Mobility tech provider ECARX collaborates with AMD for EV revolution

United States chip giant AMD is joining hands with China's mobility technology company ECARX on an in-vehicle computing platform for next-generation electric vehicles, expected to be in mass production for global rollout in late 2023.

The two companies said they are combining ECARX's extensive experience in automotive digital cockpit design with AMD's advanced computing power and visual graphic rendering capabilities to deliver an innovative in-car experience.

"As car companies seek to deliver immersive experiences and intelligent features in their next-generation electric vehicles, the AMD-powered ECARX digital cockpit will address these needs for the global automotive market," said Rajneesh Gaur, corporate vice-president and general manager of AMD's Embedded Business.

The digital cockpit they are working on will have advanced features including driver information mode, head-up display, rear seat entertainment, multiple-displays, multi-zone voice recognition, high-end gaming and a full 3D user experience.

It is the first in-vehicle platform to be offered with AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors and AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series GPUs along with ECARX's hardware and software.

The V2000 series are the second-generation of processors designed for in-vehicle infotainment and instrumentation applications at automotive grade.

AMD said they can power up to four independent displays simultaneously in 4K resolution as it is equipped with up to eight CPU cores and seven GPU compute units.

The RX 6000 series GPUs are built upon the RDNA 2 graphics architecture, which is the only graphics architecture that spans from next-generation desktop computers, laptops and consoles to mobile devices and automotive infotainment systems.

The architecture offers up to two times higher performance and up to 50 percent more performance-per-watt in select titles compared to the previous-generation, said AMD.

"The global automotive industry is transforming towards an intelligent future at an unprecedented rate, with demand for computing power and graphics capabilities rapidly increasing," said Shen Ziyu, chairman and CEO of ECARX.

"With this collaboration, we will further enable original equipment manufacturers and tier-1 suppliers to enhance their digital cockpit experiences as they seek to create greater consumer value through intelligent connected cars."

Shen established ECARX in 2017 with Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Geely is one of the largest automotive carmakers in the world, owning brands including Lynk &Co, Polestar, Volvo and invests in such marques as Mercedes' smart and Lotus.

The automotive group is also one of ECARX's earliest customers. Including Geely, ECARX now has 12 carmakers and eight tier-1 suppliers as its customers, and the list is growing.

Since its establishment in 2017, its technology and products have been integrated into more than 3.2 million cars worldwide.

In an interview last month, Shen told reporters that each year the number grows by 1 million to 1.5 million.

"Our mission is to shape the future bond between people and cars by rapidly advancing the technology at the heart of smart mobility," he said.

"We aim to grow into a full-stack computing platform provider," said Shen.

He said cars in the future are just computers, so ECARX offers both hardware and software, from chip-set computing modules to operating systems as well as applications.

"Just like Android and Qualcomm enable all phone makers to make phones, we hope that we can enable all carmakers to more easily make smart electric cars. This is our vision," he said.

SiEngine Technology, its joint venture with ARM China, debuted its 7-nanometer auto-grade SoC late last year called the SE1000, for smart cockpit functions. In terms of chip-set, Shen said it now has reached the pace of rolling out two SoC computing models a year, with the AD1000 expected to launch in 2023 and the SE2000 to follow in the same year.

Another major part of ECARX's products are software, including operating systems for such things as infotainment, advanced driving-assist as well as safety.

"We want to offer base software for our chips. As you know, companies like Apple have made great accomplishments in their operating systems, and that is because they have their own base software."

"In a word, SoC computing modules, operating systems and software stacks represent our core technology," said Shen.

When it comes to market exploration, ECARX first started its business in China, with infotainment products including GKUI, which stands for Geely Key User Interface.

The company has then explored overseas markets by working with Geely-associated marques, from Volvo to Mercedes' smart.

Smart unveiled its compact SUV earlier this year, whose onboard features were the result of three years of collaboration between Mercedes and ECARX.

"The model will sell globally, and in a sense, this year marks the start of our entry into the global market," said Shen.

He said ECARX has so far conducted in-depth joint research and development with a number of carmakers including Geely to offer a tailored on-board experience for their users.

It has built a joint venture with Volvo, called HaleyTek, an operating system provider, that will become available in around 20 countries.

ECARX has partnered with Geely in China to explore the market of ADAS domain controllers.

It also holds a 13.5 percent stake in Volvo's autonomous driving subsidiary Zenseact, which will allow it to accelerate technology deployment in China.

Analysts are optimistic about the growth opportunities in the smart EV market, as well as the technology required to support it.

Asif Anwar, executive director of PBCS and EVS at Strategy Analytics, said due to the rise in adoption of electric cars, the associated semiconductor demand is forecast to grow at a CAAGR of 31 percent from 2021 to 2026.

"The EV revolution is here, with next-generation EV platforms at the leading edge of domain- and zonal-based architecture driving adoption of the digital cockpit, ADAS and the connected vehicle," said Anwar.

And ECARX seems to be well prepared to serve top OEMs globally, seizing increasing opportunities from the EV market, according to Shen.