Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
XPeng
Chinese car company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., Ltd., trading as XPeng Motors (Chinese: 小鹏汽车; pinyin: Xiǎopéng Qìchē), commonly known as XPeng, is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong, with offices in Mountain View, California, United States and Munich, Germany. XPeng stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Remove ads
History
Summarize
Perspective
XPeng was co-founded in August 2014 by Xia Heng (Henry Xia) and He Tao, former senior executives at GAC Group with expertise in automotive technology and research and development. Initial backers included: the founder of UCWeb and former Alibaba executive He Xiaopeng, namesake and current Chairman of XPeng, and Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi. Prominent Chinese and international investors included Alibaba, Foxconn and IDG Capital. A further funding round in 2018 saw Alibaba's vice president Joseph Tsai join the corporate board of XPeng.[3][4]
XPeng's subsidiary in the United States, XMotors.ai held a permit for testing self-driving cars from the California Department of Motor Vehicles starting in September 2018.[5] The permit was revoked in February 2020 due to XPeng's failure to submit a disengagement report.[6] XPeng Motors then received a renewed Autonomous Vehicles Testing Permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles in March 2020.
XPeng started production of its first model, the XPeng G3 SUV, in November 2018.[7] It launched the G3 in December 2018 at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[8][9]
Its second model, the P7, a four-door electric sedan, premiered in April 2019 at the 2019 Auto Shanghai show[10] and started deliveries to customers in June 2020.[11][12]
In May 2019, XPeng launched a vehicle for hire company with its own vehicles to serve Guangzhou.[13]
In November 2019, XPeng raised US$400 million in a third fundraising round, which saw Xiaomi join as a strategic investor of XPeng.[14][15] In July 2020, XPeng raised US$500 million from a group of investors including Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China.[16] In August 2020, XPeng raised an additional US$400 million from a group of investors including Alibaba, Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. On 27 August 2020, XPeng raised US$1.5 billion with an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, where its shares climbed more than 40% on the first day of trading.[17] In March 2021, the company received a US$76.9 million funding from Guangdong Yuecai Investment Holdings Co.[18] As of May 2021, 23% of XPeng shares are owned by He Xiaopeng, and 12% by Alibaba Group.[19]
In the third quarter of 2021, revenue for XPeng rose over 500% compared to the year before. It had also increased its R&D team by about a third since the year before.[20]
In 2021, for the first time, XPeng started exporting its flagship P7 sedan. Its first international market was Norway, starting in August.[21] In August 2021, the company's P5 subcompact sedan became able to read traffic lights.[22] In September 2021, XPeng brought its P5 to market. It is the first production car to be equipped with lidar sensors for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).[23]
In October 2021, XPeng's subsidiary HT Aero announced $500 million in funding and the design for a flying car with a planned launch in 2024.[24][25]
In April 2023, XPeng unveiled the XPeng G6 at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show.[26]
On 21 June 2023, XPeng announced a partnership with ACCESS Europe in the field of in-car infotainment systems.[27]
In August 2023, it was announced XPeng had agreed to acquire the autonomous driving technology unit of the Beijing-headquartered vehicle for hire company, DiDi, in exchange for $744 million worth of shares.[28]
In March 2025, He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xpeng Motors, announced that the first mass production of the split flying car land aircraft carrier is expected to be achieved in 2026.[29]
Partnership with Volkswagen
On 26 July 2023, the Volkswagen Group announced its investment of $700 million in XPeng for purchasing 4.99% stake of the company. The VW Group will collaborate with XPeng to develop two VW brand electric models for the mid-size segment in the Chinese market in 2026.[30][31]
In February 2024, XPeng and Volkswagen Group signed a technology cooperation and joint development agreement on platform and software. Through joint procurement and the joint development of the vehicle design and engineering, the product development cycle will be shortened by more than 30%. Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. (VCTC) in Hefei is responsible for this cooperation.[32][33][34]
In April 2024, XPeng and Volkswagen Group signed an electronic and electrical architecture ("E/E Architecture") technology strategic cooperation framework agreement. XPeng and Volkswagen Group will jointly develop a new architecture based on XPeng's latest electronic and electrical architecture, which will be applied to the CMP platform developed by Volkswagen for the Chinese market, and mass production will begin in 2026.[35]
In January 2025, Xpeng reached strategic cooperation agreements with Volkswagen China and BP Pulse, and both parties will open their own charging networks in mainland China to each other;[36] Xpeng also plans to build a joint-branded ultra-fast charging station with Volkswagen.[37]
In August 2025, XPeng released its first-half financial report, revealing that the company generated 1.72 billion RMB profit in technology licensing fees from Volkswagen.[38]
In August 2025, XPeng and Volkswagen Group signed an Agreement on Expanding E/E Architecture Technical Collaboration ("Expanded Technical Collaboration"). The signing of this agreement marks that the E/E Architecture will be not only integrated into Volkswagen's electric vehicle platforms, but also deployed across its ICE and PHEV platforms in China, thereby significantly expanding the strategic technical collaboration to broader markets.[39]
Remove ads
Technology
Summarize
Perspective
Autonomous driving (XPILOT)
XPeng uses a combination of lidar, radar, and a camera for driver aid. The lidar system uses laser light to recreate a 3D space by measuring the distance between itself and objects by measuring the time it takes for the laser light to bounce back.[40] Xinzhou Wu stated "Lidar will provide the 3D drivable space and precise depth estimation to small moving obstacles even like kids and pets, and obviously, other pedestrians and the motorbikes which are a nightmare for anybody who's working on driving",[41] The radar will provide the vehicles with the ability to detect the speed and location of an object. The camera will provide the vehicle with basic semantic information as stated by Xinzhou Wu. XPeng introduced their first vehicle equipped with LiDAR in 2021 with the P5.[41] In late 2024, XPeng released their first vehicle equipped with XPILOT that uses a new 'vision-only' sensor suite lacking a LiDAR sensor with the P7+, which instead relies on 4D mmWave radars which can measure altitude and LOFIC camera sensors which can better handle glare. In 2025, models previously equipped with LiDARs were refreshed with the new system and had their LiDAR systems removed.
Battery
Initially, XPeng's batteries were developed by China's largest battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).[42]
XPeng has moved to offering LFP batteries options in addition to the original NMC battery options, which do not use expensive cobalt.[43] In early 2021, "Xpeng announces they were launching new versions of the P7 sedan and G3 SUV with LFP batteries. The new versions with lithium iron phosphate cells will be available for the rear-wheel-drive P7 sports sedan first."[43][44]
In 2025, XPeng updated most of their vehicles to have battery options capable of 5C charge rates, which are capable of charging from 10–80% in approximately 12 minutes.
Charging network, fast charging stations
XPeng offers free lifetime charging similar to what Tesla has offered their customers around the world.[45] XPeng's charging network has expanded to over 1,000 charging stations within China, and customers have access to another 200,000 third party stations positioned in major cities.[46] XPeng intends to construct more than 50 S4 sites in large cities by the end of 2022, with an additional 20 sites each in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, with Shenzhen following in 2023. By 2025, Xpeng hopes to have 2,000 super-fast charging stations.[47]
Humanoid Robot (Iron)
On 8 November 2024, XPeng unveiled its first humanoid robot, Iron at its 2024 AI Day event. This marks a major leap for the company into robotics, with expansive technologies beyond car manufacturing and staying competitive in the EV global market. With a height of 5'8'' and weight of 154 pounds (70 kilograms), Iron has more than 60 joints with 200 degrees of freedom to maneuver and is currently in XPeng's production lines, helping in the assembly of the upcoming P7+ model. The robots have also been integrated into the company's internal operations, such as in factories and stores applications.[48]
Turing AI chip
XPeng first began recruiting a chip team in late 2020, with recruitment efforts accelerating in April 2021. The company initially contracted Marvell to handle backend design and SoC integration in 2020, but the deal was cancelled in 2022 as XPeng felt Marvell's lack of experience in the segment and average investment would lead to project delays.[49][50] In 2022, XPeng contracted Socionext to handle SoC integration efforts.[51] XPeng announced that the chip had a successful tape-out in August 2024.[52]
In June 2025, XPeng launched their first self-developed computer chip called Turing in the G7. It is aimed at powering high-end AI models for autonomous driving ADAS functions, but is also used to power in-cabin AI assistants in some models. Each chip has a 40-core processor, two NPUs, and 64 GB of LPDDR5x-8533 RAM on a 256-bit bus for 273 GB/s of bandwidth. It also has two ISPs, dedicated to AI perception and image synthesis respectively. This allows for a single chip to output 750 TOPS of sparse compute, and XPeng says that it can run AI models with up to 30 billion parameters, while the custom design allows for 20% higher utilization compared to using previous off-the-shelf solutions.[53][54]
XPeng is open to supplying Turing AI chips to other automakers, including an agreement to integrate the chips into some Chinese-market Volkswagen models launching in 2026.[55]
Remove ads
Production
Xpeng manufactures most of its cars in a wholly owned factory in Zhaoqing.[56][57] As of 2025, other production plants are under construction in Wuhan[58] and Guangzhou.[59][60] Cars for the European market are manufactured in Graz, Austria, in partnership with Magna Steyr.[61][62]
Overseas markets
Summarize
Perspective
Europe
In late December 2020, XPeng stated it would be delivering the G3 SUV to Norway. "Our launch in Europe comes just as consumers are shifting in increasingly large numbers to more sustainable personal transport, and at a tipping point where governments around the world are stepping up their zero-emission efforts", said He. XPeng has also decided that it would be selling its P7 EV sedan to the European market this year.[63]
As of 2021, XPeng has sold 211 G3 SUVs in Norway.[63] XPeng stated it will be tough to break into the European auto market but with policies in Europe further encouraging the purchase of EV cars, XPeng will seek to find those consumers. Without infrastructure to build XPeng vehicles, it will also add to the challenge of breaking into the European auto market.[63]
At IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich, XPeng announced its expansion to the German and market starting 2024 and plans to enter further European markets later.[64]
In 2025, at the Milan Design Week, sales of the G6 and G9 models in Italy were announced[65].
Hong Kong
On 7 July 2021, XPeng debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The choice to bring the company to the exchange before a second listing could result in the company taking a better position in the city's share indexes. As a dual-primary listing, XPeng will be eligible for Stock Connect, an investment channel facilitating trade between Hong Kong and mainland China. With its listing in Hong Kong, XPeng became the first US-listed Chinese firm with dual primary listing. The move will as well provide some security for the company in the event of being kicked off the US market.[66][67][68]
Singapore
XPeng launched the G6 in Singapore in July 2024,[69] and opened its first showroom in November.[70] According to XPeng, the G6 was one of the three best-selling fully-electric SUV models in the city-state, and had approximately the same monthly sales figures as rival manufacturer Tesla.[71]
Malaysia
XPeng launched the G6 in Malaysia on 27 August 2024.[72]
XPeng opened its first dealership in Malaysia at Glenmarie, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 August 2024. New Xpeng dealerships will be opened in Penang, Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan by October 2024.[73]
Indonesia
XPeng had its brand launch in Indonesia in January 2025. The brand is distributed by local electronics distributor Erajaya Group.[74] In July 2025, XPeng started its first knock-down assembly operations in Indonesia, at a facility owned by Handal Indonesia Motor in Purwakarta, West Java. The first model assembled in the country is the XPeng X9.[75]
Remove ads
Products
Current vehicles
.jpg)
_Private_XPeng_X9_SUM8299M_2025-07-19.jpg)
Discontinued vehicles
.jpg)
Remove ads
Subsidiary
XPeng AeroHT
AeroHT was originally a startup founded in Dongguan, Guangdong, in 2013, dedicated to the research, development, and manufacture of flying cars. In 2020, XPeng invested in the company and renamed it to XPeng AeroHT.[76] The company has released the XPeng Voyager X1 and XPeng Voyager X2 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. In 2024, it released an eVTOL vehicle carrier named "Land Carrier", a range-extended electric 6x6 eVTOL carrier van.[77]
Products
- XPeng Voyager X2, eVTOL multicopter[78]
- XPeng Voyager X1, eVTOL multicopter
- "Land Carrier" (to commence), full-size 6x6 eVTOL carrier van, PHEV(EREV)[77]
XPeng Voyager X2
"Modular flying car" at CES 2025
Remove ads
Sales
Controversy
Summarize
Perspective
Allegations of intellectual property theft
In July 2018, the United States Department of Justice charged an ex-Apple employee for stealing the trade secrets of Apple's autonomous car project in an attempt to get a job at XPeng.[82][83] In August 2022, the former Apple engineer, Xiaolang Zhang, pleaded guilty to trade secret theft in federal court.[84]
In March 2019, Tesla sued Cao Guangzhi, a former Tesla employee, accusing him of stealing its Autopilot source code and bringing them to XPeng. Cao rejected the accusation of IP theft, but later said he had uploaded Tesla's source code to his iCloud prior to leaving Tesla. In response to Tesla's accusations, XPeng launched an internal investigation.[85] In November 2020, XPeng provided a copy of its source code to a neutral third party to compare to Tesla's to prove nothing was copied. Neither XPeng or any subsidiaries were parties to Tesla's original lawsuit.[86] A court-appointed neutral third party concluded XPeng's code did not use Tesla's IP after comparing source code as provided by the companies.[87] Tesla and Cao moved to settle soon after this was established.[87]
IIlegal data collection
In December 2021, XPeng was fined for the illegal collection of the facial data of 430,000 visitors of its stores.[88] The fine was 100,000 yuan ($15,716).
Remove ads
See also
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads