Chinese EVs Face Global Test as Autonomy Heats Up

China’s EV industry delivered a revealing snapshot of its next phase this week: in Wuhu, advanced driver-assistance systems from Momenta and Huawei went head-to-head in a demanding urban NOA competition, while overseas markets underscored why Chinese EV makers increasingly need both strong technology and global adaptability. On April 18, BYD’s Yangwang U7 and Changan-backed Avatr 12 emerged from the Wuhu autonomous driving preliminaries, as North America showed two very different signals—Canada’s EV demand is stabilizing with policy support, while the US remains clouded by tariff volatility despite a potential $20 billion refund process for automakers and suppliers.

Wuhu Autonomous Driving Contest Puts Chinese ADAS in the Spotlight

The latest stop of the Wuhu intelligent driving competition offered more than just a spectacle. It became a real-world comparison between Momenta’s latest R6 stack and Huawei ADS 4.1 in urban NOA conditions.

This round also introduced a format change: instead of running Momenta-backed and Huawei-backed entries in separate sessions, organizers placed them on the same preliminary route, with separate point rankings. That decision was meant to improve:

• Fairness and consistency in judging
• Operational efficiency as more vehicles join the event
• Viewer experience, with more direct same-course comparisons
• Competitive relevance, as the preliminary route difficulty was brought closer to the final

The route itself was no soft demonstration lap. It covered:

Organizers used a so-called “closed-book exam” format, meaning the route was not disclosed beforehand. That matters because urban NOA systems often look polished on familiar mapped roads but can struggle in mixed, ambiguous city traffic.

Winners: Yangwang U7 Leads, Avatr 12 Advances

After judging by both on-site and remote officials, two vehicles advanced:

• Yangwang U7 (Momenta camp): 97 points
• Avatr 12 (Huawei camp): 91.5 points

The results also suggested a broader pattern: Momenta-affiliated vehicles performed better overall in this round, with its top three scores all exceeding the best Huawei-backed result.

Top Results Snapshot

From the published score breakdown:

• Yangwang U7 lost 15 points in NOA scene coverage, 2 in efficiency, and 0 in safety, with 2 takeovers.
• IM LS9 was notable for zero NOA scene deductions, though it lost 7 safety points and 13 efficiency points, with 6 takeovers.
• Huawei’s three entries all lost 20 points in scene coverage, largely because NOA could not be activated on internal roads.

That last point is especially important. It reveals that in difficult edge cases, the issue is not just how an ADAS system behaves once engaged, but whether it can confidently enter and sustain assisted driving in the first place.

Where the Cars Struggled Most

The most punishing parts of the route were:

• Test Point 3: internal mall roads with barriers and mixed traffic
• Test Point 6: narrow community roads with cars, bikes, and pedestrians sharing limited space

All 8 participating vehicles failed both sections without human intervention, requiring takeovers.

This is one of the clearest signals from the event. Even some of China’s most advanced urban ADAS systems still struggle in:

• barrier-controlled private or semi-private roads
• ultra-narrow mixed traffic scenarios
• ambiguous right-of-way negotiation
• low-speed but high-complexity urban micro-environments

These are exactly the scenarios that separate an impressive demo from a genuinely robust city NOA product.

Notable Event Highlights

Organizers and observers singled out several standout moments:

• IM LS9 was the only car able to activate NOA inside the internal park area
• Avatr 12 handled complex oncoming-traffic negotiation decisively
• Luxeed R7 reportedly managed a crowded food street reasonably well despite frequent conflict points
• Aito M8 showed persistence in a difficult face-off with opposing vehicles at Test Point 6

The Competitive Meaning of Momenta vs Huawei

At one level, this was a competition. At another, it was a preview of how China’s intelligent driving battle is evolving.

Momenta and Huawei represent two of the most influential autonomous driving ecosystems in China. Their presence across multiple brands means this is not just about one vehicle winning one event—it is about platform capability, software iteration speed, and supplier leverage.

Participating Vehicle Lineups

Several entries were using the latest software, while Huawei’s Aito M8 and Luxeed R7 were reported to run ADS MAX V4.1.1.

The takeaway is nuanced:

• Momenta showed stronger aggregate performance in this event
• Huawei remained highly competitive in safety execution, particularly through Avatr 12
• Both systems still face meaningful limitations in difficult urban edge cases

For Chinese EV brands, this matters because ADAS is increasingly becoming a core product differentiator, especially in the premium segment where BYD, NIO, XPeng, Zeekr, Avatr, Aito, and Xiaomi are all trying to define their software identities.

Canada: A More Rational Auto Market, With EVs Regaining Momentum

While Chinese smart EV technology is advancing at home, overseas demand conditions remain just as important. Canada’s auto market in Q1 2026 offered a useful signal: the frenzy is over, but the EV opportunity remains alive.

According to the D1EV summary of Canadian market data, major brands that had reported results sold 411,739 new vehicles in the first three months of 2026, down just 0.9% year-on-year. In other words, the market is not collapsing—it is normalizing after an unusually strong period in early 2025, when buyers rushed to get ahead of tariffs and expiring EV subsidies.

Key Canada Q1 2026 Indicators

Several forces are shaping Canada’s auto market:

• Employment softness is limiting confidence
• High fuel prices are pressuring household budgets
• Tariffs are pushing up costs, especially for pickups and large SUVs
• Government EV incentives are helping restore electric vehicle demand

One notable policy lever is Manitoba’s CAD 4,000 EV subsidy, extended beyond March 2026. Dealers cited a clear improvement in EV interest, with some saying electric cars are back on shopping lists in a meaningful way.

This is relevant for Chinese EV makers because Canada increasingly resembles the kind of market where they can compete effectively: buyers are becoming more price-sensitive, more focused on value, and more open to electrified alternatives as fuel and vehicle ownership costs rise.

US Tariff Refunds Offer Relief—But Not Stability

The US side of the story is more complicated. Beginning April 20, automakers and suppliers can apply through the new CAPE customs platform to recover part of an estimated $20 billion in tariffs, following a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down certain Trump-era levies imposed under the IEEPA.

On paper, that sounds like a major boost. In practice, it is more limited.

According to the source, the broader IEEPA-related collections totaled about $170 billion, while the auto industry’s eligible portion is around $19.9 billion, based on a PwC estimate. However, the refund does not cover many of the tariffs that matter most to automakers, including:

• imported complete vehicles
• core components
• steel
• aluminum

Instead, eligible refunds are more concentrated in areas such as:

• industrial robots
• manufacturing equipment
• certain non-core parts, including some brake system items

US Tariff Refund Process at a Glance

The deeper issue is that US tariff uncertainty remains intact. Even as these refunds move forward, Washington has reportedly shifted toward alternative legal tools to preserve new import duties, including temporary global tariffs under Section 122 and possible follow-on action under Section 301.

For global automakers—including Chinese EV brands considering North American expansion—the message is straightforward: policy volatility is now a structural market risk.

Why This Matters for Chinese EV Brands

Put these three developments together, and a bigger picture emerges.

Chinese EV companies are no longer competing only on battery cost, range, or styling. They are entering a phase where success depends on three parallel capabilities:

1. Advanced software performance in real-world urban driving
2. Product-market fit in overseas regions with very different consumer behavior
3. Resilience to trade and policy shocks in North America and beyond

The Wuhu competition showed how quickly China’s autonomous driving race is intensifying. The Canada market update showed that overseas EV demand can still grow when supported by incentives and operating-cost logic. The US tariff story showed that even when trade pressure eases, it can return through another channel.

For companies like BYD, NIO, XPeng, Zeekr, Avatr, Aito, Xiaomi, and Geely-backed brands, the implication is clear: global expansion will not be won by scale alone. It will require:

• stronger ADAS reliability in edge cases
• flexible pricing strategies
• local regulatory adaptation
• supply chain diversification
• careful market selection

Forward Look: The Final Round—and the Bigger Industry Race

The Wuhu finalists, Yangwang U7 and Avatr 12, are now set to face a broader field that reportedly includes Zeekr 001, NIO ES8, Li Auto L7, XPeng P7, Xiaomi YU7 and others. That next round should offer an even richer look at where China’s leading smart EV systems stand today.

Just as importantly, the event arrives at a time when the competitive frontier is shifting from raw EV penetration to intelligent EV execution. China remains the world’s most important proving ground for urban assisted driving, but the commercial payoff will increasingly depend on whether these technologies can travel well—across cities, across brands, and eventually across borders.

In that sense, Wuhu was not just a local competition. It was a glimpse of the next global contest in the EV industry.