At the Intelligent Electric Vehicle Development High-Level Forum (2026) held from April 11 to 12 at the Beijing National Convention Center, the focus was on advancing the intelligent, green, integrated, and international development of new energy vehicles.

Hesai Group's Senior Vice President Zhang Wei stated that the company was the first in the automotive lidar industry to propose a chip-based development path. He reported that, as of the end of 2025, the cumulative delivery of their self-developed chips had surpassed 200 million units. While many describe the industry as highly competitive, Zhang views this competition as a continuous iteration of industry capabilities. He highlighted that Hesai has completed four generations of chip-based product iterations in just five to six years. To date, shipments of the AT128 product line alone have exceeded 1 million units, and shipments of the latest generation ATX product are approaching 1 million units, with cumulative exports surpassing 2 million units.

Zhang noted that in 2017, it took an entire day to manually assemble a single lidar unit, whereas today, the process requires only 10 seconds. Lidar has successfully crossed the chasm to become an essential safety component for intelligent vehicles.

He explained that lidar, as a three-dimensional spatial perception sensor, offers high perception accuracy and reliable detection of small objects at long distances. It can identify general obstacles and, as an active light-emitting sensor, is unaffected by ambient lighting conditions. Consequently, in challenging scenarios such as entering or exiting tunnels with rapidly changing light, lidar significantly enhances driving safety by complementing visual perception systems, solidifying its role as a critical safety feature in modern intelligent vehicles.

Market trends strongly support the increasing adoption of lidar, Zhang emphasized. Leading domestic brands such as Li Auto, Xiaomi, and Zeekr have already made lidar a standard feature. Data from a key strategic automotive partner revealed that by deeply integrating lidar perception signals with Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems through advanced algorithms, serious high-speed accidents with casualties can be reduced by 90%, and general traffic accidents can be decreased by 30%. Therefore, lidar is considered the "airbag for vehicle integrity" in the era of intelligent cars.

Currently, about 20% of new energy vehicles are equipped with lidar. Based on internal calculations and forecast data, this penetration rate is expected to exceed 40% by February 2026 and surpass 56% by 2030.

Zhang pointed out that just a few years ago, vehicles equipped with lidar were generally priced above 400,000 RMB or even higher. Today, however, lidar is being adopted in vehicles priced around 100,000 RMB, with some domestic automakers even implementing it in models priced below that threshold, truly democratizing advanced perception technology.

Although lidar adoption in China is growing rapidly, the global perspective shows a different picture. In 2025, with nearly 100 million new vehicles sold worldwide, only 3.3 million were equipped with lidar, representing a mere 3% adoption rate.

This disparity highlights the vast potential of overseas markets, especially aligned with national policies encouraging global expansion. Zhang quoted Hesai's founder and CEO, Li Yifan, who likened high-tech companies matured in China's demanding environment to the Chinese national table tennis team, expressing confidence that their capabilities will be fully demonstrated in international markets.