On March 30, 2 a.m. Beijing time, Lotus, a world-renowned luxury car brand, launched the world’s first electric hyper SUV - Eletre. The brand-new model is equipped with Lotus' first convertible lidar system and ADAS technology. It is officially called "the most technologically advanced car in Lotus’ history".

Lotus is one of the first traditional gasoline sports car brands to transform towards intelligent EV. The release of Eletre means Lotus has officially ushered in an important milestone for its transformation. Eletre is based on Lotus' unique "track-level intelligent driving" technology. Through all-around perception coverage, superior software model, hybrid cloud architecture and highly-advanced prediction algorithms, Electre is able to achieve racer-level analysis accuracy, decisive decision-making, and professional responses.

In terms of autonomous driving perception, the Lotus Eletre is equipped with a combination of ultra-high-performance lidar, ultra-high-definition camera, and 4D millimeter-wave radar, reaching new performance benchmarks for intelligent driving.

Among the lidars Lotus Eletre has equipped, the front and back main lidars are Hesai’s 128-channel hybrid solid-state lidar -- AT128. In order to effectively reduce the wind resistance when ADAS is not used, the lidars have adopted a convertible design. This means the lidar must be able to fit into a very limited space.

Through Hesai’s self-proprietary chip technology, AT128 integrates 128 independent laser channels together to ensure high performance, reaching an ultra-high 1200x128 overall resolution, and generating over 1.53 million data points per second. AT128 is considered having the strongest comprehensive performance among currently mass-produced automotive-grade lidars. At the same time, the chip is able to reduce lidar’s overall size, solving the problem that traditional lidars couldn’t have “high performance” and “small volume” at the same time. The compact AT128 is easy to blend in with car body design, which compliments the elegant appearance of the Lotus Eletre.

Hesai’s AT128 has a ranging capability of 200 meters at 10% reflectivity, with an effective ground detection range as far as 70 meters. At the same time, in terms of resolution and accuracy, AT128 features an ultra-high measurement frequency of over 1.53 million points per second, breaking the date point frequency record comparing to other long-range hybrid solid-state products. The high-performance AT128 not only provides Lotus Eletre with track-level perception, but also brings drivers a safer, more comfortable, and efficient intelligent driving experience.

With outstanding performance, reliability and mass production capability, Hesai's lidar solution has been favored by mainstream global autonomous driving developers, OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and robotic companies. Currently, AT128 has secured several million orders from OEM partners including Li Auto, JiDu, HiPhi, and Lotus. It will enter the mass-production stage at Hesai’s brand new "Maxwell" super factory by the end of 2022.