Infrared night vision research: as 60% traffic accidents happen at night, infrared imaging technology comes as an effective solution.
This report combs through development trends and market size of automotive infrared night vision, technology routes of main Chinese and foreign night vision system suppliers, and night vision system application of OEMs.
The statistics show that China saw nearly 200,000 traffic accidents happen every year in recent years, 60% of which took place at night and caused 50% of death toll. It is more dangerous to drive at night for the factors such as insufficient lighting and low visibility make drivers miss out or misjudge road conditions. Infrared thermography which is free of visible light can recognize targets with vital signs accurately either in the daytime or at night. With its anti-glare merit, this technology has great potential to protect driving safety at night.
In 2021H1, the sales of passenger cars equipped with night vision systems surged.
From the sales of passenger cars packing night vision systems in China, it can be seen that despite an annualized plunge of 32.0% during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the automobile industry has resumed production in China’s efforts to control the outbreak, selling 3,655 cars with night vision systems in the first half of 2021 alone, a like-on-like spurt of 231.4%. Wherein, Cadillac, Audi and Volkswagen models were the key contributors to the soaring sales of night vision systems in this period.
In current stage, night vision systems still tend to be mounted on high-class models. Through the lens of the sales of passenger cars packing night vision systems in recent two years, those priced above RMB300,000 swept over 85% of the sales, of which the higher than RMB500,000 cars occupied over 60% share. Meanwhile, cars with prices ranging from RMB250,000 to RMB300,000 carried night vision systems as well, sharing 10.3% of the sales in 2020.
The declining cost of infrared detectors and the improving policies make automotive infrared night vision a promising market.
In the past, high price was an enduring constraint on wide adoption of automotive infrared night vision systems. The technology advances have driven down the cost fast:
- The maturing wafer-level and 3D packaging helps to lower the cost of detectors, a key component of infrared night vision system.
- The homemade infrared sensors break the foreign monopoly, having a considerable cost advantage.
- Smaller pixel size drags down the cost of both infrared detector and system integration. Raytron Technology already develops the world’s first large area array uncooled infrared detector with pixel spacing of 8μm and area array size of 1920× 1080, meeting the needs of high-end products that require high resolution and light weight.
The National Technical Committee of Auto Standardization has released the Automotive Active Infrared Detection System (Draft for Comments) and the Automotive Passive Infrared Detection System (Draft for Comments). The deadline for comments is September 27, 2021. The European New Car Assessment Program (E-NCAP) again introduced a range of new tests in the E-NCAP 2018, including AEB cyclist test, pedestrian detection in dark and hazy lighting conditions, and vehicle under test (VUT) hid by obstacles. As the relevant laws and regulations are further improved, the automotive night vision system market has a rosy prospect.
Infrared imaging technology finds ever wider application in autonomous driving.
The application of infrared imaging technology in autonomous driving has become more widespread over the past years, for example:
- In December 2020, Zoox introduced its first autonomous battery electric vehicle equipped with the thermal imaging camera provided by Teledyne FLIR. This device can accurately recognize and classify objects in urban streets around the clock.
- In March 2021, Apple was granted a patent for the night vision system that combines visible light, near-infrared (NIR), and long-wave infrared (LWIR) sensors. The system is applicable to autonomous vehicles.
- On the first day of the Auto Shanghai 2021, Didi Autonomous Driving and Volvo jointly launched “DiDi Gemini”, a new-generation L4 autonomous test vehicle which packs a total of 50 sensors including 1 infrared camera.
- In May 2021, ADASTEC integrated two Teledyne FLIR thermal imagers into its flowride.ai automation platform, with the primary focus on improving detection and safety of all vulnerable road users on or near the road and at bus stops.
Safety is a frequent topic of autonomous driving. Also, autonomous driving needs to have the ability to perceive beyond visual range and work 24/7, in all weather conditions. Infrared imaging technology can meet its needs.
Infrared sensors are a complement to visible light cameras that fail to detect pedestrians in dark conditions. They are not only more affordable than LiDAR but a remedy for the natural defect of LiDAR that it cannot classify objects.
Moreover, infrared sensors can work all day long, which is required by autonomous driving, and provides a longer visual range (the average active vehicle infrared night vision system detects 150m to 200m, and the average passive vehicle infrared night vision system up to 300m). Infrared thermography thus becomes an indispensable technology in the autonomous driving night vision field. The technology will fuse and work with other sensors to make driving safer by playing their respective role. As its price goes down, it will expedite the application of autonomous driving technologies.
As Adasky, an infrared night vision device vendor, said, its Viper infrared thermal imager is not launched to replace a certain type of sensor but works with this sensor to fill the targeted gaps left by other solutions in autonomous driving, so that vehicles have a stronger ability to perceive the surroundings and make decisions.
Global and China Intelligent Vehicle Standard System Construction and Certification Research Report, 2026
Intelligent Driving Standards and Certification: With the Maturing Standardization System, China Will Participate in Formulation of Global Standards
China's automotive industry is transforming from ...
Automotive Intelligent Diagnosis Industry Report, 2026
Automotive Intelligent Diagnosis Research: Powered by AI, Remote Diagnosis Is Being Upgraded towards Intelligence.
ResearchInChina released the Automotive Intelligent Diagnosis Industry Report, 2026....
Automotive Cloud Service Platform Research Report, 2026
Research on automotive cloud service platform: with architecture upgrade and computing power improvement, cloud services enter a new stage
In 2026, the Internet of Vehicles industry generates petaby...
Integrated Battery and Innovative Battery Technology Research Report, 2026
Power Battery Research: Sales of High-Capacity Vehicles Keep Rising, and Solid-State Batteries Begin to Be Installed in Vehicles
I. Sales of High-Capacity Vehicles Sustain Growth, and Those with A C...
Chinese Independent OEMs’ ADAS and Autonomous Driving Report, 2026
Research on OEMs' Intelligent Driving: Era of Physical AI, Standard Configuration of D2D, and Initial Exploration of L3 Commercial Pilot Projects
From 2023 to 2025, the intelligent driving installati...
Intelligent Vehicle New Technology Application Analysis Report, 2025-2026
New Technology Research: Innovative Products such as Bionic Cameras, Vision-LiDAR Fusion Sensors, Auditory Sensors Further Enhance Vehicle Perception Capabilities
ForewordResearchInChina released th...
Automotive Optical Fiber Communication (Optical Fiber Ethernet, PON) and Supply Chain Research Report, 2026
Research on Automotive Optical Fiber Communication: Introduction of Optical Fiber in Vehicles Accelerates, with Priority Deployment in High-Speed Communication Link (10+Gbps) Scenarios
Automotive opt...
Automotive Intelligent Cockpit SoC Research Report, 2026
Automotive Cockpit SoC Research: Passenger Cars in the Price Range of RMB100,000–200,000 Account for Nearly 50% of Total Sales, and New-Generation Cockpit SoC Products Largely Enter Mass Production
P...
LiDAR (Automotive, Pan-Robotics, etc.) Application Research Report, 2025-2026
LiDAR research: hardware competition shifts to combined sensing capabilities from "point cloud" to "images” and from automotive to robots The "LiDAR (Automotive, Pan-Robotics, ...
Global and China Passenger Car T-Box Market Report, 2026
Based on 2025 market data and the latest business layouts of OEMs and suppliers from 2025 to 2026, this report analyzes the development status quo and future trends of China’s passenger car T-Box mark...
Global and China Range Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Research Report, 2026
Research on REEVs and PHEVs: Foreign OEMs are considering extended-range technology as an important strategic option and will launch a series of new vehicles
Global PHEVs & REEVs tend to be domin...
Automotive Voice Industry Report, 2026
Automotive Voice Research: Explosive Growth in Features Like "See and Speak", 35-Fold Increase in External Voice Interaction in Two Years
ResearchInChina has released the Automotive Voice Industry R...
China Passenger Car Digital Chassis Research Report, 2026
Research on Digital Chassis: Leading OEMs Have Completed Configuration of Version 2.0 1. Leading OEMs Have Completed Configuration of Digital Chassis 2.0
By the degree of wired control of each c...
Vehicle Functional Safety and Safety Of The Intended Functionality (SOTIF) Research Report, 2026
Multiple Mandatory Standards for Intelligent Vehicles in China Upgrade Functional Safety Requirements from Recommended to Mandatory Access Criteria In 2026, China has intensively issued and promo...
Automotive 12V/48V Low-Voltage Lithium-ion Battery/Sodium-ion Battery Industry Research Report, 2026
Research on 12V/48V automotive low-voltage lithium-ion (sodium-ion) batteries: promoted by regulations and standardization, it is imperative to "replace lithium-ion (sodium-ion) batteries with lead-ac...
Next-Generation Automotive Wireless Communication Technologies (6G/5G-A, NearLink, Satellite Communication, UWB, etc.) and Automotive Communication Module Industry Report, 2026
Research on Next-Generation Communication and Modules: Accelerated Deployment of 5G-A, Satellite Communication, NearLink, UWB and Other Technologies in Automobiles
Automotive wireless communication t...
Research on Zonal Architecture: Smart Actuators (Micro-motors) and Application Trends in Sub-scenarios, 2026
Smart Actuator and Micro-motor Research: Under Zonal Architecture, Actuators Are Developing towards Edge Computing, 48V, and Brushless Motors.
The core components of automotive zonal architecture mai...
China Passenger Car Navigate on Autopilot (NOA) Industry Report, 2025
In 2025, NOA standardization was popularized, refined and deepened in parallel. In 2026, core variables will be added to the competitive landscape.
The evolution of autonomous driving follows a clear...