AI cuts Chinese car development to 18 months, regulators inspect
Chinese automakers are racing ahead, using artificial intelligence, or AI, to cut car development time to just 18 months, much quicker than the current pace of around two years for Chinese automakers and roughly three to five years for legacy foreign competitors.
This rush is raising concerns about whether safety and quality checks can keep up.
Regulators have responded with surprise inspections and stricter oversight, aiming to make sure new cars don't skip important safeguards.
China proposes mandatory 30,000km new-energy testing
China is proposing to double mandatory road testing for new-energy vehicles to 30,000km and has recalled more than 4.27 million electric vehicles due to new door requirements, the biggest recall yet.
Starting in July 2026, stricter standards will kick in for batteries, steer-by-wire standards, and EV safety requirements. The driver-assist rules will kick in in July 2027.
Industry experts say real-world testing is still crucial: Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said, "While AI can help carmakers to be as fast and as accurate as possible, and reduce the amount of design errors, there are baselines such as the 30,000-kilometre or 50,000-kilometer on-road testing that can't be replaced and shouldn't be replaced."
Automakers now have to balance speed with meeting these tougher safety requirements.