Tele company Huawei makes a car

A PARTNERSHIP with Chinese electronics and telecommunications business Huawei has led to the launch in China of a luxury car from a JAC Automotive sub-brand.

The car, called the Maextro S800, has already drawn intense interest in its domestic market and features on global videos that highlight its party trick of crab walking.

To push the buttons of Mercedes-Benz, clearly seen as a rival for the new car, Huawei-JAC shows the video of the new model using its active suspension and four-wheel steering to change lanes around two rows of Maybachs.

JAC took over the partnership with Huawei after the departure of previous partner car-maker Nio. JAC also previously built some vehicle models for Nio but has pulled out of that venture.

JAC global vice general manager, David Zhang, told GoAutoNews while at the Melbourne Motor Show that the Maextro was not being considered for Australia.

He indicated it was a premium product and saw its market in China, the US and Europe, particularly as it was likely to be only built in left-hand drive.

He also said that he was not aware of any plans for more specific vehicles to come out of the partnership, though said Huawei continued to be involved in supplying technology to JAC.

The 5.5m long S800 is powered by three electric motors made by Huawei, and loaded with Huawei’s electronics technology including L3 advanced driver assistance standards via its advanced intelligent driving assistance system (ADS).

The ADS has automatic parking and summoning with customised parking options. Much of the ADS centres on four LiDAR sensors which Huawei has publicly claimed increased perception distance by 60 per cent in low-visibility weather conditions to reduce reaction time by 40 per cent.

It also uses AI to improve recognition of road conditions and adjust the headlights, steering and suspension, while increasing the response time to read road environments.

Mechanically, the S800 has active suspension and rear-wheel steering with an angle of up to 16 degrees. It has Huawei's Xmotion body control system to react to road bumps in advance, and reduces body roll, lift, and dive in conjunction with the rear-wheel steering.

The rear-wheel steering system allows the 5.5m long car to have a turning circle of only 10.1m – although it has a ‘special mode’ for a 7.6m circle – and allows for crab walking at 16 degrees.

Huawei’s input also extends to the connectivity system which can switch networks and preload maps based on predicted signal strength. It also has a satellite communication system that extends network signals up to 30m from the car.