Many assume HiCar certification is purely Huawei's internal specification. YD/T 6152‑2024 – Technical requirements and test methods for smartphone‑vehicle terminal interconnection interfaces – took effect on 1 April 2025 – jointly drafted by Huawei, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and other organisations.

This is a general industry reference standard for domestic in‑vehicle connectivity – not the direct basis for HiCar certification. HiCar operates under Huawei's ecosystem technical specifications – with detailed acceptance criteria on top of that framework – all version iterations have clear traceable documentation.

1. Hardware Requirements

·No mandatory chip model – Kirin 990A is just an example.

·Must meet automotive grade and performance: RAM ≥4GB, storage ≥64GB.

·Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2 mandatory – USB 2.0+ or Wi‑Fi Direct 5 GHz – at least one of the latter two.
These are hard thresholds – align at the chip‑selection stage – late‑stage board‑level changes are costly.

  2. Software and Security Requirements

·System: HarmonyOS Automotive or Android 10+ – with full HiCar service integration.

·Key performance metrics:

• Voice wake‑up rate ≥98%.

• Projection latency ≤200ms.

• Business data encryption: AES‑256.

·SDK: V5.0+ – V5.0.0 acceptance standards effective from 30 June 2025.

·Devices with external network access: IPv6 mandatory – local‑only aftermarket products without external access are not subject.

All metrics are tested – no estimates.

  3. Test Items

·Function/connectivity: connection success rate ≥99%.

·Performance: 72‑hour high‑load operation – GPS positioning error ≤5m.

·EMC: GB/T 17626 – radiated immunity, ESD.

·Cybersecurity: CAN bus protection, vulnerability scanning – referencing ISO/SAE 21434.

·Environmental: ‑30°C to 85°C temperature cycling + vibration.

·Wireless: 30 consecutive connection attempts.

·Aftermarket devices: may be exempt from some whole‑vehicle tests – bench testing is still required.

  4. Prerequisite Certifications

·Wireless‑enabled products: BQB and Wi‑Fi Alliance certifications required upfront.

·USB‑IF: only required if using USB data path – pure wireless HiCar (no USB) does not need it.

HiCar is an ecosystem‑access certification – it does not replace these alliance certifications. Without them, the HiCar process cannot proceed.

  5. Process and Timeline Reference

·Registration/application: 1–3 months – sign ecosystem agreement, submit corporate qualifications.

·Development/self‑test: 1–6 months – SDK integration, all CTS cases pass.

·Lab bench + vehicle testing: 2–3 months.

·Huawei final review and issuance: 2–4 weeks.

Total: 5–10 months – complex wireless models up to 12 months. These are practical reference ranges – actual durations affected by document quality, remediation rounds, and lab scheduling.

  6. Certificate and Maintenance

·Certificate validity: 1 year.

·Renewal: submit 3 months before expiry – simplified testing (~50% of cases) – cost ~20–30% of first‑year fees.

·No grace period – expiry invalidates the certificate – full re‑certification required.

·Communication‑module or core SoC changes, or major SDK version upgrades → re‑certification.

·Minor peripheral‑component changes → generally no re‑certification.

Factor certificate maintenance costs into the product lifecycle budget.

  7. SDK Integration Details

HiCar SDK V5.0 integration is not just importing a package – requires:

·Protocol‑stack adaptation.

·Multi‑screen collaboration.

·Voice‑channel integration.

All CTS cases must pass during self‑test – any failure blocks certification. Project‑high‑frequency pain points: projection latency, voice wake‑up rate – optimise early.

  8. Bench Preparation

Submit:

·2 head‑unit benches (host, screen, power supply, GPS antenna).

·5 samples with production firmware.

Samples must be mass‑production state – engineering samples are not accepted – firmware version differences are easily detected. For aftermarket scenarios, sample quantities may be adjusted per Huawei requirements.

  9. Vehicle Road‑Testing Requirements

·Front‑load projects: commercial‑configuration vehicle required – with 90‑day temporary plates and insurance – for real‑road testing (tunnels, elevated roads) – verifying positioning and wireless signals.

·Aftermarket products: exempt from road testing – but bench and EMC tests are still required.

·Expired plates are a common mistake – plan ahead.

  10. Common Failures

·EMC exceedance.

·Low‑temperature start‑up anomalies.

·Wireless connection dropouts during 30‑connection test.

·Projection latency exceedance.

Most can be identified early in design/self‑test – pre‑testing saves 2–3 months of lab rework.

  11. Differences from CarPlay and Android Auto

CarPlay and Android Auto are overseas in‑vehicle ecosystems – they do not follow YD/T 6152‑2024.

Approval bodies differ:

·CarPlay: Apple MFi.

·Android Auto: Google authorisation.

·HiCar: Huawei ecosystem.

BQB and other prerequisite alliance certifications are common to all three – but performance metrics differ.

  12. Certificate Verification Reminder

·Certificate status: check Huawei's ecosystem compatibility list – companies retain electronic certificate originals – the platform does not publicly provide full certificate downloads.

·Certificate is tied to a specific model and SDK version – cannot be reused across models.

·Certificate expiry affects not only mass production – but also ecosystem commercial settlements – renew before expiry – no gap shipments.

For HUAWEI HiCar certification standards, contact BlueAsia at 13534225140 (King) or email king.guo@cblueasia.com.