Chinese automotive giant BYD took a game-changing step to reinforce its leadership in the electric vehicle market with smart technologies. The company has officially announced its new policy, which will be a direct rival to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. The new strategy seems to completely change the stability in the autonomous driving world, both with the incredible price advantage it offers and with its legal liability guarantee, which is the first in its field.

The Manufacturer Now Bears the Cost of Accidents

The biggest gray area in smart driving assistants to date has been the issue of who will be responsible for accidents that occur while the system is active. While manufacturers usually place all legal responsibility on the driver, BYD completely breaks this rule with the reliable autonomous driving software it has developed.

According to the company’s statement, drivers using the new smart driving package called “God’s Eye B” will be exempt from all accidents that occur while the system is on, as long as they comply with the rules. BYD will directly cover all material damages, damages to third parties and injury costs of at-fault accidents that may occur while urban autopilot and advanced automatic parking systems are active. Moreover, there is no ceiling payment limit for this coverage, and the drivers’ existing insurance no-claim discounts are not affected by this situation.

Autonomous Driving Package for One Fifth of Tesla FSD Price

What really made BYD’s move aggressive was its budget-friendly price policy. This advanced hardware and software package, powered by LiDAR sensors, is available in the Chinese market for a one-time price of only 12,000 Yuan (approximately $1,800).

While the price of the Tesla FSD package, which promises similar features in the same market, is 64,000 Yuan (approximately $9,400), the ADS Max system developed by Huawei finds buyers around 36,000 Yuan. Offering fully autonomous driving experience and accident insurance at almost one-fifth the price of Tesla, BYD aims to spread the technology to the base. While the company states that it relies on the huge data pool coming from more than 3 million vehicles on the roads, it plans to increase the usage rate of smart systems to over 90% with this breakthrough.