The vast majority of China's autonomous driving solutions use LiDAR, in contrast to Tesla's attitude. In the view of the supplier who provides this component to Nio, it is the key for Chinese car companies to outperform Tesla.

Bao Junwei, CEO of Innovusion, the LiDAR supplier for Nio ET7, said that Tesla started the earliest and has the best layout in the smart car field. If other car companies start and compete with it in vision algorithms and chips at this time, they will definitely not be able to match it.

However, in the field of LiDAR, Tesla does not have the advantage gained by early layout. This technology is providing another dimension in the competition, making it possible for other car companies to surpass Tesla, Bao said in an article published by the company.

Nio's flagship sedan ET7, released earlier in the year, is equipped with a number of advanced technologies, LiDAR being one of them, and its supplier is Innovusion, founded in 2016.

(Photo source: CnEVPost)

Bao said in early June that the LiDAR developed by Innovusion and Nio will be a "high-performance product" with a 120-degree ultra-wide viewing angle and ultra-high resolution that can detect distances of up to 500 meters.

LiDAR for production vehicles is not for show, but is a high-performance product that responds to the needs of L3 and L4 autonomous driving, and is a reliable complement to L2 autonomous driving, he said.

"LiDAR works with other sensors to ensure the safety and reliability of autonomous driving," he said.

Bao said last month that the trend toward widespread use of LiDAR is just beginning. "If we draw an analogy with smartphones, this is the eve of the smartphone explosion, like in 2006," he said.

In the article published Tuesday by Innovusion, Bao said Nio is not directly procuring the company's LiDAR, but is coordinating with it throughout the development process in terms of funding as well as resources.