Intelligent driving insurance: Does it truly provide a safety net or is it just a "IQ tax"?

Even now, Chen Hua still clearly remembers that thrilling morning.

When his car was driving on the highway with the intelligent driving pilot assistance function enabled, a patch of fallen trees suddenly appeared ahead. At this critical moment, the intelligent driving system failed to perform - it not only didn't take actions such as avoiding or braking, but there wasn't even a connection management reminder. Just two seconds before the impending collision, he instinctively jerked the steering wheel to the left. The car grazed past the trees, and only the rearview mirror and headlight were damaged in the end - this was already the best outcome in such an unfortunate situation.

“If an accident occurs while the intelligent driving assistance is enabled, we can pay up to 5 million yuan in compensation at most.” After calming down, Chen Hua remembered the intelligent driving protection service that came with the car purchase, but the claim process was not smooth.

“The official said I didn't meet the claim conditions because once I turned the steering wheel, the assistance driving system exited, and it was assumed that I took over. So the accident had nothing to do with the intelligent driving,” said Chen Hua, who had been arguing with the official loss adjuster for many days. He frankly admitted that this experience had made him have a serious sense of distrust towards the intelligent driving function and the intelligent driving insurance.

In fact, Chen Hua's experience is not an isolated case. Among the real car owners we contacted, many are caught in an extreme game with car companies regarding liability determination and claim standards.

Is the intelligent driving insurance with a coverage amount of millions really a safety rope to cover technical risks, or is it just an IQ tax for users under the guise of marketing gimmicks?

NO.1 [Not real insurance, but an additional service]

“Intelligent driving” is undoubtedly the keyword in the automotive circle this year. Car companies are not only competing in technology and price. For example, BYD put forward the slogan of “equal access to intelligent driving” and introduced high - level intelligent driving to models priced at 70,000 yuan. They are also competing in terms of protection and rights, making promises like “let users drive with peace of mind, and insurance will cover the risks” to demonstrate the strength of their intelligent driving technology.

According to incomplete statistics, since 2019, dozens of car companies such as Changan, Baojun, XPeng, and Avita have successively launched assistance driving protection plans with amounts ranging from 1 million yuan to 6 million yuan, which is what we commonly call intelligent driving insurance. If a car owner has an accident while using the assistance driving function and meets the corresponding conditions, they can receive compensation.

List of domestic car companies that have launched “intelligent driving insurance”

Except for XPeng Motors, most car companies such as GAC Group and Hongmeng Zhixing give the intelligent driving insurance to car owners for free in the first year, but it is not clear whether it will be charged in the second year and the relevant amount.

It is worth noting that except for Changan Automobile's “automatic parking liability insurance” which belongs to commercial insurance, other intelligent driving insurance products are not real insurance registered with the regulatory authorities.

According to Article 6 of the Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, insurance business can only be operated by licensed insurance companies.

Wang Guojun, a professor at the School of Insurance of the University of International Business and Economics, also clearly stated: “Insurance products can only be designed and provided by insurance companies. Those provided by other institutions are not regular insurance products.”

Due to factors such as insufficient samples of intelligent driving accidents and limited capabilities of traditional actuarial models, insurance companies have not yet developed independent intelligent driving insurance types for individuals. At present, intelligent driving insurance is a value - added service or car - using right led by car companies. This can also be seen from the product naming and purchase threshold.

Promotional poster of XPeng Motors' intelligent driving assistance safety service

Take XPeng Motors as an example. Its intelligent driving assistance safety service requires users to first purchase auto insurance through XPeng's official channel, and the purchased commercial insurance must include full - coverage vehicle damage insurance and the third - party liability insurance amount should not be less than 1 million yuan to get the purchase entry. When Jiyue, which had a problem last year, launched its “intelligent driving insurance”, it also put forward similar requirements.

In terms of positioning, intelligent driving insurance plays an auxiliary and supplementary role, and the compensation order is generally after traditional auto insurance.

An Avita staff member said that if a vehicle has an accident in an intelligent driving assistance scenario, the car owner needs to use their own auto insurance for claims first, and then apply for relevant claims and compensation according to the conditions set by the “intelligent driving worry - free service rights”. The compensation amount afterwards can also make up for the increase in the traditional auto insurance premium in the next year to a certain extent.

However, for the intelligent parking scenario with low system operation difficulty and slow vehicle speed, if an accident occurs, the intelligent driving insurance of some car companies supports direct compensation. For example, the intelligent parking accident protection service recently launched by BYD does not require going through the insurance process. Car owners can directly contact the car company's after - sales service for handling.

NO.2 [There are “blurred areas” in liability determination]

One million, three million, six million... When car companies launch intelligent driving protection rights, they always come up with quite attractive large numbers, as if they can easily cover any accident that occurs when the car is in intelligent driving mode. But in reality, it's not that easy for car companies to fulfill their million - yuan promises. They often face multiple hurdles such as data black boxes and blurred responsibilities.

Currently, intelligent driving insurance relies on three types of key data. The first is system performance data, including perception mis - recognition rate and algorithm response delay. The second is behavioral data such as user takeover frequency and attention maintenance duration. The third is external environmental data such as road and weather conditions.

The good news is that as long as the above data is mastered, accurate pricing and efficient claims can be effectively achieved. But the bad news is that currently only car companies have the right to access, publish, and interpret relevant data. Insurance companies and car owners lack the ability to independently obtain the original data. The problem of the data black box is right in front of us.

In March this year, Mr. Deng collided with a rolled - over vehicle parked horizontally in front while using the ACC + LCC (Adaptive Cruise Control & Lane Centering Control) function of his XPeng P7. XPeng's official judgment was that the car owner did not observe the environment in front of the vehicle and take over the vehicle in time. Mr. Deng did not agree with this. He said that he was not distracted at that time, his hands did not leave the steering wheel, and he had repeatedly contacted XPeng to ask for the background driving data after the accident, but the other party was reluctant to provide it for a long time.

As the seller of intelligent driving insurance and the liability appraiser, the car company's identity as both “referee and player” inevitably makes the intelligent driving insurance terms a new way for car companies to “shift the blame”.

Currently, all intelligent driving functions of mass - produced passenger cars in China are at level L2 or below. In other words, after an accident occurs to an intelligent driving vehicle, the liability lies with the car owner, not the car company.

“The driver is the ultimate responsible subject.” Wang Qiang, the director of the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, also expressed a similar view. Once a driver “takes hands off the steering wheel and eyes off the road” while driving, they may face three legal risks: civil compensation, administrative penalties, and criminal liability.

However, the excessive publicity of intelligent driving technology by car companies, such as expressions like “L2.999” and “quasi - L3”, have made many users blur the difference between L2 and L3, leading to users relaxing their vigilance during use and causing potential safety hazards.

In addition, different car companies have different qualifying conditions for the effectiveness of their intelligent driving insurance products. This reminds users that they should not only pay attention to the key points emphasized in the car company's promotional posters, but also focus on the small print.

Take Hongmeng Zhixing as an example. It clearly requires that the intelligent driving function be in the on - state when the accident occurs, and the traffic police determine that the vehicle is at fault in the accident. The former is exactly the point where Li Ming, an AITO M9 owner, has a “dispute” with the car company over the accident liability division.

According to Mr. Li, before the accident, he was using the NCA (Navigation - guided Intelligent Driving) function on the highway. Somehow, the intelligent driving system suddenly exited, and the vehicle then lost control and crashed directly into the left - hand guardrail. The incident happened so fast that he didn't have time to react at that time.

Comparison of in - car camera images of AITO M9

“I was driving normally. My hands were always on the steering wheel, and I didn't step on the brake. But now the official insists that I intervened manually.” Like most car owners, Li Ming chose to post the intelligent driving accident video on social media, hoping to change the car company's decision with the power of public opinion. But as of the time of publication, the result of the claim rejection has not changed.

In contrast, XPeng, which launched its intelligent driving insurance service five months later, has given a more lenient scope - accidents that occur within five seconds after the end of intelligent driving can all be compensated. However, there is still room for improvement. A single time limit is difficult to cover all car - using scenarios.

NO.3 [In conclusion]

Currently, the development of intelligent driving technology has entered the “fast lane”. Data shows that in 2024, the proportion of new energy vehicles equipped with L2 - level assistance driving in China has exceeded 60%. Many car companies such as SAIC, Changan, GAC, XPeng, and ZEEKR have joined the competition for the implementation of L3 - level autonomous driving; Huawei also recently announced that it will start the pilot commercialization of high - speed L3 - level autonomous driving and the testing of urban L4 - level autonomous driving in 2025.

While technology is advancing rapidly, the alarm bell for safety has also rung. Many traffic tragedies caused by the failure of intelligent assistance systems or drivers' excessive reliance are still vivid in our memory.

In this context, the intelligent driving insurance, although controversial, is undoubtedly an important exploration to deal with the risks of intelligent driving. If we look at a longer time - frame, the policy framework and data infrastructure to support its improvement are being accelerated.

At the beginning of this year, four departments including the National Financial Regulatory Administration have included intelligent driving insurance in the reform agenda of new energy vehicle insurance. This means that intelligent driving insurance is expected to become a separate insurance type.

In the proposals of the Two Sessions in 2025, He Xiaopeng, a deputy to the National People's Congress, suggested that relevant departments speed up the revision of the Road Traffic Safety Law to clarify the accident liability division of intelligent driving vehicles at different levels.

Under the leadership of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a third - party data storage platform and a data privacy computing platform have been put into pilot operation. Car companies can automatically and real - time upload vehicle data, providing an objective basis for accident liability determination.

There are many similar positive signals. However, before the era of L4 - level autonomous driving truly arrives and before the liability subject shifts from the driver to the car company, users still need to stay sober: Intelligent driving and intelligent driving insurance are not all - powerful amulets. Holding the steering wheel firmly is still the most reliable guarantee during this transition period.

(The names of the interviewed car owners in this article are all aliases.)

This article is from the WeChat public account “AutoReport Automotive Industry News”, author: Chen Xini. Republished with permission from 36Kr.