In a video, a test vehicle performs fully unmanned autonomous driving on snow and ice, as well as autonomous drifting, a performance Geely said is comparable to that of a professional race car driver.

(Image credit: Geely)

At a time when some people are still skeptical about assisted driving, Geely Auto says its technology is capable of driverless drifting.

Geely demonstrated the technology in a Weibo video today, calling it "the world's first driverless drifting technology."

 

In the video, a test vehicle performs fully unmanned autonomous driving and autonomous drifting on snow and ice, a performance Geely said is comparable to that of a professional race car driver.

The driverless drifting is an important part of Geely's AI digital chassis technology, demonstrating Geely's cross-domain fusion capabilities in the areas of AI large model, digital chassis, and intelligent driving, the company said.

With the help of the perception large model algorithm, which is highly integrated with software and hardware capabilities, the system can sense and predict the state of the vehicle in real time like a professional driver, Geely said.

Meanwhile, the steer-by-wire system, which supports millisecond-level adjustments, realizes precise control of drift direction, the company said.

In addition, wheelside motors with refined torque vectoring control provide real-time power distribution for drifting, thus allowing for more precise vehicle handling, it said.

With this technology, basic capabilities, including crab walk and tank turn, can be easily realized, Geely said.

So what does the technology mean for the average consumer?

"Smart electric vehicles based on the driverless drifting technology can give users a higher level of safety with intelligent safety assistance, such as more powerful active avoidance and active braking," Geely said.

Additionally, the technology helps the vehicle to stabilize in the event of a tailback, provide drift assistance in stationary locations, and drift to avoid obstacles in extreme traffic conditions, it said.

Completion of the driverless drift technology test means Geely has achieved global leadership in smart safety and AI digital chassis, it said.

Geely's Xingrui AI large model not only draws pictures and do voice conversations, but also can be used for safety and smart driving, it said.

Geely will accelerate the use of high-end new energy technologies, including the AI digital chassis, in Lynk & Co, Geely Galaxy's products to deliver a safe mobility experience that exceeds expectations for mainstream users, it said.

This is the first public display of technological muscle in the past few years by Geely, which has kept a relatively low profile despite being one of China's largest private automakers.

With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, the rise of local carmakers has brought up many technological innovations that are different from those of traditional fuel carmakers.

BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) demonstrated a range of technological capabilities last year, including e⁴ technology, which supports crab walk and tank turn, and DiSus, an intelligent body control system.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) unveiled its executive flagship sedan, the ET9, in December of last year, featuring many of the latest technologies, including the SkyRide intelligent chassis system.

The company has demonstrated SkyRide's capabilities several times over the past few months, including getting snow to fall by shaking the body dramatically.

On March 18, IM Motors, the EV arm of SAIC Motor Corp, took to Weibo to showcase its VMC (Vehicle Motion Control) smart digital chassis technology, which gives vehicles the ability to crab-walk.

Nio showcases ET9's SkyRide chassis system's capabilities during winter test