Last week in Guangzhou, China, XPeng Motors announced its third production model, the P5, and gave more details on the car at an Auto Shanghai 2021 press event this week. The company calls the car the world’s first production Smart EV (electric vehicle)—a category of vehicle in China—equipped with automotive-grade LiDAR technology.
Its launch will also bring XPeng’s Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) capabilities to city roads for the first time in a production vehicle, powered by the company’s full-stack in-house developed autonomous driving system called XPilot 3.5. The P5 is positioned as a “family-friendly model to popularize EVs” with compelling value in its class, but it boasts technology with a focus on cutting-edge user-centric and intuitive in-car features with the latest Xmart OS 3.0 operating system.
“The P5 brings a new level in sophistication and technological advancement for smart EVs,” said He Xiaopeng, Chairman & CEO of XPeng. “Each new XPeng model aims for a new high in technology, and the P5 is our most advanced and technically ambitious model yet. Our homegrown technology, distinctive design language, and user experience philosophy, all reflect XPeng’s drive to grow from its Chinese roots to realize its global vision of leading the world’s Smart EV market.”
The XPilot 3.5 architecture comprises 32 perception sensors including 2 LiDARs, 12 ultrasonic sensors, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and 13 high-resolution cameras along with a high-precision positioning unit combining GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and IMU (inertial measurement unit). These feed data into a 360-degree dual-perception fusion system to provide sufficient redundancy across the sensors to handle challenging and complex road conditions.
The P5’s double-prism LiDAR units are said to be capable of distinguishing pedestrians, cyclists and scooters, static obstacles, and construction zones in challenging scenarios such as night and low-light conditions, backlighting, and alternating light and dark illumination in tunnels.
The extension of NGP functionality from highways to city diving means that the P5 will be able to handle situations such as cutting-in, automatic following, and speed limit optimization on urban roads, recognizing traffic lights as well as small objects.
The P5’s standard Xmart OS 3.0 creates an advanced digital cockpit to deliver next-generation user-vehicle interaction. The platform supports full-scenario all-voice interaction, answering complex needs of driver-vehicle and passenger-vehicle interaction with a simple “Voice for Everything” solution. The company says that the P5 is the first in its class to deploy Qualcomm’s Snapdragon flagship SA8155P auto-grade computing platform, which is three times more powerful than the previous generation to ensure this interaction and to assist, inform, and entertain occupants.
The P5’s smart interaction suite also includes a remote Bluetooth key with robust security specifications. An ecosystem of in-house and third-party applications and software packages allows for rich user-created content and many useful options.
The P5 is slightly longer than Tesla’s Model 3 at 4808 mm (189.3 in) long with a smaller 2768-mm (109.0-in) wheelbase. XPeng says the car’s distinctive design language includes a sleek aerodynamic profile complemented by a neat fastback with an unobtrusive ducktail. Its X-shaped headlights and taillights echo the XPeng logo with the brand’s “X-volving” lighting language.
A 1.493-m2 (16.0-ft2) panoramic canopy glass roof offers views upward for the P5’s passengers. The interior can be reconfigured as a private full-width movie theater or put into sleep mode as a full-length sleeping compartment. Extra touches, such as a built-in fridge and air freshness and fragrance control, are designed to enhance the P5’s role as a mobile extension of our users’ home or office.
XPeng is expected to start P5 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2021 with reservations now possible. “Early bird” customers will be entitled to lifetime free charging and supercharging services.
Just before Auto Shanghai, XPeng also announced a partnership with Zhongsheng Group to provide high-quality services to consumers to accelerate Smart EV adoption in China. Xpeng will leverage Zhongsheng’s dealership network and expertise in serving consumers for mid- to high-end automobiles to strengthen its after-sales services capabilities. The XPeng-branded dealership outlets will be first launched in tier-1 or high-potential cities in China within 2021.
“By partnering with Zhongsheng, we can accelerate the pace of expanding our sales and service network and promote XPeng’s differentiated Smart EV products and advanced autonomous driving capability to customers,” said He Xiaopeng. “The partnership will also further enhance our brand awareness, making our Smart EVs accessible to a wider range of customers.”
“This partnership will mark the realization of Zhongsheng’s New Energy Vehicle Strategy, which we initiated in Q4 2020,” added Huang Yi, Chairman of Zhongsheng. “I strongly believe that the close collaboration between one of the leading manufacturers of smart premium EVs and one of the largest automotive dealer groups globally will substantially contribute to our mutual growth and sustainable mobility.”
