On September 20, 2024, Great Wall Motors officially announced that its jointly developed RISC-V automotive MCU chip, Bauhinia M100, has been completed and successfully lit up. Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motors, Wu Nan, President of Mand Electronics, Geng Weifeng, Deputy General Manager of Great Wall Motors Technology Center, Chen Wenbin, Member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, Xu Chaoqian, Chairman of the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, Bao Yungang, Chief Scientist of Beijing Open Source Chip Research Institute, Kong Qingkai, Chip Product Expert of Beijing Zhongke Haixin Technology Co., Ltd., Li Yajun, Chairman of Linxin Investment, and other strategic partners from all parties of chip development attended this important ceremony.
The intelligent strategy has made another breakthrough, and Great Wall Motors has entered the "core" era
Bauhinia M100 is the first automotive-grade MCU chip based on the open source RISC-V core design developed by Great Wall Motors and other parties. It adopts a modular design, the core is reconfigurable, and the 4-level pipeline design enables it to have faster processing speed and less time consumption, while facilitating future upgrades and expansions. It meets the requirements of functional safety ASIL-B level, supports national encryption, and complies with ISO21434 network information security standards.
Bauhinia M100 is an important achievement of Great Wall Motors' "hardware and software integration" intelligent strategy, and builds the cornerstone for future innovative applications such as intelligent driving and intelligent cockpits. The jointly developed MCU chip will significantly reduce procurement costs and effectively enhance product competitiveness. Bauhinia M100 has also explored a flexible and low-cost technical route for the industry, which is expected to trigger a wave of innovation in the field of chip design and promote the development of the domestic RISC-V automotive regulation ecosystem.
As Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, said: "The core of the car is the parts, not the whole car, which is integrated through many technologies. Great Wall's manufacturing depth and breadth should be the most comprehensive manufacturing company in China. In the future, no matter who issues the chip, as long as it is independently developed, we will continue to support it."
Technological innovation leads the future, and diversified applications expand possibilities
As early as October 2021, Great Wall Motors formed a professional team dedicated to the research and development of power semiconductor technology. This strategic move also quickly bore fruit. On November 1, 2022, Wuxi Xindong Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., a power semiconductor module packaging and testing company under Great Wall Motors, was officially established and focused on the research and development and innovation of Si IGBT and SiC MOS. Through the collaboration of the entire industry chain, it deeply laid out chip design and module packaging and testing.
After more than ten years of intelligent layout, smart driving and smart cockpit have been "updated" one after another. Today, the Bauhinia M100 chip has also been successfully lit up. Great Wall Motors' intelligence can be said to have achieved fruitful results. Bauhinia M100 is also a core project of the forest ecological strategy. The research and development process itself also confirms that Great Wall Motors' cooperation network has expanded and its collaborative innovation capabilities with industry chain partners have been further strengthened.
Under the dual challenges of global competition and technological change, Bauhinia M100 is not only a breakthrough in the field of automotive-grade chips, but also Great Wall Motors' determination in technological innovation and open cooperation. It has also become a demonstrative way for Chinese automobile companies to strengthen their core competitiveness and complete independent innovation.
