XPeng revealed on Thursday the latest progress on its second-generation VLA (vision-language-action) model, which is being developed for Level 4 autonomous driving — and to be deployed in the coming months.
The company’s founder and CEO He Xiaopeng announced that its upcoming Robotaxi, equipped with the VLA 2.0, is about to start public road testing.
Speaking at a global launch event — in which XPeng debuted several extended-range models (EREV), including the P7+ — the chief executive noted that 2026 will mark the true beginning of full autonomous driving in both China and the US.
2025 AI Day
In November, the company announced its plans to launch three Robotaxis — with five to seven seats — this year.
The vehicles were then undergoing trial operations by third-party agents.
By then, XPeng said in a statement that it was developing two concepts: “one is a fully-shared model driverless car (Robotaxi), the other is the private-enjoyment model, i.e. human-driven L4-level experience car.”
A local media reported days before that XPeng began transferring internal staff as part of next year’s push towards deploying L4 autonomous vehicles.
Second-gen VLA
According to the company, the VLA 2.0 will start being integrated into XPeng vehicles from March onward.
The first batch of models to receive the technology will be the Ultra versions of the new P7, the fully electric G7, and the X9 EREV.
The models that were launched on Thursday — the extended-range G7 SUV, the third-generation fully electric G6 and G9 and the new P7+ — will receive the system later, including on their Ultra versions.
New Model Launches
XPeng launched on Thursday three new SUVs: the extended-range version of the G7 (following the fully electric version that debuted in July), and the third-generation models of the G6 and G9, which were previously refreshed in March.
The models are built in an 800V high-voltage platform and support 5C batteries with fast charging, and come equipped standard with one in-house developed Turing AI chip.
Both SUVs feature new exterior and interior color options, and retaining the starting prices of their previous models: the G6 begins at 176,800 yuan ($25,300), and the G9 starts at 248,800 yuan ($35,600).
Customers can upgrade to the Ultra versions in both the G6, G9, and G7 SUVs, which include two to three chips and the second-generation VLA model, for an additional 12,000-20,000 yuan ($1,700-2,800).
The new G7 Super Extended Range SUV offers a combined range of 1,704 km (1,058 miles), of which 430 km (260 miles) are pure electric.
The standard iterations are equipped with one assisted-driving AI Turing chip and are priced from 195,800 yuan ($27,980).
The newly launched P7+ — which debuted across 36 markets simultaneously — includes both battery electric and extended-range versions, offered in prices that start between 186,800 and 198,800 yuan ($26,700 and $28,400).
The EREV is capable of a combined range of 1,550 km (963 miles), of which 430 km are electric. The BEV, on the other hand, reaches a total range of 725 km (450 miles) on the highest trim.
