Chinese smart electric vehicle startup Xpeng has launched an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that automates some driving tasks in urban environments.
City Navigation Guided Pilot (CT NGP), an expanded version of Xpeng’s NGP, which performs functions such as assisted driving based on a navigation route set by the driver, is being pilot tested in Guangzhou. Some customers of the Xpeng P5 family sedan in the city can now access the city NGP via an over-the-air update ahead of the wider rollout, the company said.
Xpeng’s City NGP has been compared to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software – Xpeng’s technology promises to do the same things as Tesla’s ADAS, including cruise control, automatic lane changes, maneuvering around stationary vehicles or obstacles, and detecting and reacting to traffic lights. , turning left or right, navigating through intersections and avoiding obstacles such as construction, pedestrians and cyclists.
At least that’s what the technology promises to do; Whether it works as advertised is another question. Tesla has faced countless complaints and lawsuits for not delivering on its promised capabilities.
Tesla and Xpeng aim for fully autonomous driving by releasing their respective driver assistance systems that have been purchased and tested by drivers on real roads. The main difference, and one that could be key here, is in the companies’ sensor stacks. Tesla has falsely pursued a vision-only approach to fully self-driving based on cameras and neural network processing. Xpeng, like most companies aiming for autonomous driving, has a full suite of sensors including cameras, lidar and radar.
“Following the release of Urban NGP, Xpeng is leading a strategic roadmap to complete our ADAS coverage from highways and parking lots to the most complex urban driving situations, providing our customers with improved safety and an optimized driving experience,” said He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xpeng. press release . “We believe that City NGP’s continued growth and expansion of coverage will accelerate the transformation of our customers’ driving experience.”
Finally, City NGP is a feature of Xpilot 3.5, Xpeng’s latest version of standard ADAS (how Tesla comes with Autopilot). City NGP drivers will need “a seven-day familiarization period – and 100 kilometers of driving time” before they can use the functions on all roads, the company said. Going forward, Xpeng’s full-scenario ADAS will be introduced with the automaker’s new flagship G9 SUV, which will be launched in China on September 21.
Xpeng did not immediately respond to requests for more information on whether City NGP will be available on all vehicles going forward, or whether drivers will incur additional costs for City NGP. Xpilot 3.5 currently costs about $6,420 (RMB 45,000). Tesla recently raised the price of the FSD software to $15,000 in North America.
