Xpeng Motors, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, revealed the Xpeng P5 on Wednesday to excel in China’s ultra-competitive auto market. The P5 sedan is a new self-driving electric car and features Lidar technology.
The Xpeng P5 model is the third production model of Xpeng Motors and is meant to be the competitor of Tesla Model 3. P5 is expected to be a strong competitor in the growing field of electric car manufacturers.
The price of the P5 self-driving car will be disclosed at the Shanghai Auto Show happening on 19th April as per the information dispatched by the manufacturing company. The vice president of the company Xinzhou Wu informed the price of P5 will be lower than the P7 model. The price of P7 starts from $35,192 (229,900 Yuan) whereas Tesla Model 3 in China starts at 249,900 Yuan.
Vice President Wu also said the Xpeng P5 model would be available to its customers in China in the third or fourth quarter of the year 2021. Xpeng Motors has already expanded its network into Norway and is also planning to expand its footprint in northern Europe. The time required for expansion in European countries is not disclosed yet.
Self-driving technology of Xpeng P5
Xpeng Motors has tried to produce unique self-driving features to become a strong competitor in the market. The Xpeng P5 model is installed with Lidar which is known as Light Detection and Ranging technology.
Lidar Technology system works on measuring distance by sending out lasers and bouncing them back. The returning laser beams are processed by an algorithm to produce a 3-dimensional illustration of the surrounding objects. This 3-D illustration is vital for autonomous vehicles to understand and analyze their surrounding environment.
As per the declaration from Xpeng Motors, the P5 car with the use of Lidar technology can distinguish motorbikes, scooters, cyclists, pedestrians and even the road works in the night and under low-light situations.
The Chinese manufacturer also released a new version of XPILOT which is known as an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). This system is autonomous however, it still requires a driver. The 3.5 version of XPILOT is expected to feature Navigation Pilot or NGP that allows automation tasks including changing lanes, overtaking cars, and so on. The XPILOT system is developed to compete with the rivals namely Nio’s Nio Pilot and Tesla’s Autopilot system ‘ADAS’.
Wu informed the P7 model was built to work on highways only but the Xpeng P5 model is designed to bring the technology to city areas. It would be more compelling to the Chinese customers, Wu added.
Due to congestion in city areas, the autonomous vehicle may throw many errors. Xpeng Motors believes their Lidar technology helps them to achieve their goal faster and outshine the competitors.
Present situation of China’s electric car market
The electric car market of China is believed to rise this year with 1.9 million units’ sales that would see 51 percent growth every year-on-year.
The electric car market in China is growing due to the support from the Chinese government providing incentives like subsidies. Startup companies including Xpeng, Li Auto, and Nio have grown rapidly with the support.
The Xpeng Motors is confident their technology can outnumber the newcomers in the electric car industry.
XPENG VS TESLA
Last year’s statistics show Xpeng delivered 27,041 vehicles whereas Tesla’s Model 3 alone acquired more than 137,000 units’ sales in 2020 in China. Tesla is already a famous electric car manufacturer all over the world so, Chinese manufacturers must come up with some extra and unique features to win the race.
The Chinese Market, Chinese customers, Chinese road conditions are favorable for autonomous vehicles. With that, manufacturers like Xpeng, Nio, Li Auto can work to introduce better technology to rule the Chinese market and compete with the tech giant Tesla.
