Not only does CES become a car show, driverless technology also wants to subvert the world

115 exhibitors from the automotive technology industry; Ford, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota and other automotive industry big names gathered; concept cars were displayed in an endless stream; 464 automotive-related manufacturers came to disrupt the market; dozens of new car product launches were held every day...

Looking at these data and the momentum, you would definitely think that we are about to introduce a world-class auto show, but in fact all of this happened at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

That’s right, in addition to the traditional display of new electronic products, automotive technology with autonomous driving and electric vehicles as the main direction has quietly become the highlight of this year’s CES.

Automotive technology disrupts 2016 CES

At the 2016 CES, the automotive industry set new records in terms of exhibition scale, number of exhibitors, and new product displays. The reason for this is simple: autonomous driving technology and new energy vehicles are merging with the technology world at an unprecedented speed.

This year, Volkswagen launched the new Budd-e pure electric concept car and e-Golf Touch concept car; BMW exhibited the new generation i8 Spyder concept sports car, equipped with the latest human-computer interaction technology; Audi showed a new self-driving concept car, similar to the previous Prologue concept car; Toyota also exhibited a new automatic map drawing system at CES to prepare for the early realization of self-driving. What attracted more attention was that LeTV and Faraday Future, an American start-up electric car company, jointly launched their first product - FFZERO1 electric super concept sports car. Both parties announced that they will jointly create interconnected intelligent transportation tools and travel methods in the future.

Obviously, CES has become a new stage for global automakers to show off their skills. Chevrolet promotion manager Michelle Mahon believes that the reason why CES is favored by automakers is mainly because it attracts 150,000 participants, which is more than the total number of participants in all auto shows. Mahon said, "We are technology leaders and trend masters, and the audience of CES is diverse, which is just right for us. These people are exactly the people we want to communicate with more." It is the common wish of major automakers to get more attention from consumers and people in the technology industry.

In fact, it is not only professional car brands that are making a fuss about cars. Even Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Microsoft also hope to make some breakthroughs in the automotive industry. This time, graphics card giant Nvidia launched the digital cockpit computer Drive CX and the car autonomous driving computing platform Drive PX. The former is a fully digital car computing suite, and the latter uses two Tegra chips to process videos from 12 car cameras to achieve autonomous driving. Microsoft released a software called Office 365, which will be integrated into the vehicle's information system, allowing drivers to handle some business matters while driving safely. In addition, Qualcomm also launched a new car chip Xiaolong 602A in cooperation with Audi.

The increasingly close cooperation between the IT industry and the automotive industry also shows that automotive intelligence, networking, new energy, and electrification have become the mainstream of future development. Technology giants who are accustomed to early layout in cutting-edge technology are unwilling to miss out on this new treasure of automotive electronics.

Is autonomous driving the next technological product that will revolutionize the world?

Some people point out that the automotive industry is in the midst of three intertwined technological changes: new power technology, information and data-related vehicle networking technology, and on-demand ride services using driverless car technology. Among these, the most popular in the technology industry is undoubtedly the autonomous driving technology under the vehicle networking, which is often referred to as driverless cars.

At the World Internet Conference that just ended, when President Xi Jinping inspected the Light of Internet Expo, Baidu CEO Robin Li introduced Baidu's driverless car to Xi Jinping, and the President stayed at the Baidu booth for more than 10 minutes, three times longer than the original time. The degree of independent research and development, the speed, the cost, and when mass production will be possible are the issues that President Xi Jinping is more concerned about. The attention from the national official means the importance of autonomous driving technology to the development of the automotive industry.

Will autonomous driving become the next disruptive technology product? Obviously, if it is really mass-produced and used by civilians, driverless cars will definitely change the world, but in fact, driverless cars are not yet ready to be put on the road.

"The United States was built on cars and oil - it will take some time for cultural transformation to put electric self-driving cars on the road," said analyst Regina Joseph. This is because it requires a qualitative leap in consumer trust. "Driving is a culture, and there is a deep sense of experience associated with it. Cultural appeals are difficult to achieve, both politically and for consumers, because you have to deal with a lot of moral values." Joseph said that it will take 20 years to introduce driverless cars and eliminate traditional vehicles, rather than the last five years.

Traditional car manufacturers vs. Google

In terms of autonomous driving technology, the technology company Google is at the forefront and currently has the largest number of driverless cars. According to media reports in November 2015, Google already has 53 driverless cars, including Google's experimental vehicles modified from Lexus SUVs and Google's own autonomous driving prototypes. Google's goal is to change people's transportation methods in the next five years.

Traditional car manufacturers disagree on this point. Not announcing it does not mean that they do not value autonomous driving technology. It is reported that brands such as Audi, BMW, and Toyota are stepping up the research and development of driverless cars, but their attitude is more conservative. The head of Audi's driver assistance system and overall safety said: "We call this process an evolutionary revolution. We will do it step by step and add more functions and more uses to the system." Fully autonomous driving "will not be like what Google claims, where you can go out and get in a driverless car without a steering wheel and go to the company directly."

As analyzed above, if driverless cars are to be used for civilian purposes, it will not be as simple as simply replacing vehicles. The use of driverless cars on the road will also involve highway reconstruction, changes in national supporting laws and regulations, changes in insurance companies' corresponding products, social security and supervision, employment structure, and even ethics and the development of hacking and anti-hacking technology.

From these perspectives, traditional car manufacturers have a much more comprehensive strategy than Google's all-in-one approach. Car manufacturers are more willing to transmit autonomous driving technology to consumers and relevant departments bit by bit from the outside. "Acceptance" is more realistic than coming up with a revolutionary product all at once. This is also the biggest gain for car manufacturers participating in CES. At the very least, they want to let consumers know what they are doing first.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.