XPeng City GNP - Better than Tesla Full Self Driving

CEO He Xiaopeng notes that when tested in Norway along with many other EVs, XPeng's G9 and P7 exceeded their range ratings whereas all other competing EVs underperformed in this category except for the Mercedes EQE SUV, which was right on the mark. Additionally, the G9 offered the most range of them all - 588 km (365 miles).

The XPeng G9 also offered the quickest charging according to this independent test.

XPeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said, "In 2021, we debuted the industry's first mass-produced car model with lidars, and we developed the industry's first ADAS for urban driving in China, and last year we also produced China's first 800-volt ultrafast charging technology, we debuted China's first BEV plus transformer-based deep visual neural network, we kept leading in innovation." Now we get to what it's done more recently with the G6 and its underlying architecture.

After leading the country in autonomous parking and autonomous highway driving, XPeng brought to market the industry's first ADAS for city driving in China, also using "the industry's first mass produced visual-only memory parking function." (As far as I've seen, XPeng still offers the best autoparking on the market. That was last year. In 2023, XPeng has introduced its City GNP (its version of Tesla Full Self Driving, but better) to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Those four cities are home to 21.5 million, 26.3 million, 12.6 million, and 15.3 million people, respectively. That's 75.7 million people combined. That's more than the populations of all but 19 countries in the world, and it's coming to more Chinese cities soon.

XPeng plans to roll out XNGP to ~50 cities in 2023 and ~200 in 2024. It is achieving this mass rollout by eliminating reliance on high-definition maps.

He Xiaopeng notes that he thinks XPeng is leading competitors in China by 12–36 months on this topic.

Not using HD maps, XPeng will roll out AI Valet Driver mode in the second half of this year. Among other things, the AI Valet Driver will actually learn some of your own driving habits! Now we're getting to serious AI driver education and self-driving.

"The AI driver can actually learn from your driving habits from home to the company, and they can actually pick up your route and navigation, and they also allow you to have multiple customized routes as well. You can automatically train them, store it, and also you can share your offline strategies with your friends."

No other automaker in the world is offering something like this.

Interestingly, City GNP has been used for 62% of XPeng driving in those four cities where it's been deployed.

He Xiaopeng also discussed something I never see discussed with this kind of tech - not from Tesla or anyone else. That's how efficiently their self-driving system drives compared to an efficient driver. Xiaopeng presents City NGP as being 90% as efficient, which is quite good but, he notes, provides room for improvement. The transparency and commitment to improvement are refreshing. Furthermore, its Highway NPG tech has gotten quicker than a normal driver.

Weekly penetration of XNGP has reached nearly 95%. That means 95% of XPeng drivers are using its semi-autonomous driving tech at least once a week.

Pricing for the XPeng G6 ranges from 209,900 RMB (USD28,937) to 276,900 RMB (USD38,174). Deliveries begin in July 2023.

I don't see a better EV for the money on the market, and it would be the top of my list for a new electric car if I lived in China … or if XPeng brought it to the USA (hint, hint).