Volkswagen Group’s first in-house full-scenario Level 2++ driver assistance system for the Chinese market is entering series production, with the technology planned for seven new energy vehicle models this year. The system, designated HS8 or Hyper Sense 8, was developed by CARIZON, the joint venture between Volkswagen software unit CARIAD and Horizon Robotics. CARIAD reports that the underlying AI model can reach a driving decision in under 0.16 seconds in real-world conditions. The rollout begins with the ID. ERA 5S from SAIC Volkswagen.
Highlights
- HS8 makes driving decisions in under 0.16 seconds under real-world conditions, according to CARIAD
- The system is trained across up to 30 million simulated driving scenarios using CARIZON’s GAIA 2.0 platform
- Level 2++ technology is planned for seven new energy vehicle models across Volkswagen Group China’s joint ventures this year
- From 2027, the LiDAR-based solution is set to expand to additional vehicles built on the China Electronic Architecture
How Does the Hyper Sense AI Model Work?
At the center of HS8 is CARIZON’s Hyper Sense AI model, which merges perception and decision-making into a single end-to-end system. Rather than processing each element of a driving scene in isolation, the model learns how traffic situations develop and how the vehicle should respond to them.
Training and validation run through GAIA 2.0, CARIZON’s data and simulation platform. GAIA 2.0 generates a wide range of virtual traffic situations, including rare edge cases that would be difficult or unsafe to reproduce on public roads. That approach lets engineers train the system across as many as 30 million simulated scenarios and refine its behavior before customers encounter it.
In operation, HS8 supports Urban Navigate on Autopilot, or Urban NoA, guiding vehicles through complex city environments and along highways while assisting with turns, merges, intersections and lane changes. As a Level 2++ system, it remains driver supervised at all times, and the driver stays responsible and must be ready to intervene.
Developed in China for Chinese Roads
HS8 follows an “In China, for China” development approach, with software created and validated against local road conditions, traffic patterns and customer expectations. CARIAD says local development also ties the technology more closely to individual vehicle projects and series-production requirements.
“Intelligent driving is becoming one of the key differentiators in China’s automotive market. That’s why we founded CARIZON, our joint venture with Horizon Robotics, to develop advanced driver assistance systems specifically for Chinese customers. At the core of Hyper Sense 8 is CARIZON’s Hyper Sense AI model, which combines perception and decision-making in a single end-to-end system,” said Peter Bosch, CEO of CARIAD.
CARIZON pairs its own software development and system integration with Horizon Robotics’ AI models and Journey 6-series computing hardware. The arrangement gives the development team control over the technology from model training through integration into individual vehicles, and supports two configurations: a camera-based solution and a version that adds LiDAR for models with different technical and product requirements.
Seven Models on One Technology Base
| Model | Sensor configuration | Rollout position |
|---|---|---|
| ID. ERA 5S (SAIC Volkswagen) | Camera-based, without LiDAR | First model to launch |
| Jetta M6 | — | Follows ID. ERA 5S |
| ID. AURA T6 (FAW-Volkswagen) | LiDAR version | First LiDAR-equipped and first battery-electric model |
| ID. UNYX 06 | LiDAR version | — |
| ID. UNYX 07 | LiDAR version | — |
The ID. ERA 5S launches with the camera-based version of HS8, without LiDAR; the first LiDAR-equipped model will be the ID. AURA T6. In total, Level 2++ technology is planned for seven new energy vehicle models across Volkswagen Group China’s joint ventures this year. From 2027, the LiDAR-based solution is set to expand to further vehicles using the China Electronic Architecture, or CEA, connecting locally developed assistance software to a shared electronics foundation across multiple models.
For the Volkswagen Group, the launch marks a step toward bringing locally developed intelligent driving technology into series production at scale. It also builds on the CARIAD–Horizon Robotics partnership first announced in 2022, which established the joint venture now delivering production software.
