GUANGZHOU, China — Chinese language electrical carmaker Xpeng Motors has introduced a brand new autonomous driving function designed to work on highways, because it ramps up its problem to home rivals in addition to Tesla.

The function — known as Navigation Guided Pilot or NGP — will permit the corporate’s flagship P7 sedan to routinely change lanes, velocity up or decelerate, or overtake vehicles and enter and exit highways.

It’s a part of the following technology of Xpeng’s XPILOT 3.0 so-called superior driver-assistance system (ADAS) which the corporate expects to launch within the first quarter of this 12 months. ADAS refers to a system with some autonomous options however the place a driver continues to be required.

Xpeng is one among China’s electrical automobile start-ups trying to race forward within the nation’s rising market because it battles different upstarts corresponding to Nio and Li Auto, in addition to U.S. electrical automobile large Tesla.

Mass deliveries of Xpeng’s P7 sedan, a direct rival to Tesla’s Mannequin 3, started final June. Xpeng delivered 27,041 vehicles in 2020 — greater than double from a 12 months in the past. 

The NGP is a problem to Tesla’s autonomous ADAS known as Autopilot. One among Autopilot’s options known as Navigate on Autopilot, which has related capabilities to Xpeng’s NGP.

China’s electrical automobile firms need to add extra autonomous options to their vehicles. Nio has its personal system known as NIO Pilot.

A driver might want to watch a security video earlier than with the ability to activate Xpeng’s freeway driving operate. Drivers must hold their arms on the wheel whereas utilizing the automobile’s autonomous driving options.

Customers then enter their vacation spot into the map. The automobile will then start to hold out among the capabilities like lane switching by itself.

Drivers will get a warning when they should take handbook management of the automobile, for instance, throughout opposed climate situations or a highway accident.

Xpeng says its vehicles are geared up with 14 cameras and different vital sensors. Nvidia‘s Xavier computing system powers XPILOT 3.0.

The freeway driving function will likely be obtainable on the premium model of the P7 and obtainable to clients in China solely.