More than a hundred days have passed since 2025, but the popularity of intelligent driving has yet to wane. From "intelligent driving equality" to "intelligent driving safety", a nationwide discussion on the development of intelligent driving has been going on for several months. Recently, Zero Run Auto announced that its intelligent driving software would be completely free, adding fuel to the long-standing debate on intelligent driving.

 

Many automakers are "testing the waters" for free intelligent driving

 

On April 10th, Zero Run Auto released promotional announcements in three aspects: intelligent driving, three-electricity system warranty, and OTA upgrade. Among them, the lifetime warranty for the three electric systems of Zero Run will cover all users of the series. For the first owner (non-operational) who has not received the lifetime warranty for the three electric systems or the lifetime warranty for the entire vehicle, the official will provide the lifetime warranty for the three electric systems before April 30. In addition, Zero Run will also provide OTA updates to users of the 2021-2023 C11/C01 models in July, including upgrades to frequently demanded functions such as "traffic light countdown" and "straight-line summoning".

 

In terms of intelligent driving, Zero Run announced that starting from April 10th, all intelligent driving software equipped in its models with intelligent driving assistance functions will be free to use, including the free opening of the high-speed intelligent navigation assistance (NAP) function. For users who have previously paid to activate the NAP function, the company will refund the relevant fees before May 31. In addition, the first owner can enjoy a high-level intelligent driving experience without paying any extra fees.

 

Zero Run's move of offering free intelligent driving software and refunds to existing car owners may seem like a "deep-water bomb" in the industry, but Zero Run is not the only automaker that does not charge extra for intelligent driving. In February this year, BYD launched a "full range standard configuration", which in fact meant that all its models were equipped with the advanced intelligent driving system of "Tian Shen Yan" for free. In March, Chery Automobile announced that starting from 2025, Chery's intelligent driving system "Falcon Intelligent Driving" will cover all models of Chery's entire brand, including both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles.

 

In November 2024, XPeng Motors announced that its models would no longer distinguish between Max and Pro versions. All models would be equipped with intelligent driving technology as standard, without the need for subscription or payment. Not long ago, the newly released XPeng G6 and XPeng X9 both emphasized that the entire series is equipped with Turing AI intelligent driving as standard, with no optional installation, no subscription, and no charge.

 

Looking further back, in 2021, Li Xiang, the CEO of Li Auto, wrote that all subsequent models of Li Auto would be fully equipped with assisted driving and autonomous driving as standard, including software, data services, map services, computing power hardware, sensors, etc. There would be no charge for software activation or subscription fees, and all models at any price range would be equipped as standard.

 

The so-called "free intelligent driving" is, in essence, "more features without a price increase". It adds intelligent driving functions but does not raise the product price. In fact, the cost of intelligent driving is included in the car price, so this "free" should be put in quotation marks. Ji Xuehong, director of the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center at North China University of Technology, believes that there are mainly two reasons why these automakers can achieve intelligent driving without separate charges: First, the cost of intelligent driving is constantly decreasing as the technology matures; The second is to have a certain marketing purpose.

 

According to Ji Xuehong, currently, most of the car manufacturers that have shouted slogans such as "free intelligent driving" and "standard configuration across the entire series" are targeting high-speed NOA (Navigation Assistance Driving). The prerequisite for "free intelligent driving" is the reduction of domain controller costs, computing power costs, and sensor costs. Ji Xuehong said that with the continuous development of intelligent driving technology in recent years, the cost of high-speed NOA has now dropped to the thousand-yuan level, and enterprises are sufficient to cover this cost. According to a research report by Wumin Securities, the hardware cost of BYD's Tianshen Eye C pure vision solution has already dropped below 4,000 yuan. Under the banner of "free intelligent driving", car manufacturers can attract many consumers to purchase vehicles. The growth in sales can also spread part of the cost of intelligent driving. Therefore, many car manufacturers have the courage to shout "free intelligent driving".

 

Should intelligent driving be charged?

 

Although many car manufacturers have made intelligent driving functions standard across the entire range, there are still some that insist on charging for intelligent driving services through one-time purchase or subscription models. It is understood that the cost of NIO's intelligent driving service is not included in the vehicle price but is offered through a subscription model, with a single monthly subscription price of 380 yuan.

 

Tesla and car brands equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving system also charge for their intelligent driving functions. Among them, for the Chinese market, Tesla's Enhanced Driver Assistance System (EAP) is priced at 32,000 yuan, with quarterly payment of 1,399 yuan per quarter and monthly payment of 699 yuan per month. Its intelligent assisted driving (FSD) is priced at 64,000 yuan. Recently, it was reported that Tesla will also launch a monthly subscription service for FSD in May, with an expected price range of 680 to 980 yuan per month. The standard price of the HUAWEI ADS (Gankun Intelligent Driving) advanced function package is 36,000 yuan for a one-time purchase, 720 yuan per month for a monthly subscription, and 7,200 yuan per year for an annual subscription. The standard price of the advanced functions of HUAWEI ADS SE (Gankun Intelligent Driving Basic Edition) is a one-time purchase of 5,000 yuan, a monthly subscription of 100 yuan per month, and an annual subscription of 1,000 yuan per year.

 

However, even Tesla and Huawei failed to withstand the "free" pressure from other automakers. On March 17th, Tesla China announced that users could try FSD for free. The trial period is 30 days, and the purchase price of the system is 64,000 yuan. Last July, Huawei launched a limited-time offer for the high-end function package of Gankun Intelligent Driving, reducing the one-time purchase price to 30,000 yuan. At the end of last year, Huawei's vehicle BU announced that it would extend this offer until June 30, 2025. Mr. Pan, a car owner from Shanghai who just picked up the 2025 model of the Askui M9, said that he received a discount of 20,000 yuan after picking up the car. The actual cost of activating the ADS 3.0 advanced function package was only 10,000 yuan. Nio will offer intelligent driving services of varying durations to car owners when they purchase a vehicle. In response, Zhu Yao, a NIO ET5 owner, told the reporter that she received a six-year free intelligent driving benefit when she purchased the car in June 2024. As far as I know, it seems that no one has paid for it so far. When it expires, they will renew it for free. She said.

 

Should intelligent driving be free or not? In response to this round of the "free intelligent driving" wave, Li Bin, the founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, stated that they would not follow blindly. I don't think everyone has settled the accounts clearly. If you plan to be free for life, is your provision sufficient? If everyone really focuses on finance, the data loop of a car needs to have money. This is a continuous service for over a decade, not a function. The annual communication fees and data fees, just like the warranty, need to be accrued. It's definitely not feasible to do so without a few thousand yuan. Because the commitment of car manufacturers is to follow the car. If consumers use the car for 15 years, car manufacturers have to manage it for 15 years and cannot manage it for 5 years. In Li Bin's view, intelligent driving should be a "service" rather than a terminal "function" of a car, and its annual fulfillment cost is much higher than imagined.

 

However, in the view of He Xiaopeng, the CEO of Xpeng Motors, only by providing users with standard intelligent driving features can there be a possibility of exploring more value-added services. He said, "Previously, we thought that advanced intelligent driving was a value-added service and would be charged."

 

However, if advanced intelligent driving is made into a standard service, it will be found that there is a possibility of new value-added services emerging in the future, that is to say, it is the foundation of new value-added services. So the standard for AI cars is to be equipped with high computing power and advanced intelligent driving as standard; otherwise, many capabilities cannot be achieved.

 

In the view of Lu Wenliang, a specially-appointed researcher on the automotive industry at the Industrial Technology Innovation Center of the Institute of Strategic Consulting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for enterprises, whether to charge for intelligent driving and how to charge must be determined by the development of the enterprise. In the early stage of software development, the investment cost is relatively high. Car manufacturers prefer a one-time purchase model, which can quickly recover the cost and use it for subsequent software development and upgrades. For cases where the version is relatively stable, car manufacturers prefer the subscription model, which can provide a continuous cash flow. Under the influence of multiple factors such as the cost, capability, business model, brand recognition and scale effect of autonomous driving, some car manufacturers can choose to provide intelligent driving functions to consumers in the form of standard equipment or free of charge, and there is no problem of being unable to settle the accounts.

 

Free is good, but it's even more important to be user-friendly

 

Tesla, NIO and Huawei's Gankun autonomous driving are mostly installed in mid-to-high-end models and are equipped with urban NOA functions. In terms of computing power, sensors and software development, the cost of autonomous driving is higher. Currently, it is difficult for enterprises to cover this cost. Ji Xuehong believes that as the cost of intelligent driving continues to decline, urban NOA is also expected to reach the standard configuration stage in the future. "It will take about 2 to 3 years. At that time, enterprises with better cost control and stronger organizational capabilities will naturally be the first to achieve free intelligent driving, thereby winning more users."

 

Free is good, but for consumers, being user-friendly is the key. "It's of no use. This intelligent driving system has a bunch of bad reviews. Even if it's free, I wouldn't dare to use it." "Low price, low efficiency. Even if it's free, I won't use it." " ... Although Zero Run announced that its intelligent driving software is free, some Zero Run car owners seem not to be convinced. A Zero Run C10 owner said that they initially bought the top-of-the-line version, but found that many of its functions were not user-friendly, and even worse than the assisted driving functions of joint venture brand fuel vehicles. Mr. Yang, a car owner from Zhejiang Province, also said, "Once when driving on a highway with almost no vehicles, I turned on the adaptive cruise control. However, the vehicle suddenly braked without any warning, which scared me to death."

 

During the interview process, several consumers who were planning to purchase a car all said that whether the intelligent driving system charges or not is not important; what matters more is whether it is user-friendly or not. When asked if he was considering Zero Run because of its free intelligent driving service, Mr. Zhao, a Beijing car owner who plans to buy a car recently, told the reporter, "Free is good, but I've heard that Zero Run's intelligent driving service is not very user-friendly, so I'm not very brave to try it." The recent accidents related to intelligent driving have made consumers pay more attention to the safety and stability of intelligent driving functions. I hardly use the intelligent driving function when driving now. It feels a bit terrifying. Ms. Ding said.

 

At the recently held China EV 100 Forum (2025), Lu Fang, the CEO of 图汽车 (Lantu Auto), stated that currently 90% of users are willing to pay additional fees for advanced intelligent driving services, among which 30% are even willing to pay more than 10,000 yuan.

 

Lu Wenliang also believes that whether it is free intelligent driving, standard equipment across the entire series, one-time purchase or subscription model, for consumers, the essence is the same. In fact, they have all paid for the intelligent driving function. It's just that different ways give consumers different "physical sensations". It all depends on how consumers calculate it themselves. He said. It is evident that "free" is not the decisive factor for car owners to use intelligent driving. Moreover, if the intelligent driving functions are not user-friendly or even pose risks, it not only affects the user's driving experience but also concerns their life safety. For car manufacturers, being labeled as "low-capability" intelligent driving is undoubtedly a huge blow to their brand power.

 

Originally published on China Auto News Network on May 6, 2025