Latest news with #XPengMotors
NDTV
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- NDTV
XPeng P7 Electric Sports Sedan Unveiled; Gets AI Driving Modes
XPeng Motors has launched the latest version of its P7 electric sports sedan, which combines design with artificial intelligence. This new model features a sleek rear, a minimalist exterior, and an AI-driven driving mode, making it a strong competitor in the electric vehicle market. Designed by Rafik Ferrag, creator of the original 2018 P7, the new model has a smooth shape with a noticeable rear and front. The reflective steel-like color gives it a bullet-shaped look that blends in with its surroundings. While the P7 seats five passengers, its cabin is slightly smaller than the P7+ variant, prioritizing sporty style over family space. Xpeng has designed the P7 electric sedan with a focus on classic simplicity rather than retro elements. Launched in 2020, it has received a five-star safety rating in both C-NCAP and Euro NCAP tests. Also Read: BYD's First Mini EV Spotted- Will the Kei Car Launch In India? Xpeng P7: Features The P7 features an AI-driven driving mode powered by XPeng's in-house developed Turing chip. This system uses cameras and sensors for navigation, which means it doesn't require Li-dar technology. The car also includes a modern smart cockpit with a digital dashboard and a panoramic glass ceiling that flows seamlessly to the trunk. Xpeng P7: Performance In terms of performance, the P7 can travel up to 576 kilometers on a single charge. Its 86.2 kWh battery charges from 10% to 80% in only 29 minutes. The all-wheel-drive version can go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.1 seconds, highlighting its sporty design. The unveiling of the next-generation Xpeng P7 represents a significant advancement in electric vehicles, featuring advanced AI capabilities. The car is scheduled for release in China in the third quarter of 2025, with details on global availability still to be announced.
Business Times
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Business Times
XPeng Motors: A car company that doesn't really want to be one in the first place
[HONG KONG] Right before He Xiaopeng went on stage to launch the 2025 XPeng X9 car, he battled what he called a 'miserable' cold. 'I slept for 30 out of the past 48 hours. I wanted to be fully energetic to meet all of you,' the co-founder of China's XPeng Motors told a large crowd of reporters, investors and supporters at an event in Hong Kong on Apr 15. That anecdote was a sign of just how important the X9 is to the ambitions of 11-year-old XPeng Motors and He himself. But the futuristic, seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) might merely be a Trojan horse for XPeng's killer weapon in the electric vehicle (EV) market's next battlefront. Founded in 2014, XPeng has sold more than 600,000 vehicles since inception, a milestone that serves to underline how the company is still very much a startup. In comparison, market leader BYD takes only two months to sell that many cars. Still, with 60,158 vehicles delivered in the first quarter of 2025, XPeng is showing signs of building the kind of volume it needs for sustainable growth. It operates in over 30 countries and plans to double its overseas presence to 60 markets, with a goal in place for half its volume to eventually come from outside China. At the unveiling – the brand's first global car event – He positioned the X9 as the opening act in what he called a 'new decade' for XPeng, one that will put artificial intelligence (AI) at the centre of the New York and Hong Kong-listed company's strategy. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up For two hours, the 47-year-old laid out a case for how AI will underpin everything XPeng does, using the new X9 as a prime example. Engineers updated 35 per cent of its components, but one change mattered more than the rest: a switch from Nvidia's chips to XPeng's self-developed Turing AI chip. The 40-core processor can run large models with 30 billion parameters locally, meaning without help from the cloud. Mass production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2025 in China, potentially giving XPeng a head start over rivals still reliant on external suppliers for high-performance automotive AI. XPeng says the chip could give its cars enough self-driving ability to need just one intervention from a human driver every hundred kilometres (once regulations allow that level of autonomy). AI will also make its cars more energy efficient by learning how drivers behave in different traffic conditions, then adapting the motor responses to suit, or make them more comfortable by using cameras to read the road ahead and tune the suspension for bumps before they hit them. The same cameras will also make the AI multi-modal – if you are curious about the new Mercedes driving ahead of you, for example, you could simply ask your XPeng to identify it and give you the run-down on its performance figures. In fact, by forming the technological backbone for a sprawling product ecosystem, the Turing chip could turn out to be XPeng's real product offering. 'XPeng was never built to be a traditional automaker. We never want to become one,' He said. 'What really drives us is creating boundary-pushing innovations, whether it's intelligent driving, AI-powered cars or beyond.' What's meant by 'beyond' has so far taken shape as flying cars and humanoid robots, both of them with Turing AI chips for brains. The humanoid machines, which XPeng named Iron, are 178 cm tall and weigh 70 kg. They have 60 joints and camera vision and are already on trial in the company's factories, where they work side-by-side with humans. He expects the Turing chip to let an Iron robot figure out problems by itself, instead of mindlessly repeating tasks that programmers set for it. 'If a robot does not have the intelligence that it's required to have, it is going to be useless,' he said bluntly. XPeng's Land Aircraft Carrier combines a six-wheel electric vehicle with an AI-powered, two-seater flying craft that it stores and recharges. PHOTO: XPENG MOTORS Perhaps sensibly, AI isn't intended to make XPeng's flying car think for itself, but to make it easier to control. At the X9's launch party, AeroHT – a startup that became an XPeng subsidiary in 2020 – showed off the Land Aircraft Carrier, a six-wheeler that comes with a two-seater drone. The flying machine fits neatly into the vehicle, which also charges its batteries. The design solves two major headaches that come with owning a traditional helicopter, namely storage and refuelling, according to Tan Wang, who co-founded AeroHT. AI removes another pain point by making it a breeze to control. Tan told reporters that helicopters are fiendishly hard to fly, but claims that the Turing chip does enough of the heavy lifting that anyone can learn to operate the XPeng in just three minutes. 'In three hours, you would be a master,' he said. The Land Aircraft Carrier might seem like a pie-in-the-sky idea, but He said XPeng is on track to start delivering them to customers in 2026. The company says it has more than 4,000 pre-orders, at just under two million yuan (S$359,000) each. The target is to sell 10,000 a year, which seems almost outlandishly ambitious, given that no aviation company has ever managed annual sales of more than a thousand. The opportunity is significant. The Chinese government elevated the development of the 'low-altitude economy' to national priority status for the first time in its 2024 Government Work Report, giving the sector a significant boost. The Civil Aviation Administration of China forecasts that the market could reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. Despite that, He is measured in his expectations about how quickly his clutch of AI-powered machines could change the way we live, putting the timeline at '10 or 20 years' when asked how long it would take for robots to become ubiquitous. 'We will have a robot at home and outside we will have robot cars. Flying cars would also be a type of robot. But I think it may take decades of R&D to get us there,' He said. Yet, it's far from certain if XPeng will survive long enough to participate in that future, let alone create it. Like many startups, it struggles with profitability. It has never run in the black, and in the fourth quarter of 2024 its net loss was 1.33 billion yuan, slightly better than the 1.35 billion yuan loss in the same period of 2023. With margins improving and vehicle sales rising, management expects the company to start breaking even by the end of this year. But the founder sounds a cautious note about XPeng's chances. 'I believe that the next decade will witness very brutal competition in China, and I believe that ultimately, we will have only five to seven carmakers left,' He said. 'Right now, we are ranked seventh, so there's a long way to go.'
Associated Press
03-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Transforming Tianhe: A Vision for Modern Industries
BEIJING, March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from Tianhe district, Guangzhou's leading economic powerhouse, is prioritizing the development of eight strategic industry clusters, four future industries, and six modern service industries as its approach to high-quality development. The district announced its decision to establish a '12126" modern industrial system during its recent high-quality development conference. The '12" in the '12126" system refers to eight strategic industry clusters and four future industries; and the '6" encompasses six modern service industries. The district aims to create a modern industrial cluster system supported by five industries by 2035: modern finance, software and the internet, professional services, modern commerce, and cultural creativity, each capable of an annual output value of 100 billion yuan ($13.80 billion). Additionally, five other industries - AI, intelligent equipment and robotics, biomedicines and health, intelligent connected vehicles and new energy vehicles, as well as technology services - are projected to achieve an annual output value of 50 billion yuan each. To this end, the district has developed a series of preferential policies for local businesses and will announce new incentives for its strategic and future industries. Tianhe plans to set aside a budget of over 1 billion yuan annually to support the development of key industries under the '12+6" framework. 'Tianhe is the starting point of XPeng Motors and will remain the key place for its business development,' said He Xiaopeng, chairman of XPeng Motors, who completed his college education and started his business in the district. 'From software to mobile internet, and to AI auto, I'm lucky to have witnessed and participated in China's rapid development of science and technology over the past three decades.' He reaffirmed XPeng's commitment to investing in Tianhe, with a new headquarters to be launched in August. NetEase CEO Ding Lei credited Tianhe's 'daring to break and build' mindset and supportive business environment for its success. With AI-driven transformations on the horizon, NetEase will continue investing over 10 billion yuan annually in R&D to drive global innovation. Having been Guangzhou's No.1 district in GDP for 18 consecutive years, Tianhe is known for its technological innovation. Its Wushan-encircled innovation source area has the highest intelligence density in Guangdong province, while its Keyun Road is referred to as the 'No. 1 game street in China.'
