GUANGZHOU, China – Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors on Wednesday unveiled the P5, a sedan with new self-driving features that is set to lead the way in the highly competitive Chinese auto market.
The P5, Xpeng’s third production model and second sedan after the P7, adds another competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 in China’s increasingly crowded field of electric car manufacturers.
The Chinese company, a rival of local players Nio and Li Auto, announced that it will release its prices at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 19th.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Xinzhou Wu, vice president of autonomous driving at Xpeng, said the price of the P5 will be lower than the P7.
“In this price range with the functions that we have built into the car, it will be very convincing for our customers,” he said.
Xpeng Motors will unveil the P5 sedan on April 14, 2021 at an event in Guangzhou, China. The P5 is the third series model from Xpeng and has what is known as Lidar technology.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
The P7 starts at 229,900 yuan ($ 35,192) after subsidies. By comparison, Tesla’s Model 3 starts at 249,900 yuan in China.
Wu said the P5 will be rolled out to customers in China in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Xpeng has also expanded into Norway, its first international market. Wu said the company would expand its presence in Northern Europe and eventually the P5 would be rolled out there. He didn’t give any schedules when this might happen.
Driverless technology
Xpeng has tried to drive the advancement of its self-driving features to differentiate itself from its competitors.
The P5 is equipped with what is known as lidar or light detection and ranging technology. Lidar systems send out lasers that can bounce back and measure distances. These returning rays are processed by an algorithm to create a three-dimensional representation of the surrounding objects – a key technology for autonomous vehicles to understand their surroundings.
Xpeng claims that lidar can help the P5 differentiate between pedestrians, cyclists and scooters, as well as road works – even at night and in low light.
On Wednesday, the Chinese automaker also released a new version of XPILOT, its so-called advanced driver assistance System (ADAS). This refers to a system with some autonomous functions, but for which a driver is still required.
XPILOT 3.5 has an updated version of a feature called Navigation Guided Pilot or NGP that allows users to autonomously perform tasks such as changing lanes or overtaking cars. Some of these functions are working for the first time on city streets. Previously, NGP was designed for highways only.
Xpeng’s XPILOT is an attempt to compete with Tesla’s own ADAS system called Autopilot, as well as other competitors like Nio with its Nio Pilot.
“In P7 we introduced NGP … only on freeways. However, freeway driving is only about 10% of people’s driving time. Getting the technology and ability to cities to do the function is very important Chinese people to make more user-friendly and more convincing customers, “said Wu.
In the city, Wu said the situation is getting “exponentially” and cited challenges to ensure the car can accurately and reliably detect objects in its path. “We believe with Lidar … it will help us achieve our goal much faster and give us an edge over our competitors.”
The competition is heating up
China’s electric car market is expected to pick up this year. According to research firm Canalys, 1.9 million units are expected to be sold, an increase of 51% over the previous year.
Various government incentives such as subsidies have made China the largest electric car market in the world. With that, some startups like Xpeng, Nio and Li Auto have grown quickly.
However, these players are competing against traditional automakers who are honing their electric vehicle capabilities, as well as other tech companies entering the fray.
We’re definitely one step ahead, you know, compared to most of our competitors. So we’re pretty confident that we can win this race with more newbies in this area.
Xinzhou Wu
Vice President for Autonomous Driving, Xpeng
Chinese search giant Baidu has teamed up with Geely to create a standalone electric car company, while smartphone giant Xiaomi announced plans to start an electric car business.
Last year, Xpeng delivered 27,041 vehicles, more than double that in 2019. In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 alone sold more than 137,000 units in China in 2020.
Wu said Xpeng developed a lot of technology that he believes will give the company an edge.
“We’re definitely one step ahead, a few steps ahead, you know compared to most of our competitors. So we’re pretty confident that we can win this race with more newbies in the field,” Wu told CNBC.
“We believe that with this kind of focus on the Chinese market, the Chinese customers, the Chinese road conditions and also the various technologies that we are bringing together to better adapt the technology to the Chinese market, we have an advantage over Tesla the Chinese market. “
