Written by Akimoto Yukiko | Edited by Cláudio Afonso
China’s electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng, which celebrates 10 years this year, held a smart AI driving conference on Tuesday.
The event took place a few days after the CEO of the Guangzhou-based manufacturer announced that the company will “follow a set pace and launch a highly competitive robotaxi in 2026.”
He Xiaopeng, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said in the event that AI will drive the development of four major trends: chips, AI large models, autonomous driving, and robotics.
At the conference, the chief executive announced that by the fourth quarter, XPeng will achieve “door-to-door” intelligent driving. This means the vehicles can navigate from one point to another, such as from a user’s home parking lot directly to their office parking lot.
XPeng also introduced the global rollout of the AI-powered XOS 5.2.0 system, which brings 484 feature upgrades. These enhancements cover both intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit functionalities.
Additionally, the XNGP system will be upgraded to allow unrestricted use across all cities, routes, and road conditions. As the brand expands its Navigation Guided Pilot (XNGP), CEO He noted that now “wherever navigation is possible, AI smart driving is possible.”
As of the end of July, XPeng established over 1,600 charging stations, including 1,000 supercharging stations.
XPeng CEO also announced that the Xpeng MONA M03, the recently unveiled entry level series, will officially launch in August. He noted that the MONA outperforms any car priced at or below 200,000 RMB (27,700 USD) in terms of driving performance.
The Xpeng MONA M03 is a compact electric sedan with a drag coefficient of just 0.194 and is equipped with an 8155 chip, 16GB of memory, and a 15.6-inch central screen. The model will be available in five colors.
The collaboration between Volkswagen Group and Xpeng continues to deepen, with the first model based on their jointly developed electronic and electrical architecture (EEA) expected to achieve mass production and market launch within 24 months.
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This new electric vehicle will feature advanced intelligent driving functions and superior systems, offering a smarter, safer, and more efficient travel experience.
This partnership began on July 27, 2023, when Volkswagen announced a strategic minority equity investment in Xpeng and signed a share purchase agreement. This marked the start of their first strategic collaboration.
Since the beginning of this year, XPeng has accelerated its internationalization 2.0 strategy and entered 30 countries and regions worldwide, including Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America.
A few days after having officially unveiled the first model of its new, cheaper MONA series, XPeng is gearing up to launch the P7+, its biggest and most advanced sedan.
Codenamed (until now) F57, the new sedan P7+ exceeds 5 meters with the “+” representing XPeng’s latest technology and larger size. Although the price is still unknown, it is expected to be higher than the P7 sedan given its larger size and better technology.
The company delivered of 10,668 electric vehicles in June, representing a 24 percent increase year-over-year. Despite not providing the breakdown of monthly sales per model, the company said its three-row MPV X9 has accounted for 1,687 units.
Written by Akimoto Yukiko | Edited by Cláudio Afonso
