July 2026 brought two telling snapshots of China’s EV industry: BYD unveiled the new Qin MAX with both EV and PHEV versions plus standard ultra-fast charging, while the latest D1EV smart-driving competition in Kunming exposed just how uneven urban NOA performance still is across Chinese brands. Together, the news shows a market moving on two fronts at once—hardware and charging are improving quickly, but autonomous driving capability remains highly scenario-dependent, especially in complex community roads, parking areas, and narrow urban environments.
BYD Qin MAX Targets the Space Between Qin L and Han
BYD has officially revealed the Qin MAX, a new sedan positioned above the Qin L and below the Han. According to the filing and official images cited by D1EV/Kuai Technology, the car will be offered in both plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery-electric (EV) forms, with flash charging standard across the range.
That matters because BYD is clearly trying to widen its reach in the highly competitive 10,000-150,000 yuan mainstream sedan market while adding more premium attributes.
Key dimensions and positioning
The Qin MAX is effectively a larger, more mature step up from the Qin PLUS:
| Model | Length | Width | Height | Wheelbase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BYD Qin MAX | 4,866 mm | 1,880 mm | 1,495 mm | 2,820 mm |
| BYD Qin PLUS | 4,780 mm | 1,837 mm | 1,515 mm | 2,718 mm |
| Difference | +86 mm | +43 mm | -20 mm | +102 mm |
With a 2,820 mm wheelbase, the Qin MAX moves closer to true B-segment sedan proportions. Chinese media have already dubbed it a “smaller Han,” and that feels directionally correct: it is meant to offer more cabin space and a more upscale look without jumping to a significantly higher price class.
Powertrain highlights
For the EV version, the filing lists two outputs:
- 120 kW single-motor version
- 52.87 kWh Blade Battery
- CLTC range: about 530 km
- 240 kW single-motor version
- 64.32 kWh Blade Battery
- CLTC range: about 630 km
- 0-100 km/h in the 5-second range
- Peak torque above 400 N·m
The PHEV version has not yet been fully detailed, but BYD says it will also support flash charging.
Why flash charging is the headline feature
BYD’s most aggressive claim for the Qin MAX is charging speed:
- 10% to 70% in 5 minutes
- 10% to 97% in 9 minutes
- At -30°C, charging reportedly takes only 3 minutes longer
If those figures translate well from test conditions to real-world charging, the Qin MAX could become one of the strongest value propositions in China’s mainstream sedan segment. It also signals how fast Chinese OEMs are turning charging performance into a frontline consumer feature, not just a spec-sheet talking point.
Design and tech
The Qin MAX uses BYD’s latest Dragon Face styling, with a fastback roofline, panoramic dark roof treatment, and semi-concealed door handles designed to align with newer safety requirements such as mechanical opening provisions. Buyers will also be able to choose God’s Eye B lidar-assisted driving hardware, adding another layer of technology appeal.
Kunming Smart-Driving Contest: Chery Fengyun T9L Takes the Crown
While BYD’s latest sedan shows how quickly product hardware is evolving, the Second Smart Driving Competition’s Kunming round revealed something equally important: China’s urban NOA systems still vary dramatically in maturity.
In the July 18 preliminary round and subsequent final covered by D1EV, the competition used a closed-book format, meaning routes were not disclosed in advance. That is significant because it better simulates the messy unpredictability of real-world urban driving.
Final route difficulty
The Kunming final featured:
- 12 vehicles
- 22 km route length
- 33 traffic lights
- 5 waypoints
- 9 test points
- Estimated run time of 1 hour 30 minutes
Scenarios included:
- U-turns
- Internal parking lots
- Residential community roads
- Narrow and extremely narrow lanes
- Roundabouts
- Mixed pedestrian-and-vehicle traffic
These are exactly the areas where Chinese automakers now claim progress in urban NOA, but they are also where edge cases still overwhelm even advanced systems.
Final standings
According to D1EV, the podium in Kunming looked like this:
| Position | Model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chery Fengyun T9L | Ended Xingjiyuan ET’s six-win streak |
| 2 | Hongqi Tiangong 05 | First appearance, immediate runner-up |
| 3 | NIO ES6 | First time entering the top three |
| 4 | Exeed Xingjiyuan ET | 94.04 points |
Other notable outcomes:
- Aito M5 finished sixth
- IM LS8 finished seventh
- Qijing GT7 with Huawei ADS 5 underperformed expectations after failing to fully solve campus/park scenarios
- Zeekr 9X avoided scenario deductions but faced a traffic incident under review
The surprise story: Hongqi and NIO outperform expectations
The biggest headline from the final was not just Chery’s win. It was the rise of two brands that had not dominated this contest before:
- Hongqi Tiangong 05 debuted and finished second
- NIO ES6 broke into the top three for the first time
That suggests China’s intelligent-driving field is broadening. It is no longer just a story of a few early leaders; more OEMs are beginning to deliver competent city-assist performance, at least in controlled competition conditions.
What the Contest Actually Tested
One of the reasons the D1EV event is worth watching is that it does not just reward smooth lane-keeping on easy roads. It stresses the ugly corners of urban autonomy.
Hardest problem areas in Kunming
The competition highlighted several recurring pain points:
- Parking lot entry and exit autonomy remained inconsistent
- Community internal roads caused frequent takeovers
- Extremely narrow-road three-point U-turns were especially difficult
- Unmapped park/campus environments still broke some systems’ logic
- Negotiation behavior around parked cars, oncoming traffic, and pedestrians remains brand-dependent
At one starting parking-lot test, several cars required takeover just to pull out of a parking space, including:
- Chery Fengyun T9L
- XPeng Mona M03
- Hongqi Tiangong 05
- Xiaomi SU7
At the most difficult extremely narrow U-turn test point, only the IM LS8 passed without takeover.
That single result says a lot: impressive highway and arterial-road demos still do not guarantee robust urban capability in constrained, irregular environments.
Preliminary Round: Rules Got Tougher, and Scores Shifted
Before the final, the July 18 preliminary round introduced D1EV’s updated V8.4 scoring system, which tightened standards on safety, efficiency, and violations.
What changed in V8.4
The updated scoring framework included:
- New parking interruption penalty: 2 points per incident
- Safety scoring deducted from a broader 50-point safety pool
- “Ghost behavior” standard revised to cover non-essential actions, not just interference-free roads
- New ghost reversing penalty
- Red-light running: now -10 points per incident
- Wrong-way driving: now -5 points per incident
- “Stuck without detouring” countdown reduced to 5 seconds, from 15 seconds
- Takeover deductions can now push final completion scoring below zero
This matters because it shifts contests away from forgiving headline scores and toward harsher real-world accountability. For smart-driving systems, hesitation is no longer merely inefficient—it is increasingly treated as a practical failure.
Preliminary winners
The preliminary round featured 8 vehicles from three major camps:
- Huawei camp: Wuling Huajing S, Avatr 07, Aito M5
- WeRide camp: Exeed Xingjiyuan ET, GAC Aion N60
- Horizon camp: Exeed ET5, Chery iCar V27, Chery Fengyun T9L
The three cars that advanced were:
| Model | Result |
|---|---|
| Aito M5 | Qualified for final |
| Chery Fengyun T9L | Qualified for final |
| Exeed Xingjiyuan ET | Qualified for final |
D1EV reported that Xingjiyuan ET led the preliminary round with a near-perfect performance, while Aito M5, Aion N60, and Fengyun T9L also scored 90 points or above overall.
Preliminary round lessons
Several trends stood out:
- Huawei-affiliated systems still struggled with some park/campus waypoint handling
- Horizon-backed iCar V27 showed promise in scenario execution but was hit hard on efficiency, with 16 points deducted in that module
- Aito M5 delivered one of the cleanest safety performances
- Xingjiyuan ET remained highly polished in difficult urban conditions, even if it ultimately lost the final crown
Smart-Driving Performance Snapshot
The final results reveal a more nuanced picture than simple rankings suggest.
| Model | Notable Strength | Notable Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Chery Fengyun T9L | Overall balance; few takeovers | Some parking/urban edge-case interventions |
| Hongqi Tiangong 05 | Strong safety score; strong debut | Needed parking-space exit takeover |
| NIO ES6 | Solid narrow-road performance; low takeover count | Still required intervention in some community scenarios |
| Xingjiyuan ET | Excellent all-scenario consistency | Could not defend title in final scoring |
| Aito M5 | Strong safety; good parking finish | Not class-leading overall in final |
| IM LS8 | Best result in extreme narrow U-turn | Lower safety deductions hurt overall score |
| Xiaomi SU7 | Completed parking-in successfully | Highest takeover count at 15; weak efficiency |
| Qijing GT7 / Huawei ADS 5 | No safety deductions | Campus/park NOA activation issue cost 20 points |
| Zeekr 9X | No all-scenario deduction | Traffic incident clouded result |
A few numbers stand out from D1EV’s scoring breakdown:
- Zeekr 9X was the only car with no deduction in all-scenario ability
- Aito M5, Hongqi Tiangong 05, and Qijing GT7 had no NOA safety deductions
- IM LS8 had the best efficiency deduction result, losing just 2 points
- Xiaomi SU7 had the most takeovers: 15
- Chery Fengyun T9L, Hongqi Tiangong 05, and NIO ES6 had the fewest takeovers: 4 each
Why This Matters for China’s EV Race
These two stories—BYD’s Qin MAX launch and Kunming’s smart-driving contest—capture the new shape of competition in the Chinese EV market.
1. Charging is becoming a mass-market battleground
Flash charging is no longer reserved for halo EVs. BYD is bringing it into a more affordable sedan segment, which could pressure rivals such as Geely, XPeng, and Chery to accelerate their own fast-charging rollouts.
2. Smart driving is still highly fragmented
Chinese brands have made rapid progress in urban NOA, but performance remains inconsistent between:
- main roads and internal community roads
- standard U-turns and ultra-tight maneuvering
- navigation execution and parking-lot behavior
- safety conservatism and efficiency/aggressiveness
In short, many systems are good—but very few are universally polished.
3. Ecosystem competition matters as much as brand competition
The Kunming results also highlight how China’s market is increasingly organized around technology stacks as much as OEM badges:
- Huawei ADS
- Horizon HSD
- WeRide-based systems
- in-house systems from NIO, BYD-related suppliers, SAIC/IM, and others
That has implications far beyond one event. Winners will not just be automakers with attractive vehicles, but those with the best integrated stack across battery, charging, software, sensors, and continuous OTA refinement.
Global Implications
For overseas observers, the lesson is straightforward: Chinese automakers are not competing on price alone anymore.
They are advancing simultaneously in:
- battery packaging and cost efficiency
- ultra-fast charging deployment
- software-defined vehicle features
- assisted-driving systems for complex urban environments
The Qin MAX shows how quickly advanced charging and ADAS hardware can move down-market in China. The Kunming competition, meanwhile, offers a reality check that could be useful globally: even in the world’s most aggressive smart-EV market, urban autonomy remains difficult, especially in semi-structured environments like parking compounds and old residential districts.
What to Watch Next
The next questions are clear.
For BYD, the key unknown is pricing. If the Qin MAX lands aggressively in the 100,000-150,000 yuan band, it could become one of the most disruptive family sedans in China thanks to its size, range, and charging story.
For the smart-driving field, attention now turns to the next D1EV round in Guiyang, where the updated rules will continue to punish hesitation, weak detouring logic, and parking failures. Brands that looked strong in Kunming will need to prove they can repeat the performance in a different urban environment.
The broader takeaway is that China’s EV race is no longer about who can launch an electric car fastest. It is about who can deliver the best all-round ownership proposition: space, charging, battery tech, software, and reliable smart driving in the messy real world.
