Chinese automaker XPeng announced on Friday that it will roll out a safety-related over the air update to both its recently launched models, the G7 SUV and the refreshed P7 sedan.
The Guangzhou-based company is introducing a Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model that can predict and help prevent pedestrian accidents in blind spots and adapt to road conditions.
According to a Weibo post, VLA product manager Wang Chen guided users “through testing multiple real-world scenarios,” with the model “effectively avoiding blind-spot ‘sudden pedestrian’ hazards, and preventing ‘door opening’ accidents.”
VLA models have sensor data capabilities to understand the surrounding environment, interpret human instructions and generate decision processes, translating this information into specific driving commands.
XPeng‘s model will include functions such as recognition of yield signs and speed control, prediction of hazards such as “door opening” accidents in temporary parking, and anticipate sudden pedestrian appearances in blind spots.
It can also monitor blind spots at intersections, and detect extreme weather conditions to adjust driving speed.
Additionally, the model is capable of identifying waterlogged roads, bus lanes, and detect bumpy road sections, applying appropriate speed control when needed.
Here’s the demo video shared by the carmaker on Friday.
The update is being released on XPeng‘s G7 and P7 — which feature the in-house developed Turing AI chip.
However, the company did not specify if the update is going to be available for all trims of the models — the G7, launched in early July, features a Max trim, which comes standard with two Nvidia Orin-X chips.
The mid-size SUV was the first model to incorporate the Turing AI chip, which the founder and CEO He Xiaopeng claims has an effective computing power “three times greater than that of the leading autonomous driving chip, Orin-X.”
It is priced between 195,800 yuan and 225,800 yuan ($27,300–$31,500). In its first month in the market, it represented over 5,000 units of the total 36,717 vehicles delivered by XPeng — a 15% share.
The refreshed P7, unveiled earlier this month, will be launched on August 27. The pricing details have not yet been disclosed.
The new sedan introduces improvements in range, performance, and smart driving capabilities, and features the largest augmented reality head-up display (AR HUD) in the brand’s lineup.
According to He Xiaopeng, the P7 became XPeng‘s most pre-ordered vehicle since it arrived in the EV segment 11 years ago.
