China launches first BeiDou car that doesn't probe American GPS system for navigation
One of the top automakers in China has released the first mass-market passenger vehicle that doesn't probe the US-based Global Positioning System (GPS) to navigate.
Instead, Dongfeng's Sky EV01 SUV uses only China's homebrew BeiDou positioning system that currently employs more satellites than GPS, and allows two-way communication with them.
China is thus becoming one of the four entities that can offer independent navigation to its consumer businesses on a mass manufacturing scale. The Sky EV01 is a midrange electric SUV that starts from the equivalent of just $16,700 in China, and is by no means a premium model.
Still, the BeiDou navigation system that it uses exclusively, allows navigating hard to reach places with little traditional coverage, but also a two-way communications system in the event of an emergency when out in the boondocks.
Dongfeng Motor has deeply implemented the "BeiDou+" strategy, building a solid defense for vehicle information security from the underlying technology level. This effectively resists potential data risks from external systems, creating a reliable, controllable, and safe mobile space for operating vehicles and users, and promoting China's intelligent vehicles from "functional integration" to a new stage of "safety and autonomy".
Dongfeng claims that the BeiDou system integrated in the Sky EV01 achieves end-to-end user privacy - from the positioning chip to the system computer - so that the SUV's passengers can enjoy a fully localized storage of key data like the destination or the vehicle's whereabouts that is not beholden to the American GPS, or any other foreign navigation system.
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