Li Auto Says Its Self-Driving Tech Will Rival That Of Tesla In A Year

Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc. LI believes its self-driving system will rival those of Tesla Inc. TSLA and Huawei Technologies by next year, cnEV post reported Tuesday.

What Happened: Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, said on Weibo that all of the company’s current and future models will come with assisted driving and autonomous driving features, according to the report.

Li Auto’s autonomous driving system will be equipped with 508 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of computing power and LiDAR, the report noted.

Xiang also said that Li Auto does not charge activation fees or subscription fees for software, data services, mapping services, arithmetic hardware, and sensors.

See Also: Why Li Auto Is A 'Quality Asset' In Growing EV Space

Why It Matters: Li Auto is the first to successfully commercialize extended-range electric vehicles in China, the world’s largest EV market. The company started volume production of its first model, the Li ONE SUV, in November 2019.

Li Auto has announced the establishment of a new R&D center in Shanghai focused on EV technology development, including autonomous driving and next-generation intelligent cockpits.

See also: How to Buy Li Auto Inc. (LI) Stock

Li Auto’s Chinese peers, including Nio Inc. NIO and XPeng Inc. XPEV, are also working on developing new electric vehicle technologies such as ultra-fast charging and autonomous driving technologies, as they compete with market leader Tesla.

Xpeng, which unveiled the P5 electric sedan last week, said that vehicle will be the world's first production smart EV equipped with automotive-grade LiDAR technology. Xpeng recently confirmed it is exploring making its own dedicated chips for autonomous driving.

Price Action: Li Auto shares closed almost 0.5% lower in Tuesday’s trading at $19.16.

Click here to check out Benzinga's EV Hub for the latest electric vehicles news