China’s BYD to add DeepSeek AI to its affordable EVs

Market: Battery materials
11/02/25

China's largest electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD on Tuesday announced plans to integrate software from AI start-up DeepSeek into 21 of its models at no extra cost, including one model under $10,000.

All models with the God's Eye advanced driver assistant software (ADAS) will come at no extra cost, chairman Wang Chuanfu told an event livestreamed from Shenzhen.

Chuanfu said autonomous driving would no longer be a rarity but a "necessary tool", one that will become an "indispensable tool like safety belts and airbags" within a few years.

BYD said it would offer advanced autonomous driving features on all of its 18 models priced above 100,000 yuan ($13,686).

The carmaker will also include AI on three models below Yn100,000. BYD had previously only offered ADAS on models above $30,000, in line with US EV maker Tesla, which has similar features on its EVs priced above $32,000. The system includes remote parking and autonomous highway navigation.

Smart driving features in EVs require Argus-assessed metals such as gallium — in gallium nitride — and germanium in semiconductors.

AI growth and data centre demand is expected to increase the use of compound semiconductor materials including gallium nitride, gallium arsenide and indium phosphide.

BYD sold around 4.2mn EVs last year in China — including battery EVs (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) — dominating the domestic market of 11mn EVs, up by 40pc on the year (see graphs).

DeepSeek integration threatens exports

The integration of AI into BYD cars is the latest indication that competition in the Chinese EV market is hotting up, although several market participants fear that the integration of DeepSeek AI may threaten sales into export markets, particularly the US, where there is antipathy towards Chinese AI.

Chinese EV maker Leapmotor, partner of carmaker Stellantis in Europe, launched its own smart-driving EV on Tuesday priced under Yn150,000 ($20,535), using its own AI.

Prior to BYD, the cheapest affordable EV with comparable smart driving features was SAIC-GM-Wuling's $15,000 Baojun Yunhal model.

Other Chinese EV makers have also announced integration of DeepSeek technology into their models.

Chinese carmaker Geely Group — parent to brands such as Volvo and Polestar — announced that it will integrate the DeepSeek R1 model into its EVs, alongside its own Xingrui AI model, which it announced that it was training last month. It has largely distinguished software in its Geely brand

The future of EVs is an "electric intelligence vehicle", Pan Jian, co-chair of CATL, the world's largest battery maker, said at the World Economic Forum last month, with intelligence fast becoming inseparable from EVs.

By Chris Welch

Global EV battery installations 2023-24 GWh

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Tesla EV sales down 13pc in 1Q

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02/04/25

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02/04/25

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