Xpeng Motors' Driverless System Vs. Tesla Autopilot: New Xpeng P5 Receives LiDAR; Better Than Tesla Model 3?

Xpeng Motors, Tesla's Chinese rival, launched its latest Xpeng P5 on Wednesday, Apr. 14. The Chinese tech giant manufacturer also announced that it will have the new XPILOT, which is the company's driverless system.

The new Xpeng P5 is a sedan-type electric car. It is the Chinese manufacturer's second sedan and third production model after its predecessor, which is the Xpeng P7.

Its arrival simply shows that Tesla Model 3 now has a new competitor.
"At this price range with the features we put in the car, I think it will be quite compelling for our customers," said Xinzhou Wu, vice president of Xpeng Motors.

He added that Xpeng P7 starts from $35,192, which is much cheaper compared to the Tesla Model 3's $38,271 starting price.

Xpeng P5's XPILOT

The new Chinese electric vehicle also has a driverless system that is powered by LiDAR technology. This capability is also used by the latest iPhone 12 lineup, enhancing the smartphones' AR features.

Xpeng Motors explained that the integration of LiDAR will help its new P5 to detect pedestrians, scooters, cyclists, and other road obstacles that could lead to serious accidents.

The Chinese EV manufacturer also released a new kind of XPILOT system called ADAS (advanced driver-assistance system). Unlike other EVs' autopilot systems, this new autonomous feature still needs a driver, as reported by CNBC.

Aside from this, the new driverless system is expected to assist the P5 owners to change lanes or overtake other cars.

"In P7 we launched NGP ... only on highways. But highway driving only occupies like 10% of peoples' driving time," Wu added.

Is it better than Tesla Model 3's autopilot?

Right now, the new Xpeng P5 is not yet used by many consumers since it is a newly released EV. This means that interested owners still haven't found any flaws in the new driverless system--if ever there are any.

On the other hand, Xpeng P5 may still have a hard time competing with the well-established Tesla Model 3 since it already received some enhancements that further improve the drivers' autopilot experiences.

Bloomberg previously reported that 90% of Tesla Model 3 drivers feel safe when they are using their electric cars' autopilot feature. This is what the new Chinese EV competitor needs to achieve.

For more news updates about Tesla and its upcoming EV competitors, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Giuliano de Leon