Xpeng launches affordable P5 family sedan

Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng Motors launched its third production model，the P5 smart family sedan, on Wednesday, aiming to bring some of the most advanced driver assistance functionality to China's vast and fast-growing middle-class consumers.

The P5 is the world's first production vehicle equipped with automotive-grade lidar technology to support safe autonomous driving. The lidar sensors will improve the vehicle's high-precision object recognition, according to the company.

The affordable P5 has six variants and prices range from 157,900 yuan($24,484) to 223,900 yuan after subsidies. Xpeng provides three ranges of the P5, which are 460, 550 and 600 kilometers. Deliveries to Chinese customers will start in October.

He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng, said: "The P5 is our most advanced and technically ambitious model yet.With the P5, we have delivered a new level in technological advancement for smart EVs in China, at a competitive price point."

Some of the variants are equipped with Xpeng's self-developed Xpilot 3.5 driving assistance system, enabling the expansion ofits Navigation Guided Pilot system, to city driving.

The company said that the P5 has the strongest advanced driver assistance hardware system to date, with 32 perception sensors and one sub-meter high-precision positioning unit.

The P5's two double-prism lidar units integrate with 12 ultrasonic radars, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 13 high-definition cameras and a high-precision positioning unit, to allow 360-degree visual and lidar perception of the road environment.

Xpeng's first model was the G3 SUV which debuted in December 2018. It was followed by the flagship P7 smart sedan in April 2020.

In the first eight months of this year, Xpeng's deliveries surged 334 percent year-on-year to 45,992 vehicles.

In addition to passenger vehicles, Xpeng is also exploring areas including robotics and flying cars, which could play a role in its longer-term goals.

Earlier this month, Xpeng showcased a video of its computerized model of a robot unicorn, it is the first robot unicorn meant for children to ride. The four-legged robot can not only be ridden one but can interact with people and objects.

In July, Xpeng unveiled its second prototype of a flying passenger car which it says has been in development for eight years.