With Xpeng's Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) getting positive feedbacks, analyst believes the Chinese EV maker's XPILOT is on track to deliver L3 functionality.
Xpeng held an NGP Beta experience event on January 11, where invited users and media had the opportunity to experience the Beta version of its high-speed autonomous navigation driving function.
The NGP high-speed autonomous navigation driving is one of the driving features of XPILOT 3.0. With its support, vehicles can navigate autonomously from point A to point B on the highway covered by high precision maps.
Deutsche Bank analyst Edison said in a note to investors that Tesla's developmental efforts are much more focused on "perfecting" city pilot in North America. Therefore, China is not a top priority for FSD at the moment and the feature set is very limited.
Based on the largely positive media and investor feedback, Yu highlight the following observations about NGP beta test drives:
User interface is very modern and streamlined with real-time 3D HD mapping combined with 360-degree visual perception showing roads, bridges, buildings, and traffic cones (essentially gets rid of the need to look in the rearview mirror);
Natural human-like lane changing, overtaking, and merging;
More refined compared to engineering version and anticipates speed adjustments much better than Tesla NoA;
NGP will try to maximize efficiency by choosing the fastest lane for different segments of the journey where Tesla often just stays on the fastest/left lane;
Smooth automatic switching between NGP and lower level ADAS features when necessary (ACC or LCC)；
Voice reminders are timely before changing lanes or when there is no HD map coverage or bad weather coming up(manual takeover is required);
Works in tunnels unlike Tesla NoA/FSD due to HD mapping and high precision positioning system;
Next quarter, Xpeng will release its memory parking (sometimes referred to as auto valet parking) feature, allowing the vehicle to recognize side-front parking spaces and conduct "last mile" parking with the ability to avoid obstacles, plan routes, and park with extreme precision.
Separately, Xpeng teased its upcoming third model which will be a smaller sedan built on the G3 platform, set to be unveiled in the second quarter with production beginning later this year.
Yu said this vehicle will look to compete directly against Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, suggesting 150k RMB or less in price. The vehicle will have the option of ing equipped with 2 LiDAR sensors supplied by Livox.
"We think this vehicle could potentially take large share from traditional mid-tier competitors particularly the Japanese OEMs who have yet to introduce a compelling BEV offering," Yu said.
