XPeng, a prominent Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, has introduced its Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), known as City NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot), in Beijing. This move makes XPeng the first company to launch such a feature in the Chinese capital city. Currently, the City NGP feature is available for public testing on Beijing’s ring roads and major highways. XPeng has plans to extend access to general users of the Max version of its flagship G9 and P7i models through a system update. The company has also announced that XPeng P5’s P-version models can utilize the City NGP feature in Beijing after upgrading to Xmart OS 3.5.0.
City NGP is an ADAS feature that bears similarities to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. When activated and with navigation destinations set, the feature allows the vehicle to perform driving tasks. These tasks include maintaining a safe distance from the preceding vehicle, changing lanes based on navigation or overtaking decisions, handling merging and lane splitting, as well as maneuvering around stationary vehicles or obstacles.
XPeng initially introduced the City NGP feature on a pilot basis in Guangzhou, the company’s headquarters, on September 17, 2022. Subsequently, on October 21, XPeng opened access to the feature for all eligible P5 cars in Guangzhou. The launch of XPeng’s flagship SUV, the G9, on September 21, 2022, also marked the introduction of the second-generation assisted driving system called XNGP. This system aims to provide driving assistance across various scenarios, including highways, city roads, internal campus roads, and parking lots.
During the company’s annual Tech Day event on October 24, 2022, XPeng revealed its plans to enable City NGP support for the G9 Max version in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai by the first half of 2023 through the XNGP system. XPeng also stated that XNGP achieved its first phase of capability on March 31, 2023, covering the G9 Max and P7i Max versions in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. The second phase of XNGP, scheduled for the second half of 2023, will introduce full lane-changing, overtaking, and turning capabilities in major Chinese cities without high-precision maps. XPeng anticipates offering full-scenario ADAS in 2024, once the complete rollout of the XNGP system is achieved.
XPeng mentioned that the Xmart OS 4.3.0 upgrade brings enhanced capabilities to City NGP. These improvements enable vehicles to handle tasks such as lane changes, detours, and following vehicles with greater ease. The company emphasized that City NGP, as part of the XNGP system, possesses powerful AI learning capabilities that contribute to faster improvement in driving skills and faster expansion to more cities.
Aside from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, XPeng intends to expand City NGP’s coverage to dozens of additional cities within the year. The latest version of XNGP will also introduce next-generation Highway NGP capabilities, offering performance closer to Level 4 assisted driving, with minimal takeover required in highway scenarios.
XPeng reported that City NGP has gained the equivalent of one year of driving experience for human drivers, on average, each quarter since its launch in October 2022. In the second half of 2023, XPeng plans to gradually release ADAS features for Chinese cities or urban areas without high-definition (HD) map coverage. Additionally, the company aims to provide customized NGP features tailored for daily commutes across the country. These initiatives aim to accommodate a wider range of driving scenarios and provide users with a more intelligent driving experience in various environments.
While XPeng is recognized for its advanced assisted driving capabilities in China, other domestic counterparts are also making significant progress in this area. NIO, another leading electric vehicle manufacturer, offers a similar feature called NOP (Navigate on Pilot), although it does not currently cover urban areas. NIO began allowing owners of its NT 2.0 platform vehicles to apply for a trial of an enhanced version of the system, NOP+ Beta, on February 20. This version covers 95% of China’s core highways and urban fast roads and delivers notable improvements in safety and comfort during scenarios such as following, lane changing, overtaking, and ramp passing. NIO plans to gradually upgrade NOP+ to its BEV architecture in 2023, enabling the feature to cover a broader range of road scenarios. In the second half of 2023, NIO intends to support pilot navigation to battery swap stations along highways, along with automatic replacement of fully charged batteries.
NIO’s assisted driving software for urban areas is known as NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving), but it is not currently available. Li Auto, also a notable electric vehicle manufacturer, unveiled its latest generation of assisted driving system, AD Max 3.0, at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 18. The system’s all-scenario Navigation on ADAS (NOA) will undergo internal testing in the current quarter and is projected to cover over 100 cities by the end of the year, according to Li Auto.