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thewayneYou can't buy BYD cars here: the Biden administration slapped a 100% tariff on them to protect the Ketamine Kid's brand as they would literally destroy Tesla. They're available in Mexico, Europe, and selling like hotcakes in China where they're made.
BYD, Build Your Dream, started as an EV battery maker and became a car company. And they make amazing stuff. You can buy their entry level vehicle, the Seagull (they like aquatic names), for under $10,000 (converted currency, sans tariff).
Now here's where stuff gets interesting.
They have achieved L4 self-drive, and self-parking. Tesla doesn't have L4. And it's provided in the Seagull. And they have such confidence in it, that if your car dings itself or another car while self-parking, BYD will PAY FOR THE REPAIR!
The system is called God's Eye, it comes in three tiers. The basic level has - get this - 12 cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors with 1-centimeter accuracy. The two higher tiers add one or three Lidar sensors.
The Tesla used to have Lidar, but Lidar sensors are expensive to buy and maintain, so they literally took them out of vehicles that it had been installed in and went camera-only. And they were cheap cameras.
My Subaru, a 2015 Crosstrek, has a system called Eyesight. It gives lane deviation warnings and has really cool adaptive cruise control. I can set the follow distance for three different lengths, speed-dependent, and it will maintain that distance quite well. If the vehicle in front of me slows down, my car slows down. If it speeds up, mine will speed up to the limit that the cruise control is set for. If another vehicle pulls in front of me, mine will slow down and re-establish that set distance that I configured.
It's REALLY cool.
But it doesn't self-park.
Tesla had self-park, once upon a time, and also had a recall feature where you could park your car in a lot, then go to dinner, walk back to the lot entrance, hit a button on your phone, and 'recall' your car and it would supposedly navigate the lot and come to you. I don't think they do that anymore after a lot of fender benders. Maybe they do, I'm not sure.
But these BYD cars? I expect they could do it.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91366273/byd-bests-tesla-again-cars-are-the-first-to-truly-park-themselves
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1930239/byd-pledges-to-cover-damages-from-self-parking-car-crashes
BYD, like pretty much every car maker, has a high-end line called Yangwang. They make a hypercar called the U9.
It can jump over potholes.
I kid you not. It has a computer-controlled suspension that can read the road ahead and tell the car to leap over obstacles! This video has all sorts of awesome, including eluding a ninja ambush. Sorta.
If we move to Europe, I would seriously consider one of their cars.
BYD, Build Your Dream, started as an EV battery maker and became a car company. And they make amazing stuff. You can buy their entry level vehicle, the Seagull (they like aquatic names), for under $10,000 (converted currency, sans tariff).
Now here's where stuff gets interesting.
They have achieved L4 self-drive, and self-parking. Tesla doesn't have L4. And it's provided in the Seagull. And they have such confidence in it, that if your car dings itself or another car while self-parking, BYD will PAY FOR THE REPAIR!
The system is called God's Eye, it comes in three tiers. The basic level has - get this - 12 cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors with 1-centimeter accuracy. The two higher tiers add one or three Lidar sensors.
The Tesla used to have Lidar, but Lidar sensors are expensive to buy and maintain, so they literally took them out of vehicles that it had been installed in and went camera-only. And they were cheap cameras.
My Subaru, a 2015 Crosstrek, has a system called Eyesight. It gives lane deviation warnings and has really cool adaptive cruise control. I can set the follow distance for three different lengths, speed-dependent, and it will maintain that distance quite well. If the vehicle in front of me slows down, my car slows down. If it speeds up, mine will speed up to the limit that the cruise control is set for. If another vehicle pulls in front of me, mine will slow down and re-establish that set distance that I configured.
It's REALLY cool.
But it doesn't self-park.
Tesla had self-park, once upon a time, and also had a recall feature where you could park your car in a lot, then go to dinner, walk back to the lot entrance, hit a button on your phone, and 'recall' your car and it would supposedly navigate the lot and come to you. I don't think they do that anymore after a lot of fender benders. Maybe they do, I'm not sure.
But these BYD cars? I expect they could do it.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91366273/byd-bests-tesla-again-cars-are-the-first-to-truly-park-themselves
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1930239/byd-pledges-to-cover-damages-from-self-parking-car-crashes
BYD, like pretty much every car maker, has a high-end line called Yangwang. They make a hypercar called the U9.
It can jump over potholes.
I kid you not. It has a computer-controlled suspension that can read the road ahead and tell the car to leap over obstacles! This video has all sorts of awesome, including eluding a ninja ambush. Sorta.
If we move to Europe, I would seriously consider one of their cars.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 06:04 pm (UTC)The dust and dirt on the Ranch take quite a toll on autos, and I always worry about electronics in this environment. Clearly the "new" (I'm old) sealed electronics help a lot but keeping the cameras working on the Subaru means extra cleaning both summer and winter.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 07:14 pm (UTC)Oh, I can imagine! I've lived in the desert all my life, first in Phoenix and now next to White Sands. Thus far, I've had pretty good luck with electronics for the last 20-30 years. But I can understand and respect your concerns, you live in a very different environment and have different reliability needs.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 07:25 pm (UTC)Mom used to try and keep a green buffer zone around the house, but I've abandoned that in the last few years, it is hard to keep up and uses a lot of water. As a result there is more dust. It gets into everything. Every trip in the car is over at least 2 miles of dirt road, so the car is always filthy. If I'm going any distance I always stop and wash at least my rear window after I've gone down the hill so I can see clearly out of it.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 07:41 pm (UTC)Every morning after I get off the top of the mountain where our house is and down onto the highway, I have to give the rear wiper a few swipes to get the dust and pollen off my rear window, ditto with the front. I go through a fair amount of washer fluid.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 07:52 pm (UTC)