May 29, 2026, Shenzhen – SAIC Audi's first all-electric flagship mid-to-large SUV, the AUDI E7X, officially went on sale, with a starting price of RMB 269,800. The full lineup is equipped with the Audi Panoramic Assisted Driving System, jointly developed by SAIC Audi and Momenta. As the landmark model of the two companies' deep collaboration, the AUDI E7X is also among the world's first models to feature the Momenta R7 World Model, with the relevant capabilities to be delivered via OTA in the second half of 2026.
The New King of the Road: Intelligence and Capability in Equal Measure
Forty-six years ago, the Audi Quattro permanent all-wheel drive system was born – breaking the boundaries of the physical world with formidable all-wheel drive performance, dominating the track and claiming the throne as king of the road, the embodiment of fearless capability. Today, the Momenta R7 reinforcement-learning World Model will empower the AUDI E7X with a Physical AI brain – perceiving the laws of the physical world, anticipating road hazards in advance, and meeting whatever lies ahead with composure, the embodiment of true intelligence. Raw capability and supreme intelligence reinforce each other, shaping an all-new vision of the king of the road: intelligence and capability in equal measure.
The Audi Panoramic Assisted Driving System is jointly developed by SAIC Audi and Momenta. The exclusive intelligent assisted driving experience created by the two partners stays true to Audi's native Driving DNA. The system will be upgraded via OTA in the second half of this year to incorporate the Momenta R7 World Model.
While carrying forward the classic German luxury handling heritage, the assisted driving experience balances fluidity, confident acceleration, and cornering grip – achieving a seamless fusion of the German handling character with advanced intelligent assistance. Whether taking the wheel manually for the ultimate driving pleasure or engaging assisted driving to meet complex road conditions with composure, the system delivers a safe, reassuring, and enjoyable mobility experience throughout.
As the core technical foundation, the Momenta R7 World Model draws on more than 100 million real-world "golden" data samples [the highest-value, carefully curated training data] accumulated across 10 billion kilometers, compressing the physical common sense of the world into the model. The model can predict the future states and interaction logic of the physical world – gaining the ability to understand the physical properties of objects, the causal relationships of motion, and the potential possibilities of interaction. Through the World Model, a realistic virtual training ground is created for reinforcement learning. In this training ground, through a reward mechanism, the AI system continuously iterates and evolves in its environment, ultimately achieving a level of performance that rivals and even surpasses that of human drivers.
Dr. Qing Rao, Chief Solution Architect, Momenta
At the launch event, Dr. Qing Rao, Chief Solution Architect at Momenta, used four representative real-world scenarios to vividly demonstrate the AUDI E7X's performance – combining handling capability with intelligent competence – when equipped with the Momenta R7 World Model:
Case 1 – Low-light night conditions: smooth, comfortable braking while consecutively avoiding a suddenly opened car door and a bicycle appearing from a blind spot
Case 2 – Navigating an extremely narrow road while consecutively avoiding pedestrians and two-wheeled vehicles
Case 3 – Detecting a construction zone and intelligently merging into an adjacent lane
Case 4 – Moving through heavy smoke: human-like deceleration to observe and assess, then avoiding a bicycle obscured within the smoke
Through deep collaborative R&D between the two teams, the seamless fusion of leading AI technology with a century of German Driving DNA has produced an intelligent assisted driving system with a genuine sense of command: stable cornering, smoother braking, no motion sickness even during frequent stop-and-go in congested traffic, powerful acceleration, and confident passage through even the narrowest of roads.
The collaboration between SAIC Audi and Momenta has brought intelligence and capability in equal measure to the new king of the road. The legendary vehicle has arrived – all you need to do is enjoy the journey; leave the rest to SAIC Audi and Momenta.
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