Japanese automaker Nissan unveils the N7 electric sedan, marking a unique integration of DeepSeek tech, a move that stands out among Japanese brands operating in China's auto market.
In a significant leap forward for the automotive industry, Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture between the Japanese auto giant Nissan and Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corporation, has integrated DeepSeek's AI models into their latest offering, the N7 electric sedan. This integration marks the first instance of a joint venture carmaker in China adopting DeepSeek's technology.
The DeepSeek-R1 AI model, integrated into the N7, offers a host of advanced benefits and features designed to enhance the vehicle's intelligence, efficiency, and user experience. One of the key advantages is its strong reasoning and creative capabilities, which have seen a notable 50% reduction in hallucinations (errors in content generation). This improvement leads to more reliable and accurate AI interaction, useful for in-car applications such as navigation, voice assistant tasks, and decision-making support.
DeepSeek-R1 also boasts explainable AI, meaning it exposes its complete reasoning process in tagged form. This transparency enables developers and users to understand why the AI made certain decisions, increasing trust and safety in critical scenarios such as autonomous driving and complex vehicle system management.
Furthermore, DeepSeek-R1 supports multi-agent learning, enabling coordinated decision-making in complex environments. For an electric sedan like the N7, this can improve autonomous driving, traffic interaction, and smart city integration by enabling the AI to manage multiple inputs and agents effectively.
The model is also efficient and cost-effective, activating only a fraction of its total parameters per token, delivering high performance at dramatically reduced computational cost and faster inference speeds. This means the AI runs efficiently onboard the vehicle, saving power and improving overall system responsiveness.
DeepSeek-R1 can be deployed on various platforms, including on-premise or cloud environments, with full ownership of data and model control. This reduces vendor lock-in and allows Dongfeng Nissan to tailor the AI specifically to their vehicle systems and customer needs.
The open-source availability of the DeepSeek-R1 model encourages widespread adaptation, innovation, and continuous improvement, which benefits the vehicle ecosystem in the N7 electric sedan by enabling feature enhancements and integration with other vehicle and cloud technologies.
Besides Dongfeng Nissan, other automotive brands like BYD, Zeekr, Dongfeng M-Hero, Smart, Leapmotor, IM Motors, and Arcfox have also integrated DeepSeek's AI models in their cockpits.
The N7 electric sedan, equipped with NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) capabilities on highways and city roads, made its global debut at the Guangzhou auto show in November 2024. Over the past month, DeepSeek has gained widespread recognition for its AI capabilities.
The N7, which measures 4,930 mm in length, 1,895 mm in width, 1,487 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,915 mm, as shown in its regulatory filing from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has entered a regulatory catalog from China's MIIT last month.
Dongfeng Nissan conducted performance tests on the N7 in -38°C cold conditions in Heihe, Heilongjiang province in northeastern China. The N7 uses a TZ200our X motor made by Dongfeng Motor with a maximum power of 200 kW.
In terms of voice control, navigation planning, and entertainment system recommendations, the N7 can accurately understand user needs and provide personalized services. Dongfeng Nissan has teamed up with Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta to create a high-level smart driving system for the N7.
An official launch date for the N7 has yet to be determined. However, with its advanced AI technology, the N7 promises to deliver a smarter, safer, and more user-friendly electric vehicle experience.
- The N7 electric sedan, developed by Dongfeng Nissan, has implemented DeepSeek's AI models, making it the first joint venture carmaker in China to adopt this technology.
- DeepSeek-R1, integrated into the N7, offers enhanced intelligence, efficiency, and user experience with its strong reasoning and creative capabilities, reducing hallucinations by 50%.
- DeepSeek-R1's explainable AI exposes its complete reasoning process, enhancing trust and safety in critical scenarios like autonomous driving and complex vehicle system management.
- The model supports multi-agent learning, improving autonomous driving, traffic interaction, and smart city integration by managing multiple inputs and agents effectively.
- DeepSeek-R1 is efficient and cost-effective, delivering high performance at reduced computational cost and faster inference speeds, running efficiently onboard the vehicle.
- Besides Dongfeng Nissan, other automotive brands like BYD, Zeekr, and IM Motors have also integrated DeepSeek's AI models in their vehicles.
- Dongfeng Nissan has partnered with Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta to create a high-level smart driving system for the N7, promising a smarter, safer, and more user-friendly electric vehicle experience.
