国内各大EV品牌的无人驾驶功能进步神速。今天，Jenny 和 Jason 就要分享《经济学人》对此的专题报道。

Autonomous driving: 自动驾驶

Self-driving: 同上

Automated driving: 同上

Driverless cars/technology: 无人驾驶汽车、技术

China’s super-smart Tesla-killers: 中国的超级智能特斯拉杀手

Sitting in his spacious office in the southern city of Guangzhou, He Xiaopeng is in an expansive mood. The boss of Xpeng, a Chinese electric-vehicle (ev) maker that is one of the frontrunners in the self-driving tech race, says that autonomous driving is on the cusp of a “ChatGPT moment”： 坐在位于中国南方城市广州宽敞的办公室里，小鹏汽车联合创始人何小鹏心情舒畅。他说，自动驾驶正处于 “ChatGPTt 时刻 ”的临界点

He points to the instant at the end of 2022 when, after years of development, OpeAIi’s chatbot pushed generative artificial intelligence from the realm of researchers into the mainstream: 他指的是2022年底OpenAI推出聊天机器人，将人工智能从研究领域推向主流的时刻

Mr He says this breakthrough moment is likely to happen later this year. China, whose autonomous-driving development he describes as “the fastest in the world”, is likely to be a driving force: 何先生说，这一突破性时刻很可能在今年晚些时候到来。中国的自动驾驶发展速度被他称为 “世界最快”，很可能成为推动这一领域发展的驱动力量

American drivers do not see the technology as a crucial feature in the way China’s tech-savvy EV buyers already do, he notes: 他说，美国消费者并不像中国精通技术的电动汽车买家那样，将自动驾驶技术视为至关重要的功能

On a test drive in an Xpeng P7+ sedan through the bustling metropolis, your correspondent could see the reasons for his optimism. The car overtook a three-wheeled noodle cart, avoided scooters speeding the wrong way down the street and nailed a u-turn without intervention from humans: 在试驾一辆新的小鹏 P7+ 轿车穿越熙熙攘攘的大都市时， 笔者明白了何小鹏乐观的理由。汽车超越了一辆三轮面条车、避开了街道上逆向行驶的滑板车、并在没有人工干预的情况下完成了一次掉头

But the Xpeng driver did need to take control a few times during the twenty-minute ride. Improving the technology so that drivers barely have to touch the wheel on busy city streets is crucial to winning them over, says Mr He: 但在二十分钟的行驶过程中，小鹏的驾驶员确实需要控制几次方向盘。何先生说，改进技术，使驾驶员在繁忙的城市道路上几乎不用触摸方向盘，是赢得消费者青睐的核心

Xpeng, like many of its rivals, is focused on the next front in a global battle. China’s carmakers made EVs better and more cheaply than the rest of the world and now want to do the same for autonomous vehicles (AV): 与许多竞争对手一样，小鹏正专注于全球竞争的下一阶段。中国的汽车制造商生产出了比世界任何国家都更好、更便宜的电动汽车，现在他们也希望在自动驾驶汽车领域做到这一点

Though Chinese, American and European firms are still grappling over whose technology will dominate, China is racing ahead in deployment at scale: 尽管中国、美国和欧洲的公司仍在竞争这一技术的主导地位，但中国在大规模部署方面已捷足先登

In the world of autonomous driving, there are two paths to commercial deployment: robotaxis and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). China’s robotaxi experiment is the world’s biggest. China has also dominated the rollout of ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems), too: 在自动驾驶领域，有两条通往商业化应用的道路：机器人出租车（robotaxis）和高级驾驶辅助系统（ADAS）。中国正在进行全球规模最大的机器人出租车实验；并且在 ADAS（高级驾驶辅助系统）的推广方面也占据了世界主导地位

Intense competition helped China achieve its lead. In America and Europe, sophisticated ADAS had been limited to premium models, though the tech is becoming more common now: 激烈的竞争帮助中国取得了领先地位。在美国和欧洲，复杂的 ADAS 系统仅限于高端车型， 但是现在这一技术正变得越来越普遍

But in the cut-throat Chinese market, carmakers were quick to include it as standard in order to compete, and many customers are now unwilling to pay for it. BYD, the world’s biggest EV maker, last month said even its cars priced under $10,000 would come with free ADAS that can get on and off motorways, change lanes, and park by itself: 但在竞争白热化的中国市场，汽车制造商为了竞争，很快就将其列为标准配置，而许多消费者也不愿为此额外付费。全球最大的电动汽车制造商比亚迪上个月表示，即使是售价低于 10,000 美元的车型也将配备免费的 ADAS 系统，可以上下高速公路、变道和自动泊车

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