For more than a decade, “self-driving” has been a big buzzword when talking about the future of mobility. Nowaydays, the vision for this technology is about embedding artificial intelligence into the very core of the driving experience. And while American companies like Tesla and Waymo have dominated the headlines so far, now it’s a Chinese automaker that’s quietly redefining the game.
A new player in the game of AI-driving
The company XPeng, founded in 2014 and based in the Chinese city of Guangzhou is not yet widely known in the Western world. Although it doesn’t yet enjoy the same name recognition as BYD, the company is quickly emerging as one of the most innovative players in electric mobility.
Since launching its first vehicle in 2018, the G3 electric SUV, XPeng has quickly expanded its lineup to include compact and full-size sedans and SUVs. Despite its relatively short history in the automobile business, XPeng has already built a reputation for producing high-performance EVs with cutting-edge features, with an emphasis on tech, particularly self-driving.
Meet the new technology
Xpeng has long prided itself on its prowess in the area of self-driving, and is now working on a novelty that could turn the market upside down: the company plans to deploy its own self-developed AI chip, Turing, in its semi-autonomous cars starting this quarter.
The chip is claimed to be more powerful than NVIDIA’s DRIVE Orin platform, capable of 508 TOPS (trillion operations per second), enabling split-second decision-making in complex environments.
That means that the cars can recognize traffic lights, anticipate pedestrian behavior, avoid double-parked vehicles, and navigate narrow urban roads, all with an intelligence that feels less like automation and more like intuition. XPeng isn’t trying to replace the driver: they are trying to create a new type of driving partnership.
The expectation is that their newly unveiled model, the XPeng P7+, will come with this technology. According to Xpeng, the P7+ is “the first car in the world defined by Artificial Intelligence.”
Last year, the company announced, the release of two new models, the Xpeng Mona M03, which rapidly became Xpeng’s best-selling model, and later the XPeng P7+. What sets this vehicle apart from all previous Xpeng cars is its democratization of self-driving features: it isn’t just another luxury EV with sleek lines and a long-range battery.
What really stands out is what’s under the hood: its computational power. It is a mobile AI platform, powered by the company’s next-generation XNGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) system and a massive sensor suite, including 12 HD cameras, ultra-wide field-of-view sensors, high-precision positioning systems and 5 millimeter-wave radars.
Why Xpeng and not BYD or Tesla?
BYD may be dominating EV sales with its aggressive pricing and global expansion, but when it comes to intelligent driving, XPeng is several steps ahead. Unlike BYD, which still leans on partnerships for advanced driver-assistance tech, XPeng has built its AI stack in-house.
This vertical integration gives XPeng full control over its AI pipeline, allowing faster iteration, better data feedback loops, and ultimately, a more refined driver experience.
As for Tesla, its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has received massive attention, but it still operates without LiDAR (a detection system which works on the principle of radar, but uses light from a laser) and heavily relies on vision-only AI.
That approach may work well in many scenarios, but also creates vulnerability in low-visibility or complex urban conditions. XPeng, on the other hand, embraces a sensor-fusion approach — combining LiDAR, radar, and vision to build a more robust, redundant system.
Besides, it’s important to note that XPeng’s AI system was designed to learn from traffic data across many Chinese cities, where driving conditions can be far more chaotic than in the U.S. This exposure helps the system become more context-aware and creates a critical advantage for scaling AI-driving globally.
The XPeng P7+ is a clear signal that this future isn’t just possible: it’s already here. And while companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Cruise struggle with the limitations of their current systems, China’s new wave of AI-driven EVs may be the ones to redefine what intelligent mobility really looks like.
