BYD executive says L3 conditional autonomous driving could launch in 2028
In short
BYD senior vice president Yang Dongsheng said at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference on 21 October that L3 conditional autonomous driving has a prospect of reaching the market in 2028. He said higher-level autonomous driving could follow one to two years later through iteration.
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BYD senior vice president Yang Dongsheng (杨冬生) said on 21 October that L3 conditional autonomous driving has a prospect of reaching the market in 2028. He spoke at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference in response to a question on when BYD's L3 vehicles would be launched. Yang, who is also head of BYD's Automotive New Technology Research Institute, added that higher-level autonomous driving could follow one to two years later through iteration. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Yicai, CLS, Jiemian and 36Kr carried the remarks in short items under the headline "BYD responds to L3 vehicle launch timing". IT Home, Jiemian and 36Kr credited Yicai as the source. TMTPost included the item in its morning news roundup on 22 October. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
IT Home added context. It said a mandatory national standard on safety requirements for L3 and L4 autonomous driving systems was published in August and is due to take effect on 1 July 2027. It also reported that Wan Gang, honorary chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said at the opening of the conference that, as of the first half of 2026, 57,000 kilometres of roads had been opened for testing, more than 20,000 test and demonstration licences had been issued, and cumulative test mileage exceeded 220 million kilometres. Wan said L3 penetration is expected to exceed 35% by 2030. [ 3 ]
IT Home also reminded readers that driver assistance is not the same as autonomous driving, and that the driver remains responsible and must stay attentive even when such functions are switched on. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The remarks give a stated target year for BYD's L3 vehicles, in answer to a question about when they would arrive. The documents give no further commitments from the company, and the outlets reported the statement without added analysis.
Key facts
- Yang Dongsheng (杨冬生), BYD Group senior vice president and head of its Automotive New Technology Research Institute, spoke at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference on 21 October. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- He was responding to a question on when BYD's L3 vehicles would reach the market. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Yang said L3 conditional autonomous driving has a prospect of reaching the market in 2028. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- He said higher-level autonomous driving could arrive a further one to two years later through iteration. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- IT Home noted that a mandatory national standard on safety requirements for L3 and L4 autonomous driving systems was published in August and is due to take effect on 1 July 2027. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether 2028 is a firm launch date for BYD's L3 vehicles. Yang's wording, as reported, was that launch has a prospect of happening in 2028; no outlet gives a firm commitment or details of models or markets.
- Original source of the quote. IT Home, Jiemian and 36Kr credit Yicai for the report, so the outlets may not be independent of one another.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yicai published its item on BYD's response about L3 vehicle timing. [ 1 ]
- CLS published Yang Dongsheng's remarks on L3 and higher-level autonomous driving. [ 2 ]
- IT Home published the report, citing Yicai. [ 3 ]
- Jiemian published the item, crediting Yicai. [ 4 ]
- 36Kr published the item, crediting Yicai. [ 5 ]