XPENG produces first mass-produced robotaxi in China

XPENG (NYSE: XPEV) announced the rollout of its first mass-produced robotaxi from its Guangzhou facility on May 18, 2026. The company states this represents the first time a Chinese automaker has achieved mass production of a robotaxi through full-stack, in-house development.

The robotaxi operates on XPENG's GX platform and meets L4 autonomous driving standards. The vehicle uses four self-developed Turing AI chips that provide 3,000 TOPS of computing power. The system operates without LiDAR or high-definition maps, instead using a vision-based solution powered by the VLA 2.0 end-to-end model with system response latency under 80 milliseconds.

XPENG received a road testing permit for intelligent connected vehicles in Guangzhou in January 2026 and established its robotaxi business unit in March. The company plans to begin pilot operations in the second half of 2026 and aims to achieve fully autonomous operations without safety officers by early 2027.

The production robotaxi includes privacy glass, comfort seats, and rear entertainment screens. Passengers can access multimedia entertainment and adjust settings through a voice assistant. XPENG will open its robotaxi SDK, with Amap as its first global ecosystem partner.

The robotaxi shares the VLA 2.0 model foundation with XPENG's humanoid robot IRON and flying car products as part of the company's physical AI ecosystem. XPENG develops its advanced driver-assistance system technology and vehicle systems in-house and operates manufacturing facilities in Zhaoqing and Guangzhou.

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