BYD seems extremely confident in its driver-assistance system, or at least confident enough to put some money behind it.
The Chinese EV giant is now offering to pay damages for some drivers involved in crashes while using its self-driving tech. The company announced the initiative last week at its Intelligent Strategy Launch Event, where it also unveiled the latest developments for its self-driving computer chips.
BYD’s “Full Damage Coverage” guarantee is available to new buyers as well as existing owners who upgrade to God’s Eye 5.0, the latest version of the company’s advanced driver-assistance system, or ADAS, in China.
According to a BYD press release, the one-year policy covers “all resulting economic losses” from legally liable accidents that occur while a driver is using the system’s Urban Navigation on Autopilot (NOA) function in compliance with regulations.
Put simply, if the system is on and being used properly, BYD says it will foot the bill for crashes where the BYD driver is found at fault.
The company said that the “confidence to make this industry‑leading commitment” comes from the scale of its self-driving operation. This includes more than 3.15 million vehicles equipped with its Intelligent Driving Assistance system, over 124 million miles of God’s Eye driving data being logged every day, and an engineering team of 5,000 people dedicated to improving the technology.
This isn’t the first time BYD has offered to cover costs for crashes involving its tech. Last year, the company offered a similar deal for its smart parking feature. “With this new offer, following its commitment to Intelligent Parking, BYD has now become the world’s first automaker to offer such dual coverage for its advanced driving assistance systems,” the company said in its press release.
While this signals major confidence in its tech, as Electrek points out, it is a good marketing pitch.
After BYD offered its parking guarantee, usage of the feature went up from 21% to 93%. BYD undoubtedly wants the same thing to happen here.
Still, this is more than many other automakers have offered, especially those that have fought taking legal and financial responsibility for crashes involving their tech.
It is also the latest example of Chinese EV makers outpacing American-made EVs on key measures like charging speed and driving range.
Meanwhile, in the States, Trump canceled federal EV subsidies last year, prompting several automakers to rethink or scale back parts of their EV strategies.
Read More: BYD Is Rolling Out 5-Minute Charging on Several Popular EVs
