Either divinely inspired or delightfully presumptuous, Chinese automotive giant BYD has unveiled its newest creation: the “God’s Eye” autonomous driving system. And unlike its celestial namesake, this omniscient observer comes with a surprisingly earthly price tag.
In what could be described as a automotive revelation, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu announced that the company plans to bestow this divine vision upon 21 different vehicle models, including the modestly priced Seagull at just CNY69,800 (US$9,555) – a figure that would make other automakers’ premium autonomous systems weep.
A Trinity of Technical Enlightenment
The system comes in three heavenly tiers:
- God’s Eye A (DiPilot 600): The holy grail version with triple LiDAR, reserved for the prestigious Yangwang models
- God’s Eye B (DiPilot 300): A single LiDAR version for the more terrestrial premium brands
- God’s Eye C (DiPilot 100): The people’s champion with a triple-camera vision solution
“This year will be the first of intelligent driving for everybody,” proclaimed Chuanfu, suggesting that autonomous driving will become as essential as seatbelts and airbags within three years. No pressure, human drivers.
Divine Intelligence Meets Mortal Engineering
The system isn’t just running on faith – it’s powered by BYD’s self-developed chips and algorithmic architecture, with a little help from earthly partners like Nvidia and Horizon Robotics. The company has also integrated DeepSeek’s large language model, presumably to help vehicles understand both traffic signals and drivers’ prayers.
Market statistics suggest BYD’s prophecy might be onto something. The automotive LiDAR market in China has witnessed a miraculous multiplication, with installations exceeding 1.5 million units in 2024 – more than doubling from the previous year.
The Numbers Speak Volumes
BYD’s track record lends credence to their ambitious vision – in 2024, they delivered over 4 million intelligent driving-equipped vehicles, leading the domestic market. The company’s partnership with Hesai Technology, a global LiDAR producer, is set to expand with more than 10 new LiDAR-equipped models entering mass production in 2025.
As autonomous driving technology descends from its premium perch to become accessible to the masses, BYD’s God’s Eye system might just be the divine intervention the automotive industry needs. Whether it truly delivers celestial-level performance remains to be seen, but one thing’s certain – the future of driving is looking increasingly automated, and surprisingly affordable.
2 Responses
Interesting story, Dave. I’ve always been sceptical about autonomous driving in New Zealand, for a number of reasons. One of the big ones is ambient light. New Zealand and Canada share an issue of the sun being low on the horizon morning and evening, and this makes it difficult for systems to read or interpret traffic signs. I was involved in a project that was trying to interpret traffic signs from a mapping car as it drove around New Zealand, and it was often tough. Other issues are many winding roads with poor road markings, in particular making it difficult to see, especially when it is raining, where the edge of the road is. I look forward to seeing companies like BYD trial autonomous driving in NZ under those conditions.
Thanks for the comments, yeah like you we’re interested to see just how far this technology will go (and also its limitations). Maybe it will be introduced like Ford’s Blue Cruise, so areas that have been tried and tested to work (long easy straights). Funny to be living in a world that doesn’t want to drive cars…