Zoox's CEO said China's EV companies have a leg up in one key area

Chinese EV and autonomous vehicle companies have an advantage in integrating hardware and software. Consumer electronics firms that emerged from the smartphone era already develop hardware, software, and system-level thinking. That foundational mindset creates a natural path into electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. Success for EV companies involves becoming “native” to the required capabilities. Moving from electric vehicles to autonomous vehicles changes the product from a wheeled machine to a computer on wheels. Software must be treated as a first-class citizen in vehicle architecture. Chinese EVs are increasingly described as “electric intelligent vehicles,” emphasizing software. Some major firms, including BYD and Xiaomi, began outside traditional auto manufacturing, supporting the software-and-hardware integration focus.

"“When you look at the ecosystem in China, a lot of these consumer electronics companies that came from the smartphone era had to be good at hardware, software, and system-level thinking by definition,” she said. “They are finding a natural path to EVs and AVs because that foundational knowledge and mindset is already native to them,” she added."

"Evans said that for EV companies, the key to success is to “get busy becoming native” if they aren't already. She added that progressing from electric vehicles to autonomous vehicles means going from “a machine with wheels to a computer on wheels.” And software will have to be the “first-class citizen” in the car's “architecture design.”"

"Some of the biggest Chinese EV companies, like Xiaomi and BYD, didn't start off as automobile manufacturers. BYD started as a battery manufacturer for mobile phones and electronics, while Xiaomi was, and still is, a smartphone and consumer tech company. Pan Jian, a cochair of a key Tesla battery supplier CATL, said at the World Economic Forum last year that EVs in China are increasingly being called “EIV,” which stands for “electric intelligent vehicles,” emphasizing their software capabilities."

"In 2024, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he had been driving a Xiaomi EV for months and didn't want to give it up. He added earlier this year that he chose to drive a Xiaomi instead of a Tesla because the latter didn't have an “updated vehicle.” Zoox, a California-based autonomous vehicle company acquired by Amazon in 2020, now operates robotaxi"

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