He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng, stands next to the company’s P7 electric sedan as he addresses the media at the 2020 Beijing auto show.
Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
GUANGZHOU, China – Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng Motors has announced a new autonomous driving feature designed to operate on highways as it steps up its challenge for domestic rivals as well as Tesla.
The feature – called Navigation Guided Pilot or NGP – enables the company’s flagship P7 sedan to automatically change lanes, accelerate or slow down, or overtake cars and drive on and off highways.
It is part of the next generation of Xpeng’s XPILOT 3.0, the so-called Advanced Driving Assistance system (ADAS) that the company is expected to launch in the first quarter of this year. ADAS refers to a system with some autonomous functions, but which still requires a driver.
Xpeng is one of the electric vehicle start-ups in China looking to race ahead in the country’s growing market while battling other upstarts such as Nio and Li Auto, as well as American giant Tesla in electric cars.
Mass deliveries of Xpeng’s P7 sedan, a direct rival to Tesla’s Model 3, began last June. Xpeng delivered 27,041 vehicles in 2020 – more than double that of a year ago.
The NGP is a challenge for Tesla’s autonomous ADAS called Autopilot. One of the features of Autopilot is Navigate on Autopilot, which has similar features to Xpeng’s NGP.
Chinese electric vehicle companies want to add more autonomous functions to their cars. Nio has its own system called NIO Pilot.
How Xpeng’s system works
A driver must watch a safety video before engaging the Xpeng’s highway driving function. Drivers must keep their hands on the wheel while using the car’s autonomous driving functions.
Users then enter their destination on the map. The car will then perform some functions, such as changing lanes, itself.
Drivers are warned when they have to drive the car manually, for example during bad weather conditions or a traffic accident.
Xpeng says its cars are equipped with 14 cameras and other critical sensors. Nvidia’s Xavier computer system supports XPILOT 3.0.
The highway driving feature is available on the premium version of the P7 and only available to customers in China.