Huawei scraps expensive precision maps in self-driving cars

Chinese tech companies seek alternative navigation systems

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An Aito Wenjie M5 EV, at Auto Shanghai, will be the first vehicle to use Huawei's new self-driving system. (Photo by Takashi Kawakami)

TAKASHI KAWAKAMI, Nikkei staff writer

GUANGZHOU -- Huawei and other Chinese self-driving car companies are developing alternative technologies to high-definitions maps as the precision required for autonomous vehicles makes the mapping process prohibitively expensive.

"High-definition maps are very expensive," said Huawei senior executive Yu Chengdong at Auto Shanghai show on April 16. "We have been collecting data in Shanghai for one or two years, but we still have not been able to cover all 9,000 kilometers of the city's roads."

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