Huawei launches Qiankun ADS 4 with a highway L3 version

Background

Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution BU supplies assisted-driving and other vehicle technology to partner carmakers, whose cars carry the systems under their own brands. By the time of this launch the unit said 22 partner models were on sale, covering mid-to-high-end cars from 150,000 yuan upward and spanning battery-electric, range-extended, hybrid and combustion powertrains^[2].

The launch

On 22 April 2025 Huawei held a smart technology conference in Shanghai and released three products together: ADS 4, the new generation of its Qiankun driver-assistance system; HarmonySpace 5; and the XMC vehicle control system^[1].

Highway L3 and the cloud world engine

The part of the announcement that carried the most weight concerned L3. Jin Yuzhi, chief executive of the Intelligent Automotive Solution BU, said Huawei had run 600 million kilometres of highway L3 simulation and validation in its cloud world engine^[2], and that the company expected L3 commercial capability to become available in 2025^[2].

Under the usual level definitions, an L3 system performs the driving task itself within a defined operating domain; the person in the driver's seat does not have to monitor continuously, but must take over when the system asks. Two things therefore have to be spelled out — where the boundary sits, which here is the highway, and what evidence exists that the system behaves safely inside it. Simulation is one way to build that evidence: rather than driving every kilometre on public roads, the system is run through an environment constructed in the cloud, where rare and dangerous situations can be repeated at scale. Huawei's figure of 600 million kilometres describes that simulated validation rather than distance covered by cars on real roads^[2].

Safety and parking

The company also upgraded its CAS 4.0 collision avoidance system, which it said now covers all speeds, all directions, all targets and all weather^[1].

Parking made up the other half of the release. Huawei said 500,000 car parks in China would support point-to-point parking by June 2025, and that 100,000 would support valet parking^[1]. It also offered owners a parking assurance benefit of up to 6 million yuan per vehicle^[1].

The partner line-up

Eleven partner carmakers attended the event, among them Chery, Seres, BAIC, Voyah, SAIC, GAC and Audi^[2]. Audi's presence carried a specific significance: Huawei said the brand became the first international luxury brand to adopt Qiankun^[2].

What the launch sets out

Taken together, the announcement offers a timetable and a list. The timetable belongs to L3: the simulation and validation work is presented as already done, and 2025 is the year the company itself names for commercial capability^[2]. The list describes reach — 22 models on sale, eleven carmakers on stage, and one international luxury brand among them^[2].

For drivers, some of the change is closer at hand than L3. Collision avoidance that works across all speeds and weather, and parking that is mapped across a large number of car parks, are functions that do not wait for conditional automation on the highway^[1]. The L3 claim, by contrast, depends on the boundary being respected, on the validation holding up, and on cars carrying the system actually reaching customers.