Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng has ramped up development of its own artificial intelligence (AI) chip to power its semi-autonomous cars, with a first mass production model to be fitted with the Turing chip as early as this quarter. The chip is claimed to be three times more powerful than Nvidia’s Drive Orin X, CEO He Xiaopeng said. The chip could also power flying cars and robots being developed by its affiliated companies, he added. “Our chips will be seen in our cars all over the world in future,” he told the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. “We hope traffic rules in Hong Kong and other overseas markets will allow our cars with autonomous driving systems to take to the streets sometime next year.” He did not disclose which EV model would start using its self-developed chip. He, who is also the company’s founder, made the remarks ahead of Xpeng’s Global Brand Night event in Hong Kong, when the EV maker’s latest products and technologies, including drones and autonomous driving platform, were displayed.
Xpeng’s Turing chip, designed for level 4 (L4) autonomous driving, was three times more powerful in computing power than Nvidia’s Drive Orin X installed in its existing smart vehicles, the CEO said in August. The chip, the brain of Xpeng’s AI platform known as Canghai, symbolizes the Guangzhou-based carmaker’s vision in developing full-stack, indigenous autonomous driving technology for mass-produced EVs in mainland China since its establishment in 2014. At present, Xpeng’s cars such as the P7 sedan and G6 SUV can navigate their way automatically on mainland China’s highways and streets, but drivers are required to be fully alert with their hands on the wheel. They are deemed as semi-autonomous and categorized as L2+ vehicles. L3 is considered a “hands-off” system, but still requires drivers to be responsible for safety and ready to take over, while L4 would allow drivers to take their eyes off the road in designated areas, according to standards set by U.S.-based SAE International. Last month, Xpeng said it would test its AI-powered self-driving technology in Hong Kong, taking the first step in expanding globally with its semi-autonomous vehicles.
“Leading Chinese carmakers like Xpeng have proven to be superior to Tesla in autonomous driving capabilities, when both their cars are clogging the mainland roads,” said David Zhang, General Secretary of the Shanghai-based International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association. “But their technologies are only locally operated and are not as international as Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) system.” Still, Tesla’s FSD software – which became available on the mainland in February for CNY64,000 – performs more poorly than Xpeng’s driver assistance system in reading lane markings and recognizing traffic lights, according to Zhang. Xpeng last year expanded the use of its preliminary self-driving system, known as X NGP or navigation guided pilot, to all mainland cities to attract more buyers ahead of Tesla’s launch of its FSD software in China. It became the first on the mainland to offer a semi-autonomous driving system nationwide, the South China Morning Post reports.
