded to Banyan 1.2.2 and above. The safety of the NOP+ Beta feature has been tested and proven over time, but there is still room to optimize the overall experience, according to an article posted by the NIO App.
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NOP+ is an advanced assisted driving feature built by NIO based on its NT 2.0 platform that enables a point-to-point assisted driving experience on highways as well as urban expressway scenarios. Its features include automatic ramp entry and exit, automatic selection of the optimal lane, and active passing of slow-moving vehicles. However, it is important to note that NOP+ is still assisted driving, not autonomous driving, so drivers need to remain aware of their driving environment and road conditions during NOP+ Beta operation to ensure safe travel.
NIO began recruiting the first testers of the feature on December 27th, 2022, although it was initially limited to 10,000 spots. The company is now opening up the trial to all eligible vehicle owners. In addition to the ES8, ES6 and EC6 models based on the NT 1.0 platform, NIO’s NT 2.0 platform includes the new ES8, ES7, EC7, ET7, and ET5.
The computing unit for the NT 1.0-based models is the EyeQ4 chip provided by Mobileye, which limits what NIO can do based on this closed chip. However, starting with the ET7, the first model of the NT 2.0 platform, NIO adopted the more open Nvidia Orin chip and started making more efforts to build its own capabilities to develop assisted driving.
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When NIO launched the ET7, the company announced an assisted driving system called NIO Autonomous Driving (NAD), which is available for all NT 2.0 platform-based models, with full functionality on a monthly subscription model. NOP+ is seen as NIO’s preparation for the launch of the NAD feature.
According to information previously announced by NIO, the service fee for the NAD feature is RMB 680 per month and will be provided gradually after the development and validation are completed. William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, said in a conference call after announcing the company’s earnings report in early June last year that NAD is developed by NIO based on the NT 2.0 platform with full-stack in-house developed technology, and the company sees the huge advantage of having closed-loop data in allowing rapid iteration of assisted driving features.
