China's intelligent driving sector is making progress but still faces a long road to meet the government's 2030 safety goals, according to the latest monthly ranking from Chinese outlet D1EV (第一电动). The September ranking shows Bosch-Weride continuing to lead, with Horizon and Huawei tied for second, and Zhuoyu making a significant leap to fourth.
MPCI: The key metric
The ranking is based on MPCI (miles per critical intervention), a measure of how far a system can drive before requiring a safety-critical takeover. The Chinese government's 15th Five-Year Plan for intelligent connected new energy vehicles, released in September, sets a target for autonomous driving systems to be "substantially safer than human drivers" by 2030. Based on industry data, D1EV estimates this translates to an MPCI of about 1 million kilometers (621,000 miles), roughly 10 times better than the average human driver.
As of September 2026, the top three players have achieved MPCI in the hundreds of kilometers: Bosch-Weride at 149.5 km (93 miles), Huawei at 142.7 km (89 miles), and Horizon at 102 km (63 miles). The remaining eight players mostly have MPCI in the tens of kilometers, with the lowest at just over 10 km. This means the gap to the 2030 target is still about 10,000 times, a daunting challenge for the industry.
Ranking changes and challenges
The September ranking saw more significant changes than in previous months. Horizon and Huawei both scored 95.18 points, tying for second place—the first tie in the main ranking since the format was revised. Zhuoyu jumped from eighth to fourth, the only entrant to break into the top five this month. Nio dropped out of the top four, and Zeekr fell from sixth to tenth, the biggest decline. Li Auto, after six months of decline, saw a rebound and regained the top spot in the scenario ranking.
Among the 11 ranked systems, nine saw their average scores decline, with only Zhuoyu and Li Auto improving. The main reason was the Shenyang station's 23 competitions, which averaged only 79.18 points, similar to the previous month's Guiyang station. Bosch-Weride remained the only system with a perfect score, earning the title of "eight-time champion."
D1EV notes that the industry is at a critical juncture, with the top players reaching an MPCI of 100 km, equivalent to the "forward camp" at 6,500 meters on Mount Everest. The next milestones are 1,000 km and 10,000 km, which correspond to higher camps. The path forward requires sustained investment, organizational stability, and expansion overseas. The article highlights that five major automakers—BYD, Changan, Leapmotor, GAC, and Chery—are set to launch their self-developed systems by the end of the year, joining 17 teams in the race.
Despite the challenges, the industry remains optimistic. Tesla's recent achievement of a zero-intervention cross-country drive in the US has set a new benchmark, and Chinese companies are aiming to reach similar levels. However, the road ahead is steep, and only time will tell which companies can sustain the pace.
