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XPeng sees new milestone in autonomous driving, rolls out Tesla FSD-like assisted driving capability to 2 flagship models

's XNGP system will enable full-scenario ADAS from start to stop when the full rollout is completed in 2024, it said.  |  XPeng US | XPeng HK

(Image credit: XPeng)

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) is making its FSD (Full )-like Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) available for two flagship models, marking significant progress in building its assisted driving capabilities.

The electric vehicle maker will begin pushing out a new OTA update, Xmart OS 4.2.0, today, opening up the first phase capabilities of XNGP, XPeng's new generation of intelligent driving systems, to the XPeng G9 and P7i.

XPeng concluded its six-day Mission X 2023 XNGP challenge test drive today with an XNGP technology sharing session in Shanghai, where the plan was announced by Wu Xinzhou, vice president and head of the autonomous driving center at XPeng.

XNGP is XPeng's new generation intelligent driving system and is the ultimate product form of assisted driving before achieving full self-driving, the company said.

In its full form, the XNGP system will not rely on high-precision maps and will enable an assisted driving experience from the starting parking space to the end parking space.

XPeng has been testing the capability on the P5 sedan, which comes with a feature called City NGP (City Navigation Guided Pilot). The function is already available for the P5 in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

XNGP has achieved the first phase of capability, gaining City NGP capability for the G9 Max and P7i Max in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, three cities with high precision map coverage, according to XPeng.

The second phase of XNGP, which XPeng will launch in the second half of 2023, will see full lane-changing, overtaking and left/right turn capabilities extended to major Chinese cities without high precision maps, while full-scenario ADAS is planned for 2024.

When the full rollout of the XNGP system is completed in 2024, it will enable full-scenario ADAS from start to stop, the company said.

In other cities without high-precision map coverage, XNGP also significantly improves assisted driving capabilities, according to the company.

With City NGP available, vehicles can achieve navigation-assisted driving from point A to point B within the city in areas with high-precision map coverage in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

This includes vehicles autonomously completing cruise following, overtaking, and bypassing stationary vehicles or objects, as well as enabling stoplight recognition, autonomous lane changes, and avoidance of other traffic participants.

In addition to the G9 Max and P7i Max models equipped with XNGP, City NGP will also be available for XPeng P5 in Shanghai.

In areas without high-precision map coverage, XPeng aims to give vehicles the ability to make left and right turns in most major cities later this year, bringing the user experience in those areas closer to City NGP, the company said.

Notably, in addition to City NGP, XPeng is also building a next-generation Highway NGP, Wu said at today's event.

The new Highway NGP is based on XNGP's next-generation technology architecture, which offers significant improvements in security, usability, comfort, access efficiency, and interaction methods, according to Wu.

XPeng's development of the new Highway NGP is progressing as expected and is set to be available to users with the XNGP system in the next major OTA update, Wu said.

Players in the assisted driving space are currently building products that largely rely on high-precision maps for navigation-assisted driving, although many of them aim to eventually move away from them.

XPeng has built XNet, a deep visual neural network that does not rely on high precision maps and relies only on pure visual perception, the first and only mass-produced BEV perception system in China, it said.

XNet is capable of fusing data collected by multiple cameras to output 4D information about dynamic targets and 3D information about static targets, according to the company.

In the future, drivers will not need to be restricted by the area of high-precision maps and will be able to enjoy high-level assisted driving experience in more cities and scenarios faster, XPeng said.

XPeng is one of the few players to mention that it will move away from reliance on high-precision maps.

Earlier this month, DeepRoute, a local self-driving company backed by Alibaba, unveiled its new Driver 3.0 solution, which it said is a solution that does not require high-precision maps and breaks down the limitations imposed by geo-fencing.

In addition to bringing better assisted driving capabilities, XPeng's latest OTA update brings 27 new features, 52 experience optimizations and more than 40 basic experience enhancements, according to the company.

XPeng revs up for comeback after ending 2022 in the slow lane

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NIO aims for swap stations to serve partly as showrooms in underdeveloped cities

Up to 70 percent of 's owners are in China's tier 1 and tier 2 cities, and the company wants to leverage battery swap stations to reach out to less-developed tier 3 and tier 4 cities.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) announced aggressive new battery swap station construction plans late last month. Now, one of the company's co-founders has revealed more about the thinking behind it.

Up to 70 percent of NIO owners are in China's first- and second-tier cities, and for the less-developed third- and fourth-tier cities, the company wants to reach out with battery swap stations rather than showrooms that include NIO Houses and NIO Spaces, said its co-founder and president Qin Lihong.

Qin mentioned these in an interview with local media 36kr, saying, NIO had opened stores in third and fourth-tier cities, but found the results to be mediocre, according to the text of the interview released today.

That's because even if NIO opened stores in those cities, it still took some time for the people there to accept new things, so the company has now adjusted its strategy, Qin said.

Battery swap stations in tier 3 and tier 4 cities can replace stores, Qin said, adding that there is some market space in those cities, but the traffic is not steady, so stores are not needed.

But with battery swap stations, people will be able to see these facilities every day, he said.

In addition, some cities may not contribute many sales, but are travel destinations for residents of big cities, such as Chongming in Shanghai, he said.

NIO's plan, announced at NIO Day late last year, was to add 400 battery swap stations in 2023.

On February 21, that plan was revised upward to 1,000, and NIO founder, chairman and CEO William Li said at the time that the company would also increase its efforts to build the facility in third- and fourth-tier cities and counties that have certain user base and do not yet have battery swap stations.

At an internal NIO meeting late last year, several executives were asked to vote on the business that would best drive sales in 2023, and battery swap stations received the most support, according to the 36kr report today.

The addition of 1,000 battery swap stations this year represents more of a commitment for NIO, meaning the company will build as many of the facilities as it can, according to Qin.

In the interview, Qin also refuted claims that NIO doesn't care about costs, saying the company is very clear about its numbers.

In addition to the normal advertising, public relations and maintenance costs, there are several special metrics in NIO's marketing costs, including the average cost of user development and the average cost of user service, he said.

NIO's average development cost per user is the cost of everything about selling cars, which the company aims to optimize year by year. But such costs do not have a particularly large scale effect, such as advertising costs, which are not cheaper the higher the investment, he said.

NIO's average cost of user service, including car repair, maintenance, charging, battery swap, they are decreasing year by year, Qin said.

Qin did not disclose specific numbers but said NIO's average cost of user service this year could be a quarter of what it was in 2018.

NIO CFO says confident of meeting this year's sales target

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk planning visit to China, report says

Elon Musk last visited China in January 2020, when he showed off a dance during a delivery ceremony for 's first China-made Model 3 vehicles.  |  TSLA.US

(A screenshot from a file video showing Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a speech.)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is planning a visit to China as early as April and is seeking a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Reuters said in a report today, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Musk's visit will mark his first to China since the Covid-19 pandemic, the report noted.

The Tesla CEO's last visit to China was in January 2020, when he showed off a dance during the delivery of Tesla's first China-made Model 3 vehicles.

China is Tesla's second-largest market after the United States, and its Shanghai plant is the electric vehicle maker's largest production center, producing the Model 3 sedan as well as the Model Y crossover.

For the full year of 2022, the Chinese market contributed $18.1 billion in revenue to Tesla, or 22 percent of its $81.5 billion in total revenue, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC on January 31.

The US market contributed $40.6 billion, or 49.8 percent, to Tesla's revenue in 2022.

For the full year 2022, Tesla delivered 1,313,851 vehicles worldwide, up 40.38 percent from 935,950 in 2021.

The electric vehicle maker delivered 439,770 vehicles in China in 2022, contributing 33 percent of the year's deliveries, data monitored by CnEVPost show.

In January and February, Tesla delivered 26,843 vehicles and 33,923 vehicles in China, respectively, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show.

Tesla's Shanghai plant exported 39,208 and 40,479 vehicles in January and February, respectively.

Tesla seeks to build new battery plant with CATL in US, report says

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BYD expected to unveil 1st model of F brand in Jun

The first model of 's F-brand, codenamed SF, will target the RMB 400,000 to 600,000 market.  |  BYDDY.US | BYD HK

BYD's yet-to-be-announced new brand, codenamed F brand, is expected to officially unveil its first model, codenamed SF, in June to target a market priced between RMB 400,000 ($58,380) and RMB 600,000, CnEVPost has learned.

The model will be built on a new BYD off-road platform and will be equipped with dual motors, front and rear differential locks, and electric interlock, a BYD insider said.

Xiong Tianbo, former head of BYD auto sales research institute, will be the general manager of the F brand's sales division, leading the brand's product planning, channel sales and brand building, the source told CnEVPost.

BYD said at an event marking the launch of the company's 3 millionth new energy vehicle (NEV) on November 16 last year that in addition to the Yangwang brand, BYD will launch a highly specialized and personalized new brand in 2023.

The new brand will meet the increasingly personalized needs of consumers, and it will focus on building with users, BYD chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said at the time.

Last month, local media reported that the brand's internal code name would be F brand. BYD later confirmed it.

Earlier this month, CnEVPost obtained several spy shots of the SF model with the number "2316" emblazoned on its body.

The 2 in the string refers to dual motors, the 3 refers to three locks, the 1 refers to a new platform and the 6 refers to a June release, the latest information suggests.

Here are more spy shots of the model obtained by CnEVPost.

The SF model's powertrain has a maximum output of more than 500 kW and will have a body-on-frame structure to compete with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, previous information showed.

(1 $= RMB 6.8522)

Spy shots: This could be what BYD F-brand's 1st model looks like

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Tesla teases new product launch in China on Apr 3

's poster mentions "Supercharging," suggesting that the product could be its latest charging device.  |  TSLA.US

Tesla will launch a new product in China next week, information shared by the company on a social media platform shows.

Tesla China will see the addition of a new member in a 3-day countdown that will take on a special form, the electric vehicle (EV) maker said in a poster on its WeChat account today.

The poster mentions "Supercharging," suggesting that the product could be Tesla's latest charging device.

Earlier this month, Tesla's first V4 Supercharger went into service in Harderwijk, Netherlands.

The Tesla V4 Supercharger is taller than the V3 version and offers a longer charging cable, with the aim of being able to provide charging convenience for other models, as eventually, Tesla's charging network will be open to other brands of EVs.

Instead of the red and white color scheme of the V3, the V4 facility has a simpler black and white color scheme in terms of color paint.

For now, the Harderwijk Tesla V4 Supercharger is still operating on a pilot basis and is only open to Tesla models.

Tesla added three Supercharger stations in China in February, including 18 Superchargers, according to figures it announced earlier this month.

To date, Tesla has more than 1,100 Superchargers in the Chinese mainland, offering more than 8,400 Superchargers.

It also has more than 700 destination charging stations in the Chinese mainland, offering more than 1,800 destination piles.

Tesla Model Y ranks No. 2 in top-selling SUVs in China in Feb

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Tesla seeks to build new battery plant with CATL in US, report says

As with Ford's deal structure, would own and operate the plant while licensing technology from , according to Bloomberg.  |  TSLA.US

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Tesla is reportedly looking to build a new battery factory with CATL in the US, similar to the Chinese battery-maker giant's deal with Ford last month.

Bloomberg reported on the matter earlier today, saying Tesla discussed plans involving CATL with the US government.

Tesla representatives sought clarity on the Inflation Reduction Act rules that the US government is finalizing this week, and the company's senior director of global public policy Rohan Patel was among those involved in the discussions, according to the report.

Tesla hopes to build a plant wholly owned by it in partnership with CATL, similar to a deal Ford announced last month in Michigan, the report said.

Tesla is in expansion mode, deploying its $22 billion in cash to boost production and cut costs as it faces increasing competition, the report noted.

CATL produces lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a cheaper chemistry than the nickel-based batteries used in Western countries, and is key to the plan, the report said.

Tesla is considering building the battery plant in Texas to supply its electric vehicle assembly plant there, although the location has not been finalized, Bloomberg said, citing some people familiar with the matter.

As with Ford's deal structure, Tesla would own and operate the plant, while licensing technology from CATL, according to the report.

On February 13, Ford announced that it is investing $3.5 billion to build an LFP battery plant in Marshall, Michigan.

The plant, which is wholly owned by Ford, is the first battery plant to be wholly owned by a US automaker and will introduce LFP battery solutions for Ford's electric vehicle products.

The LFP battery plant is expected to start production in 2026 with an initial workforce of 2,500, Ford said last month.

The plant will have an initial design capacity of about 35 GWh per year and could supply power packs for about 400,000 Ford electric vehicles annually.

CATL is the world's largest maker of electric vehicle batteries, with a share far ahead of other peers.

CATL's installed battery volume in January-February was 25.5 GWh, up 34 percent from 19.0 GWh in the same period last year, according to data released yesterday by South Korean market research firm SNE Research.

The Chinese battery giant continues to rank No. 1 with a 33.9 percent share, the only global battery maker with a share of more than 30 percent.

Ford to build $3.5 billion LFP battery plant in Michigan with CATL's technology

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The common feature of NIO, Li Auto, XPeng’s mobile apps? Pretty girls!

and 's mobile apps have been featuring pretty girls significantly more often lately, while is running a campaign to encourage users to share such content on its app.

Whenever we open the NIO (NYSE: NIO) mobile app to see what's going on at the company, there are always posts with lots of pictures of pretty girls on the front page.

This practice has been seen occasionally before, but has become more frequent this year with the large deliveries of the ET5 sedan.

We found a similar practice after taking a deeper look at the mobile apps of Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV), with the latter launching a campaign to encourage ladies to make similar posts.

The NIO App is a great source for monitoring information about NIO and a great way for many people to learn about the company's developments and vehicle models.

The app has probably the largest number of users of any Chinese carmaker, and may even surpass many popular apps from local tech giants.

As of December 12, 2022, the NIO App had accumulated more than 5 million registered users, Qin Lihong, the company's co-founder and president, said in a media communication late last year.

Qin said at the time that NIO App had more than 380,000 daily active users and could reach more than 400,000 at its peak.

"Now many people treat NIO App as a vertical media, and a popular one. Not only the content shared by NIO users, but I believe you can also get a lot of industry information, including the latest news, from our app," Qin said.

Before this year, pretty girls didn't appear in the NIO App very often, perhaps because the company had previously been delivering models with high prices and targeted mainly a relatively affluent demographic.

With the mass delivery of the ET5, which targets a younger demographic, pretty girls are appearing significantly more often in the NIO App.

In January-February, NIO delivered 20,663 vehicles, of which the ET5 contributed 12,266, or 59 percent, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

More than half of NIO owners are ladies, and 83.9 percent have a bachelor's degree, according to a report released last month by local market research firm Sino Monitor.

The Li Auto App shows a similar picture, especially as deliveries of the new SUV Li L7 begin.

Li Auto targets family users, and the Li L9 and Li L8 are both six-seat models. The large space and well-considered details make them a must-consider option for many families with children when purchasing a car.

Before this year, the Li Auto App showcased posts shared from users that essentially described how the vehicles had worked for their families.

But as deliveries of the company's first five-seat SUV, the Li L7, begin this month, there are more posts with photos of pretty girls, although the company is still emphasizing that the SUV is still aimed at families.

There are relatively fewer posts with photos of pretty girls in XPeng's mobile app, but that doesn't mean the company doesn't want to recommend such content.

Earlier this month, the company posted a thread on the XPeng App calling on female car owners to share their experiences with their cars, and prizes will be awarded for the best content.

The campaign runs from March 2 to March 31, and XPeng will announce which ones have won rewards on April 5.

Understandably, NIO, Li Auto and XPeng are doing this. After all, articles with pictures of pretty girls are more likely to attract readers to click on them, thus increasing people's understanding of their products.

NIO and Li Auto have done better in this regard, in large part perhaps because their helmsmen were previously the founders of two of China's largest automotive media outlets.

Li Xiang, the founder, chairman and CEO of Li Auto, is the founder of Auto Home, and William Li, the founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, is the founder of Yiche. The websites of these two auto media outlets attract tens of millions of users every day, and posts with pictures of pretty girls are common.

Here are screenshots of some of the content recommended on the NIO App homepage.

Here are screenshots of some of the content recommended on the Li Auto App homepage.

Below are screenshots of some of the content from the XPeng App.

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BYD aims to sell at least 3 million vehicles this year

aims to sell at least 3 million vehicles this year and strive to reach 3.6 million, said Wang Chuanfu, its chairman and president.  |  BYDDY.US | BYD HK

BYD aims to sell at least 3 million vehicles this year and will strive to reach 3.6 million, said Wang Chuanfu, the company's chairman and president.

BYD announced its 2022 annual report on March 28 and held an investor conference on March 29, where Wang revealed the target, according to a report by local media outlet Yicai today.

For the 3.6 million unit sales target BYD is striving to reach, 2.8 million will be in China and 800,000 in overseas markets, the report said, citing an insider at the company.

BYD sold 1,868,543 vehicles in 2022, including 1,863,494 NEVs. The company discontinued production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2022.

The company sold 50,021 NEVs overseas from July to December 2022. It first announced overseas NEV sales figures in July 2022.

If it can achieve its sales target of reaching 2.8 million units in China, BYD will surpass the Chinese market record of 2.16 million sales held by FAW-Volkswagen, Yicai's report noted.

If it can reach 3.6 million units in global sales, BYD will be among the top 10 car companies in global auto sales this year.

BYD aims to become the largest automaker in China by the end of this year, Wang said.

BYD's retail sales of 316,417 units in January-February were the highest among all car companies in China, with an 11.8 percent share, according to a list released earlier this month by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Wang expects China's NEV sales to be 8.5 million to 9 million units in 2023, with penetration rates of up to 40 to 45 percent, and possibly exceeding 50 percent in some months.

This means that sales for all cars will be about 20 million units in China this year, with traditional fuel vehicles selling around 11 million units, a further reduction of about 4 million units from 2022.

In China's first-tier, second-tier and third-tier cities, consumers are already barely considering fuel vehicles when buying cars, Wang said.

BYD has pricing power in the price range of 100,000 yuan ($14,540) to 200,000 yuan, but the company wants to keep things steady, he said.

BYD doesn't want to make it hard for others and make it impossible for others to survive, Wang said.

He believes that ADAS algorithms and high-level assisted driving have been deified by people under the influence of capital, and that the market will slowly return to rationality.

Wang believes that the Chinese car market is highly competitive, while competition in overseas markets is not sufficient, and Chinese automakers will find no or few rivals when they go abroad.

Products that are competitive in China will still be competitive in overseas markets with a 20 percent price increase, he said.

In expanding overseas markets, a good strategy in the short term is to focus on countries without local car brands, rather than the United States, South Korea, Germany, Japan, France and other auto powerhouses, Wang said.

($1= RMB 6.8768)

BYD expects its Q1 NEV sales to grow over 80% YoY, aims to be largest automaker in China by year-end

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