China EV war: Xpeng’s autopilot aces 3,675-km Guangzhou-to-Beijing journey in country’s longest autonomous driving test
- A fleet of mid-sized P7 cars test company’s Navigation Guided Pilot function, a newly released feature
- Carmaker is first to install lidar technology in a production model
Xpeng said the P7s, guided by their Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) function, a newly released autonomous assistance feature, had “set some of the most successful records to date over long distances in real road conditions in China”. According to Chinese road regulations, drivers should have their hands on the steering wheel at all times, in case they have to take over.
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Vehicle number 10,000 rolls off the assembly line for Chinese electric carmaker XPeng
The P7s passed through the cities of Shantou, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and Jinan on their journey to Beijing. This reporter joined the drive from Shanghai to Yangcheng Lake, a distance of 90km.
Xpeng’s NGP function provides navigation-assisted autonomous driving from point A to B, based on the route set by the driver. It is available on highways covered by high-precision maps in China.
The company, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holding, this newspaper’s parent company, was the first carmaker to install lidar technology in a production model this year. Lidar was famously dismissed by Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, as being too expensive.
Based on data available for six of the eight days the cars were on the road, Xpeng said the frequency of human intervention was 0.65 times per 100km. The success rate for lane changing and overtaking stood at between 86.05 per cent and 97.91 per cent during the six-day period. The cars’ highway ramp entry and exit success rates ranged from 83.76 per cent to 96.93 per cent. Xpeng said the cars’ tunnel pass-through success rate was as high as 100 per cent.
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Xpeng's tests autonomous driving on expressway
Several updates are also coming to the P7’s XPILOT 3.0 advanced driver-assistance system and auto-parking function this year.
The company, which delivered 27,041 vehicles last year, a jump of 112.5 per cent over 2019, is also expected to unveil a new production model this year. The new model, its third after the G3 and the P7, is expected to help Xpeng chase a bigger market share.
Last year, 1.17 million new-energy vehicles (NEVs) – pure electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell cars – were delivered in China, up 12 per cent from 2019. Under Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” master industrial plan, 20 per cent of new cars on China’s roads by 2025 will be NEVs. This translates into an additional four million such cars on the road by then.
