XPeng Posts Results From Real-World Autonomous Driving Challenge: What EV Investors Need To Know

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng Inc. XPEV has positioned itself by catering to the mid- and low-end of the market, along with an accent on technology.

What Happened: Data from the first six days of China's longest  highway autonomous driving challenge showed some of the most successful autonomous driving performance in real road conditions in China from XPeng's P7, the company said in a statement.

With XPeng's Navigation Guided Pilot autonomous driving assistance, the frequency of human driver intervention was as low as 0.65 times per 100 kilometers, the automaker said.

This metric was under one time per 100 kilometers in five out of the six days of testing from March 19-24.

This was achieved on highways in China, covering some of the busiest and most complex highway sections along the country's eastern coastal corridor, XPeng said. 

The success rate was at 86.05%-97.91% for lane changing and overtaking, 83.76%-96.93% for highway ramp entrances and exits, and as high as 100% for tunnel pass-through success.

"The NGP delivered stable performance in rainstorm conditions and on highways in mountain areas during the six-day expedition, showcasing the robustness and reliability of its functionality for complex driving scenarios in China," XPeng said.

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Why It's Important: A technological edge is one of the key determinants of success in the crowded EV market.

XPeng began rolling out an over-the-air upgrade with Xpilot 3.0 advanced driver assistance for its P7 vehicles in late January.

This included XPeng's Navigation Guided Pilot program, which is akin to Tesla, Inc.'s TSLA Navigate on Autopilot.

Xpilot take rates are trending upward in the first quarter, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu said in a recent tweet.

The analyst sees the autonomous driving software evolving rapidly, with expanded L3 functionality and LiDAR expected in 2022 and complete urban driving functionality likely in 2023.

XPEV Price Action: XPeng shares closed Thursday's session 5.45% higher at $32.53. 

Related Link: XPeng Beats Q4 Revenues, Guides For Strong Q1 Deliveries

The navigation system on an XPeng P7. Courtesy photo.