Tesla’s Chinese rival Xpeng ups the self-driving game with world’s first mass-produced LiDAR in P5 sedan, defying Elon Musk

Xpeng’s new P5 sedan becomes the world’s first mass-produced vehicle equipped with LiDAR technology, taking the competition for autonomous driving to a new level
Chinese carmakers are overtaking other players in the autonomous driving segment, analyst says

Electric & new energy vehicles

Iris Ouyangin Shenzhen

Published: 9:00pm, 14 Apr 2021

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Xpeng Motors has launched the world’s first mass-produced electric car with LiDAR technology, upping the ante against competitors including Tesla by making the self-driving technology a standard feature in its P5 sedan.

The four-door car will be equipped with 32 perception sensors to augment its laser-based radar to detect its surroundings, including pedestrians, cyclists, static objects and road works – crucial in making autonomous driving possible. The car maker, which completed a weeklong, 3,675km autonomous test drive last month from Guangzhou to Beijing on its P7 sedans, will offer drivers what it calls navigation-assisted autonomous driving on highways and enhanced memory parking.

“The P5 brings a new level in sophistication and technological advancement for smart EVs,” the Guangzhou-based carmaker’s chairman and chief executive He Xiaopeng said. “Each new XPeng model aims for a new high in technology, and the P5 is our most advanced and technically ambitious model yet. Our home-grown technology, distinctive design language and user experience philosophy, all reflect XPeng’s drive to grow from its Chinese roots to realise its global vision of leading the world’s Smart EV market.”

As competition in China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) market heats up, dozens of internet start-ups and technology giants are piling into the industry, prompting Fitch to project that 45 per cent of vehicles on China’s roads will be powered by electricity by 2040. Even the smartphone maker Xiaomi took the plunge, announcing last month a multibillion dollar budget over 10 years to make electric cars.

Xpeng Motors’ all-electric P5 sedan. Photo: Xpeng

The P5, whose pricing is yet to be announced, is Xpeng’s third production model after the G3 sports-utility vehicle and the P7 sedan. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon flagship SA8155P computing platform, it will be fitted with two LiDAR units, 12 ultrasonic sensors, 5 millimetre-wave radars and 13 high-resolution cameras.

LiDAR is a laser-aided rangefinder, a critical component to help vehicles detect obstacles in their surroundings and self-drive. The P5’s front-view detection range is able to reach as far as 150 meters (164 yards), giving the sedan 150 degrees field of view to help it handle situations such as cutting-in, automatic follow and speed limit optimisation on urban roads, recognising traffic lights, thoroughfares, as well as small objects, Xpeng said.

“Xpeng aims to become the number one in autonomous driving in the world, and we are not satisfied with merely being the top in China,” said vice president Wu Xinzhou, who is in charge of Xpeng’s LiDAR technology innovation.

During Xpeng’s weeklong driving test last month, the carmaker reported 0.65 time of human intervention for every 100km driven. 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.

“It means Chinese carmakers are overtaking other players in the autonomous driving segment,” said Zhang Xiang, researcher at the Research Centre of Automobile Industry Innovation at North China University of Technology. “It’s very important, and it’s a milestone.”

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk was a LiDAR sceptic, famously dismissing the technology as “too expensive” and any attempt at installing it as “a fool’s errand.” Major carmakers from General Motors to Toyota Motor and Volkswagen have also failed to break through with the technology, Zhang said. Volkswagen’s Audi unit had launched an A8 sedan model earlier with such technology, but has yet to put it into mass production.

“Traditional car companies usually use millimetre wave lidar, ultrasonic radar and cameras because LiDAR is too expensive, and has yet to make a technological breakthrough on it,” he said.

Xpeng is expected to announce the pricing, specifications and performance metrics of the P5 at the Auto Shanghai 2021 next week.