- BYD plans to introduce L3 conditional automated driving by 2028, leveraging its large in‑service ADAS fleet to accelerate deployment amid intense competitive pressure and cost sensitivity.
- BYD reports 3.95 million vehicles with driver‑assistance functions and its God’s Eye platform collects over 240 million kilometers of driving data daily, supporting algorithm development and scenario coverage.
- Targets direct competition with existing limited‑approval L3 models like Changan Deepal SL03 and Arcfox Alpha S, but regulatory rollout, geography‑restricted approvals and scaling software/validation remain material execution risks.
BYD’s Level 3 (L3) conditional automated driving could be introduced as early as 2028, Yang Dongsheng, senior vice president of the Group and head of its Automotive New Technology Research Institute, said at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference.
Higher levels of automated driving will depend on further technological advances and are expected to reach the market one to two years after L3 systems are deployed.
L3 vehicles in China remain in limited pilot programs. So far, only two models have received regulatory approval for L3 conditional automated driving: the Changan Deepal SL03 and the Arcfox Alpha S.
Both models can use the relevant functions only in designated cities, on specified road sections and under defined operating conditions.
Their deployment remains some way from unrestricted availability to ordinary consumers.
At the policy level, China is also working to establish unified standards for the technology.
The country’s first mandatory national standard covering safety requirements for automated driving systems in L3 and L4 intelligent connected vehicles was released in August this year and is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027.
BYD’s existing driver-assistance fleet provides a data foundation for further technological development.
On October 15, BYD announced that more than 3.95 million vehicles equipped with driver-assistance functions were in use.
Meanwhile, its God’s Eye system generated more than 240 million kilometers of driving data each day.
This volume of data provides material for algorithm development and coverage of less common driving scenarios.
Such capabilities are also important to gradually expanding L3 functions beyond narrowly defined operating conditions.
Across the industry, driver-assistance technology is moving beyond a premium feature available on a limited number of models and becoming more widely adopted.
Wan Gang, honorary chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said at the conference’s opening ceremony that more than 70% of new passenger vehicles sold in China in the first half of 2026 were equipped with Level 2 (L2) driver-assistance functions. He expects the penetration rate to exceed 95% by 2030.
During the same period, China had opened 57,000 kilometers of roads for testing, issued more than 20,000 test and demonstration licenses, and accumulated over 220 million kilometers in automated-driving tests.
For higher-level automation, Wan expects L3 vehicles to account for more than 35% of the market by 2030.
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