The Trend of Advanced Autonomous Driving: SoC Becomes the Golden Pathway

The following is a 5000-wordhumorous analysis version of the report “The Trend of Advanced Autonomous Driving: SoC Becomes the Golden Pathway”, deconstructing the hardcore industry with jokes. Please read with caution:

1. Automotive Electronic Architecture: From “Scattered Jiangsu” to “Yangtze River Delta Integration”

The report states that the automotive electronic architecture is shifting fromdistributed (ECUs everywhere) tocentralized (domain controllers reigning supreme), just like:

• Traditional Distributed: A car with over 100 ECUs, comparable to “Jiangsu’s thirteen protectors acting independently”, with wiring harnesses longer than Lanzhou noodles, during OTA upgrades they blame each other: “Why wasn’t I included in this upgrade? Watch me crash!”
• Centralized Domain Control: The two factions of Bosch and Tesla are fighting, Bosch uses a “five-domain feudal system” (power domain, chassis domain…), while Tesla employs a “centralized system” (CCM central brain + regional subordinates). Audi A8 was the first to take the plunge, but the zFAS domain controller used chips from four different companies, criticized as the “UN peacekeeping force”—Mobileye watches the road, NVIDIA handles graphics, Infineon acts as security, and Intel mediates.

Summary: The transformation of traditional car manufacturers is like an old noble learning to dance—Volkswagen’s MEB platform almost strained its back with the “three-domain merger”, while BMW and Mercedes’ architecture names are longer than WeChat IDs (DRS/STAR3), only Tesla’s Model 3 pulled out the “central + regional” architecture, declaring: “Everyone else is trash.”

2. Autonomous Driving SoC: The “Brain Platinum” of Car Manufacturers, NVIDIA and Horizon’s “Money Printing Machine”

1. What is SoC?

• Not the “boba” in milk tea (Soc), but theInfinity Gauntlet of the intelligent driving chip world! The CPU is Iron Man (logic responsibility), the GPU is the Hulk (brute force computing), the NPU is Doctor Strange (AI mysticism), and then inlaid with ISP (Eagle Eye vision), MCU (Captain America’s shield), and other infinite gems.
• There are three technical routes:· NVIDIA: The “CPU + GPU + ASIC” luxury package, the Orin chip has a computing power of 254 TOPS, priced enough to buy five Wuling Hongguang.· Horizon: The “CPU + BPU” cost-effective combination, the Journey 5 has a computing power of 128 TOPS, with the slogan “Let BYD use intelligent driving at cabbage prices”.· Tesla: Self-developed FSD chip, claiming “My chip only feeds my algorithm, other manufacturers? No way!”

2. Market Landscape: The Sino-US Chip “Duo”

• High-end Market (L2+ and above):NVIDIA has a market share of 31.3%, known as the “computing power arms dealer”, with clients including Xpeng, Li Auto, and NIO—like the three new forces pooling money to buy Orin, resembling college students crowdfunding for graphics cards.Tesla‘s self-developed chip ranks second but is adamant about not selling it, criticized: “So what if you have a mine?”
• Mid-low End Market (L2 and below):Horizon has a market share of 43.58%, relying on the “Journey 3 + Journey 5” combination to crush Mobileye, the secret is: “Open toolchain! Car manufacturers can modify the code, unlike some companies that provide black box lunch boxes (Mobileye)!”Renesas: The old Japanese noble, the V3H chip still uses 16nm technology, mocked: “Is your computing power enough to run Snake?”

Heartbreaking Data: By 2030, the scale of China’s intelligent driving market will reach 400 billion, but the penetration rate of L3 and above is still like Beijing’s license plate lottery—policies have loosened (Wuhan and Beijing legislation), but car manufacturers are hesitant: “You go first, I’ll follow!”

3. Car Manufacturers’ Self-developed SoC: A Tragic Experiment of “My Fate is in My Hands”

The report ruthlessly punctures the chip dreams of car manufacturers:

• Self-developed Costs: The R&D cost for a 5nm chip is 540 million USD, equivalent to burning 30,000 BYD dolphins. NIO’s Shenji chip took five years to mass produce, Li Bin lamented: “If I had known, I would have bought NVIDIA stocks…”
• Mass Production Curse: Automotive-grade chip certification is comparable to “three years of graduate school + five years of civil service exam”, Tesla’s FSD took three years from tape-out to vehicle installation, during which Musk angrily exclaimed: “It’s all the supply chain’s fault! Next time I’ll mine silicon myself!”
• Reality Check: Except for Tesla, other car manufacturers’ self-developed chip shipments are insufficient to cover costs, ultimately turning into “charging for sentiment”. Geely and Changan choosejoint ventures/investment models—Horizon’s stock price skyrocketed as a result, dubbed the “lifesaver for car manufacturers”.

Classic Complaints:“Mainframe manufacturers crossing into chip production is like a restaurant building its own pig farm—pigs aren’t fattened, and the chef runs away hungry.”“Buying third-party SoC is like spending money, self-developed SoC is gambling, while BYD chooses Horizon—this is called ‘cost-effective freebie'”.

4. 2025 Industry Magical Trend: NOA Goes Rural and End-to-End “Mysticism”

1. Urban NOA: From “First-tier City Purchase Restrictions” to “Village Connectivity”

• 2024 Status Quo: The penetration rate of models priced at 250,000-300,000 is 47.9%, but the NOA first experience for owners of cars under 100,000: “This function in my village can only recognize tractors, and it crashes when encountering donkey carts.”
• BYD Flips the Table: In 2025, it will launch the “God’s Eye C” system, with the slogan “Intelligent Driving Equality”, allowing a 70,000 yuan Seagull to also have NOA. Competitors cry: “Is this your Pinduoduo cutting mode?”
• Real Effect: Netizens predict the low-spec NOA logic—”Don’t block the way with a three-wheeled vehicle! … Forget it, you go first, I’m scared.”

2. Two “End-to-End”: Car Manufacturers’ “Quantum Fluctuation Speed Reading”

• Technical End-to-End:· Tesla/Li Auto: Engaging in “perception-decision integration”, the code’s black box level is comparable to a girl’s heart—”It crashed? I don’t know why either!”· Huawei/Xpeng: Conservatives engage in “two-stage”, with the perception layer and decision layer like divorced couples, relying on middleware to communicate: “The child (data) belongs to you, the computing power belongs to me.”
• Product End-to-End (from parking space to parking space):Function description: “You get out of the car, and the car parks itself; you go out, and the car comes to you.” Actual test results:Xiaomi SU7: Automatically passes the gate in the basement, but crashes into the security booth (misidentified as “can pass through obstacles”).Wenjie M9: Claims to be able to drive nationwide, but the owner was scared into a meme at the 3D magical interchange in Chongqing: “Navigation has fainted, please fend for yourself.”

Expert Sharp Comments:“End-to-end is like a pie drawn by the boss—theoretically fully automatic, but practically fully manual.”“The parking space to parking space function made driving school instructors change careers overnight to sell insurance.”

5. SoC Manufacturers’ Survival Guide: Competing in Computing Power is Not as Good as Competing in “Sycophancy Power”

The report reveals the core competitiveness of SoC manufacturers:

1. Cost-Effectiveness of Computing Power:NVIDIA’s Thor chip has a computing power of 2000 TOPS, with a power consumption of 280W, mocked: “Is this a vehicle chip or a microwave oven?”Horizon’s J6E has a computing power of 80 TOPS at a bargain price, car manufacturers are ecstatic: “Isn’t this wool worth shearing?”
2. Sycophancy Power:

• NVIDIA collaborates with Momenta for solutions, resembling “the top student pairing with the class representative, monopolizing all assignments”.
• Horizon slips Bosch some private money (Journey 6B), Bosch’s MPC4 integrated machine instantly becomes a “Horizon spokesperson”.

1. Mystical Optimization Power:Tesla uses its self-developed chip to increase computing power utilization by 21 times, the secret is—”Cutting out the middleman (driver layer) of general-purpose chips!” Horizon disagrees, pulling out the “FPS frame rate detection” method: “Our chip runs algorithms faster than Bolt after taking laxatives!”

Black Sesame Intelligent’s Divine Operation:The Huashan A1000 chip has a computing power of only 58 TOPS, yet relies on the “Shan Hai toolchain” to fool car manufacturers: “Our algorithm optimization is good, low computing power can also run high-end!”—similar to a gym selling: “Your figure (chip) can still be saved with some training (parameter tuning)!”

6. Investment Advice: Bottom Fishing or House Raiding?

The report finally transforms into a “stock market oracle”:

• Strong Buy:NVIDIA (the Apple of computing power)—the client list is longer than the Spring Festival Gala, but the risk is that the “US sanctions ship” can set sail at any time.Horizon (the godfather of equality)—tied to BYD + Bosch, sales in 2025 may be hotter than a pancake stall.
• Cautious Increase:Black Sesame Intelligent: The cross-domain chip Wudang C1200 claims to be “four-in-one”, but in reality, it’s like a Swiss Army knife—can do everything, but not specialized in anything.Youjia Innovation: The intelligent cockpit system monitors passengers, with functions including “child care + heart rate detection”, netizens complain: “Is it afraid I won’t die fast enough?”

Risk Warning Translation:

• “Penetration rate lower than expected” = car manufacturers boasting and crashing
• “Competition intensifies” = NVIDIA and Horizon starting a price war
• “New stock volatility” = newly listed Youjia/Black Sesame may drop to “chives filling”

Ultimate Bold Statement

Current Situation of Car Manufacturers:

• Buying NVIDIA = a pay-to-win player: “I can get stronger just by spending money!”
• Using Horizon = the cost-effective warrior: “Saving diamonds to draw cards, graduation is inevitable!”
• Self-developing chips = hardcore punk: “My fate is in my hands… wait, where’s the money?!”

Industry Truth:

“The end of intelligent driving is insurance claims—if L3 has an accident, will the car manufacturer or the driver pay? Wuhan’s regulations say the owner pays first, then seeks reimbursement from the car manufacturer, resembling the Taobao return process.”

Conclusion:This report proves in 5000 words:The intelligent driving track is golden, but players easily faceplant. It is recommended that car manufacturers remember the eight-character motto—”Embrace third parties, self-develop within capacity”. As for consumers? Remember:“The 100,000 yuan NOA is about as effective as a fortune teller opening their third eye—believe it or not, it saves electricity.”