Lotus Cars, under Lotus Technology, has scored a major achievement: its Lotus ELETRE model has obtained the UN R 171.01 certification from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), making Lotus the first Chinese automaker to secure this certification. Co-developed by a Sino-European technical team, the Lotus ELETRE is set to receive the Highway Navigation Pilot (HNP) function via OTA software updates starting in June 2026, with rollouts in batches for eligible vehicles.

The UN R 171 regulation came into force in September 2024, being the world's first international unified technical regulation for Level 2 driver assistance systems. It sets standardized technical requirements and testing methods for global automakers, with clear demands on four core elements—functional characteristics, dynamic control, system boundaries and human-machine interaction—in terms of technical specifications. For testing, it assesses systems through closed-site and real-road scenarios. The regulation ensures Level 2 driver assistance systems operate within safety limits and clarifies that the driver bears ultimate responsibility for vehicle control.