Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng has completed its first ET1 humanoid robot prototype developed to automotive-grade standards, marking a step toward mass production of advanced robots, its chief executive said on Monday.
“Today, the first unit of our ET1 robot, developed to automotive-grade standards, has successfully rolled off the production line,” He Xiaopeng said in a post on X. “This marks a critical step toward the large-scale mass production of advanced humanoid robots this year.”
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Xpeng has been expanding beyond electric vehicles into artificial intelligence and robotics. At its AI Day event in November 2025, the company said it aims to achieve mass production of high-level humanoid robots by the end of 2026, positioning robotics as a new growth pillar alongside its core automotive business.
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At the same event, Xpeng unveiled its next-generation Iron humanoid robot, which demonstrated human-like walking and movement on stage. The robot features a humanoid spine, bionic muscles, flexible skin and hands with 22 degrees of freedom, and is powered by the company’s in-house Vision-Language-Action AI model and custom Turing chips. Xpeng said the robot will initially be deployed in commercial service scenarios across multiple industries.
Xpeng first introduced its humanoid robot concept at AI Day 2024, when it revealed the original Iron model. The company has said that bringing automotive manufacturing standards, supply chain discipline and safety requirements into robot development is central to its strategy of scaling humanoid robots for real-world use.