Is XPeng’s Urban NGP the new milestone of ADAS technology?

By Jeff Lee / Mike Song 2022-10-14

The two major technology camps - L2 and L4 autonomous driving, are nowadays in the process of going on different operation model… The former one is mature and widely deployed in many new models introduced by carmakers; however, the latter one, in the situation that it’s under the run-in phase of technology, transportation laws, insurance regulations, and the consumers’ acceptance, can only conduct pilot-runs in designated areas of just a few cities (e.g., Beijing, San Francisco). As the leader of Chinese startup brands, XPeng’s development of L2 technology is far ahead of others worldwide, which had raised L2 application scenarios up to a new level that it’s worthy of expectation to further expand to other major carmakers in the future.

After the NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) for highway scenario, Chinese BEV startup company XPeng introduced the NGP for urban scenario in September, which has technology level, then send this function to current owners via OTA to conduct pilot-runs. This advanced ADAS (L2) technology includes key driver assistance features such as ACC, lane-changing and overtaking, ingress/egress of interchanges, traffic-sign recognition/ car start-stop, passing intersections/roundabouts/tunnels, giving ways to pedestrians/cyclists, etc., These features basically had eliminated the pain points of the application of ADAS nowadays that it had taken a big stride towards the safety and the practicality of driving. Before the commercialization of L4/L5 fully-autonomous driving technology, can XPeng’s urban NGP become the mainstream of the technological development of intelligent vehicles in the upcoming years?

Currently, German carmakers began promoting L3 technology so as to shift the focus away from the fully-autonomous driving technology developed by the two AI giants – China and USA, to path a differentiated way from L2 ADAS that had been popularized. Does that mean German brands are braver to try out new technologies? On the contrary, they are not. Most of the development processes of ground-breaking technologies are lengthy and tough, either technological bottlenecks or financial problems might make them fail before the profitable business model is established. Autonomous driving technology companies and major carmakers of China and USA are walking on this path, but German carmakers choose a path that is rather conservative in development but impetuous in driving safety… ALKS is classified as L3 technology, which is a feature derived from L2 ACC and LKS; While using L3, it will no longer be 100% of driving assistance features because drivers are allowed to put hands off the steering wheel in certain conditions. Therefore, the risk had begun increasing in the frequent changeovers of “hands off” and “retake control” for the driver. However, urban NGP is an enhanced driver assistance system based on L2 that drivers are still the protagonist of car control, so it will be a reliable way to ensure the improvement of driving safety. As for the real revolutionary technology of L4/L5, the two giants - China and USA will still maintain a huge advantage comparing with other competitors regarding the progress for the time being.

To view from the analysis mentioned above, ADAS technologies had enter the mature and comprehensive phase after the introduction of XPeng’s urban NGP. In the upcoming years, it will be the time period of the popularization of ADAS with complete features to be standardized in new car models. It’s just 5 years since the debut of L2 ADAS in 2016, and the market penetration rate of new cars equipped with L2 technology in major car markets – Europe, USA, China, Japan, etc., had reached one third until last year. Even if L4/L5 began commercialization after 2030, L2 will still own its practicality and business value, as not everyone will let AI to take control of the car.