China’s electric vehicle giants are betting big on humanoid robots
1 min read
Summary
As the cut-throat competition and financial pressures in China’s EV market continue to mount, manufacturers are looking to diversify their operations and draw upon their existing supply chains and technological expertise in a bid to launch new products or forge partnerships with established players in a new sector.
Humanoid robots are the latest area in which EV companies are looking to capitalise, with over 60 of the global 160 humanoid-robot manufacturers now based in China.
Leaders in the EV market such as Li Auto, XPeng and Nio, as well as traditional manufacturers like BYD and Geely, have looked to expand their offering beyond vehicles in recent years, with some humanoid robots now being deployed within their manufacturing processes and others set for commercialisation in the near future.
However, despite the opportunity, challenges lie ahead, particularly when it comes to chip development, an area that is still dominated by US companies such as Nvidia, TSMC, Palantir and Qualcomm.