Xiaomi’s Investment Portfolio Mapping out Key EV Technologies
Xiaomi made its name by selling very affordable smartphones with high-end features. The remarkable success can be attributed to a list of unique tactics, one of which was building a supply chain advantage through investment.
Xiaomi and its affiliates have stakes in over 400 companies according to an estimate from earlier this year. It includes suppliers & manufacturers of smartphone components as well as white-label producers of IoT devices and non-electronics offered in Xiaomi’s retail shop.
Now it seems like Xiaomi is duplicating the tactics on the battlefield of electric vehicles. It is a premature discussion whether the same strategy can boast another milestone in Xiaomi’s history. However, taking a closer look at its recent automotive investment, we did see the key technologies on an EV and the major innovations on the market.
Speaking of electric vehicles, the electric powertrain would be the first technology to mind. Among e-powertrain components, Xiaomi and its venture capital arms invested in 5 battery makers and 3 companies developing electronic control technologies.
China Aviation Lithium Battery (CALB) is a leading battery supplier in the automotive industry that rivals CATL and BYD. Founded in 2007, CALB has been engaged in the R&D and production of both LFP (lithium iron phosphate) and NCM (nickel cobalt manganese) batteries. In September of this year, the company introduced its One-Stop Battery with multiple innovations especially in terms of pack design enabling up to 1000km range, which will hit the market likely in June 2022.
SVOLT was touched briefly in an earlier post. As this month, the company launched a new short blade product category containing full sizes of short blade cells from 300mm to 600mm. It has achieved mass production of 1st generation L600 cell in October.
COSMX is a leading supplier of lithium-ion batteries in consumer electronics. Since being established in 2007, it has built supply cooperation with major electronics brands across the globe. It began to provide battery solution to electric motorcycles in 2011 and is extending to automobiles. The R&D efforts are directed towards solid-state battery and lithium-sulfur battery.
Ganfeng Lithium’s business covers the entire cycle of lithium resources from raw materials to battery recycling. The end products are widely used in electric vehicles, energy storage, consumer electronics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, etc. Ganfeng’s semi-solid-state battery product has been adopted by the new version of Dongfeng E70, a new model to be delivered soon. It is currently working on the next generation solid-state battery.
WeLion was founded in 2016 and focuses on the R&D and production of hybrid solid-liquid electrolyte lithium-ion batteries and all-solid-state lithium batteries. It is the supplier of NIO’s semi-solid-state batteries that will be equipped on ET7 enabling 1,000 km range.
Suzhou Auto Electronic Control System (AECS) supplies automotive electronic control system products to new energy vehicles (all-electric vehicles, extended range EVs, and plug-in EVs) as well as traditional vehicles. It has over 10 ongoing research projects with auto companies such as Wuling, JAC and Chery.
HiBO, established in 2019, is engaged in the R&D and manufacturing of innovative brake control products. In two years time, it has achieved mass production of electronic vacuum pump and booster products, which have been incorporated into the supply chain of OEMs like Dongfeng and JAC.
KH Automotive Technologies (KHAT) develops and produces automotive electronic control suspension (ECS) system. It is the ECS system supplier to Voyah FREE model. (Read about Voyah in More “Autonomous Vehicles” at Guangzhou Auto Show.)
When it comes to smart driving, Xiaomi holds stake in 4 companies making LiDARs, key sensors on high-level automated driving cars, and 5 companies developing ADAS/autonomous driving solutions.
Hesai’s Pandar series mechanical LiDARs are widely retrofitted on robotaxis in the US as well as in China. The company launched a new automotive-grade LiDAR product (AT128) this year that adopted a mechanical rotating mirror scanning methodology. Hesai has generated orders for AT128 from multiple auto OEMs including Li Auto, Jidu Auto, HiPhi, and Lotus.
Innovusion and RoboSense products have been detailed in LiDARs Getting on Passenger Vehicles in China. Just to add, RoboSense’s MEMS-based semi-solid state LiDARs will be equipped by upcoming models from GAC, WM Motor, IM Motor and possibly Xpeng.
Benewake is dedicated to solid-state flash LiDARs with a variety of products for different use cases. The products are widely applied in robotics and industrial scenarios while automotive is a new area being explored.
ZongMu Tech was founded in 2013. It currently offers multiple smart driving system solutions such as Auto Valet Parking (with orders from FAW Hongqi and Changan), Auto Parking Assist and ADAS. ZongMu also develops customized sensors including HD camera, 4D millimeter-wave radar and ultrasonic radar with production facilities in Xiamen and Huzhou.
Geometrical Pal (G-PAL) provides hardware and software integrated solutions for L2 to L4 smart driving. The company adopts 4D millimeter-wave imaging radars as core sensors supplemented with visual and LWIR (long wave infrared) cameras that are all proprietarily engineered and produced in house. G-PAL’s products and solutions are being tested by SAIC’s passenger and commercial vehicle models, some of which have entered mass production.
Idriverplus has been developing autonomous driving system solutions since 2015. It has commercialized the technologies in the form of outdoor sweeping robot (Woxiaobai), robodelivery van (Wobida) and most recently robotaxi (Xinji).
Momenta was established in 2016. It currently focus on two product lines: Mpilot as smart driving system for pre-equipped market and Momenta Self Driving (MSD) as full autonomous driving system being tested on robotaxi fleets. Mpilot solutions have been selected by OEMs like IM Motor, Great Wall Motor Saloon, Lutus and BYD for their new models.
Most importantly, Xiaomi has acquired DeepMotion, a company started out with HD mapping solutions and later transformed into autonomous driving solution development.
Smart cockpit, in a narrow sense, is the infotainment system behind the screen. It is similar to the software system of smartphone or smart home, where Xiaomi’s specialties kick in. Xiaomi made 1 investment in the area by far.
Pateo is a leading player with V2X related products and solutions. It has co-developed the infotainment operating systems with auto OEMs including Dongfeng Voyah, FAW Hongqi, SGMW (SAIC-GM-Wuling), Dongfeng and Geely as well as provided back-end services.
Semiconductors sit at the base of any smart features and electric power. Xiaomi has staked a list of companies in the sector, some of which are dedicated towards automotive semiconductors and some specialize in consumer electronics applications.
Black Sesame was founded in 2016. It focuses on the design of AI chips for the ADAS/AD domains with HuaShan chips series enabling L2 to L4 autonomous driving.
Flagchip was founded in 2020. It develops high performance automotive-grade MCUs that can be used in body control, vehicle dynamics control, battery management, etc.
BYD Micro is a leading player among local automotive semiconductor companies in the IGBT category as well as certain MCUs and CMOS image sensors (CIS).
Yuntu Micro was founded in 2020. It launched the first automotive-grade 32-bit MCU product earlier this year and is supposed to enter production within the year.
Huayi Microelectronics focuses on the R&D and manufacturing of power semiconductors, with over 200 types of MOSFET and IGBT as main products. They are widely used in industrial control, consumer electronics and electric vehicles.
Amlogic, Vanguard Semiconductor and TRS Microelectronics are part of Xiaomi’s investment portfolio in the IoT field while these companies would also be exploring automotive applications next.
The list will continue to grow. Meanwhile, we have till 2024 to find out if the Xiaomi car is worth the hype.
