Xpeng's G9 SUV passes autonomous driving test as it moves closer to launch its a...

Xpeng's G9 SUV passes autonomous driving test as it moves closer to launch its autonomous taxi business

Xpeng's G9 SUV passes autonomous driving test as it moves closer to launch its autonomous taxi business

19 hours ago

Xpeng’s latest G9 SUV became China’s first mass-produced commercial vehicle to pass a closed-filed autonomous driving closed-field test, as Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker moves a big step toward launching an autonomous taxi business.

Unveiled at Xpeng’s annual 1024 Tech Day, Wu Xinzhou, Xpeng’s vice-president of autonomous driving, said the company is scheduled to start its robotaxi business in Guangzhou next year and expand to other cities over the next two years.

G9 model, which Xpeng released in September, equip with Xpeng’s XNGP autonomous driving technology that can automate certain driving functions in both highway and urban driving scenarios. G9, which priced from 309,900 yuan (US$42,670) to 469,900 yuan, has a driving range of 702 kilometres (436 miles) on a single charge. It is Xpeng’s fourth ­production model that target Tesla’s Model Y, the current top seller in the mainland market.

XPeng attributes its development in autonomous driving technology to XNet, its next-generation visual perception architecture. XNet is backed by Fuyao, a Chinese supercomputing center for autonomous driving, and supported by Alibaba Cloud’s intelligent computing platform.

The robotaxis will also feature a voice assistant powered by AI, as well as a 3D user interface, according to He Xiaopeng, co-founder and CEO of XPeng

China’s autonomous driving technology has developed rapidly with a handful of robotaxi licences granted to operators.

Last November, Pony.ai and Baidu became the first mainland operators allowed to carry paying passengers in autonomous taxis within a designated area of 60 square kilometres (23 square miles) in Beijing.

At XPeng’s Tech Day, the company also provided updates to its robot pony and flying car. Let’s start with the pony.

XPeng Aeroht, an affiliate of Chinese electric-vehicle maker XPeng Inc, made the first public flight of its X2 flying car in Dubai in October 10,.

 The XPENG X2 is a two-seater electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that has an enclosed cockpit and a carbon fiber structure, it can soar to altitudes of up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft), cruise at up to 130 km/h (81 mph) and fly for up to 35 minutes on each charge.

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