Xpeng's transformation: tomorrow's starship, land aircraft carrier, bipedal robot, are cars no longer his popular choice?

Flying cars, bipedal robots, and XNGP will end the battle without pictures... Are the black technologies in the 2023 Xiaopeng Technology Day "not doing their job"?

On October 24, Xpeng Motors Technology Day was held as scheduled. This event was full of energy. It not only demonstrated the intelligent bipedal robot for the first time, but also clarified the development ideas of Huitian flying cars with dual paths of development-land and air integrated flying cars and split flying cars. At the same time, supporting land vehicles (vans similar to VAN) and ultra-low-altitude complete aircraft multi-parachute life-saving systems were also released to ensure the safety performance of flying cars. This series of measures makes people wonder, is Xiaopeng Motors planning to transform into a flying car?

Of course not, because on this Technology Day, Xpeng Motors debuted its fifth all-new car: Xpeng X9 pure electric smart seven-seater MPV, and made it clear that the new car will be launched at the 2023 Guangzhou International Auto Show Appearance.

Before we talk about the various Xpeng work at this press conference, Jichejun first expresses his position: He strongly agrees with what He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, mentioned at the press conference: "The king with a strong mouth may be Only by influencing public opinion and truly engaging in technology can we create the future." Not to mention whether Mr. He Xiaopeng is suspected of being a competitor of Amway, but at least in Jichejun’s view, what Xiaopeng Motors is doing in the field of research and development is to accumulate the core competitiveness of the brand and build a more competitive company. The moat is very worthy of praise, because Xiaopeng is taking a development path that is extremely difficult in the early stage. Once successful, the prospects are bright.

Let’s start with the topic of “Poetry and Distance”!

Xpeng Huitian’s flying car plan is no longer news, but two development paths were clarified on the Science and Technology Day: one is an integrated land and air flying car, and the other is a split flying car. The integrated land-air flying car adopts a land/flight dual-mode cockpit and optimizes the previously announced shape. Based on appearance estimates, it is at least as large as a large SUV and more than 5 meters long. The flying part adopts a four-rotor structure. The key point is that the rotor, arm and other flight systems can be completely folded and stored in the car (it should be a lifting structure), thereby reducing the floor space and drag coefficient when driving on land

Xpeng Huitian’s integrated land and air flying car is still far from being able to be mass-produced and sold!

The split flying car is composed of two parts: the land body and the flying body. The land body can actually be understood as a car. It has a cockpit that can accommodate 4-5 people. It uses an extended-range hybrid power system and can carry the flying body for travel and travel. The flying body continuously replenishes energy; the flying body adopts pure electric vertical take-off and landing technology, is equipped with a 270° panoramic two-person cockpit, supports manual/autonomous driving modes, and can automatically separate/combine with the land body.

According to He Xiaopeng, the split flying car has a wide range of application scenarios: including expanding the travel boundaries of individual users, and also serving public areas such as emergency and rescue. According to JiChejun’s understanding, among the two solutions, the land vehicle of the split flying car is the easiest part to realize in a relatively short period of time, because it can be understood as a new energy VAN (van) with good loading capacity. ), this is not difficult for Xpeng Motors, and it can expand Xpeng Motors' product line and enter the business MPV market and urban logistics small truck market, especially the three-axle and six-wheel vehicle shown this time. version is very attractive. After the flight part has mass production and sales capabilities, we only need to solve the interface problem between the vehicle and the aircraft.

It should also be emphasized that in order to enhance the safety of flying cars, Xpeng Motors innovatively added two reversible ducted fans, and achieved microsecond-level fault isolation and millisecond-level flight control algorithms. response, so that the quad-rotor flight mechanism can continue to fly and land safely and stably even if the dual-rotor fails. In addition, Xpeng Motors has also independently developed the world's first ultra-low-altitude aircraft multi-parachute life-saving system, and successfully completed a 50-meter ultra-low-altitude flight parachute opening test on the Voyager X2 in October this year, adding additional guarantees to flight safety. . It should be noted that landing safely at ultra-low altitude is a challenging task!

After talking about the sky, let’s take a look at the bipedal robot independently developed by Xiaopeng Pengxing that was displayed for the first time on this Science and Technology Day

According to the official demonstration of Xiaopeng Company, this intelligent robot has the ability to walk on two legs and cross obstacles through independently developed high-performance joints. At the same time, the robot is also equipped with ultra-lightweight humanoid arms and dexterous humanoid hands. The maximum load of a single arm can reach 3kg, and the maximum terminal linear speed can reach 1m/s. The robot can provide different grasping and wrapping postures according to the shape of different objects, and has terminal tactile sensing capabilities. This technology should be the most advanced in the industry at home and abroad

It seems that apart from the automotive business, Xiaopeng Pengxing’s bipedal robot may be the closest technology product to mass sales. From this perspective, Xpeng seems to be a bit "not doing its job properly" and is about to transform from a car manufacturer into a real technology company!

Xpeng Motors’ main business is automobile manufacturing. On Technology Day, Xpeng Motors released two core pieces of information. The first is that Xpeng Motors is about to complete the final step of the "war without maps". The first batch of XNGP urban navigation assisted driving without high-precision maps has started public testing. In the first phase, 20 cities have been opened and will be expanded to 50 cities within the year. , and plans to open the AI ​​driving function to some users this year, and is expected to achieve urban intelligent driving coverage in all regions across the country by 2024. The second piece of information is the official debut of Xpeng X9, the first flagship model under Xpeng’s “Fuyao” architecture. The car is a pure electric intelligent seven-seater model equipped with core technologies and configurations such as an 800V high-voltage platform, rear-wheel steering, integrated aluminum die-casting, and XNGP. It is also equipped for the first time with the fifth-generation Xiaopeng intelligent cockpit system: XOS Tianji

Regarding Xpeng Motors’ urban navigation assisted driving system, it is a function that does not rely on high-precision maps. This is very important because it is one of Xpeng Motors’ core competencies. Simply put, this system needs to be completed through rigorous engineering testing and verification based on powerful hardware and on-board computing capabilities

In this regard, Dr. Li Liyun, head of autonomous driving at Xpeng Motors, said at the press conference that XBrain, the ultimate architecture for all-scenario intelligent driving that will be first installed on Xpeng X9, consists of the deep visual neural network XNet 2.0 and neural-based The network is composed of modules such as XPlanner for network regulation. It is the industry's first perception architecture with large application models capable of spatio-temporal understanding. Combined with the AI ​​intelligent driving function, the XNGP urban intelligent driving system is no longer limited by the use scope and update timeliness of high-precision maps. , truly realizing the goal of "the battle without a picture is over" that Xiaopeng Motors had previously set.

He Xiaopeng set a flag at the press conference, challenging XNGP to achieve full coverage of the road network (including Level 1-4 roads) in major cities across the country by 2024. Let's all take note of this pledge and support it!

Xpeng X9 will be unveiled at the 2023 Guangzhou International Auto Show. The car is not only equipped with the XOS Dimensity cockpit and the self-developed XGPT Lingxi large-model voice system, which enables the new AI Xiao P to have more than 800 skills; at the same time, Xpeng Motors also integrates the cockpit and the on-board computing center for the first time, with XEEA 3.5 The electronic and electrical architecture is the core. Compared with the previous generation central computing architecture, the performance is improved by 50% and the cost can be saved by 40%

In terms of hardware, Xpeng X9 will be equipped with a more efficient next-generation electric drive system, with a comprehensive efficiency exceeding 93% when traveling at a high speed of 120km/h. Although the official performance has not been announced, it is estimated that the actual performance will not be weak. I don’t know if it can benchmark the performance of Ji Krypton 009. Moreover, the official also emphasized that this powertrain can reduce power consumption while ensuring power efficiency. 50% of critical costs. By the way, the new car will also be the only MPV model currently on sale in the world with rear-wheel steering as standard, so I’m really looking forward to it.

In addition, Xpeng Motors has once again improved its intelligent manufacturing capabilities on the basis of G6. It has purchased the world’s only 12,000-ton integrated die-casting machine for Xpeng X9, and will soon expand a 16,000-ton die-casting machine to support The front and rear integrated aluminum die-casting parts used on the X9 not only significantly improve the vehicle's body strength, but also reduce vehicle manufacturing costs; in addition, Xpeng Motors is researching and exploring CIB mid-floor integrated die-casting technology, which is expected to improve the vehicle's endurance. 5%, and reduce vehicle manufacturing costs by 10%-30%.

As the flagship model of Xpeng X9, its size and performance data have not yet been announced. However, the Xpeng X9 adopts face sculpture design and ultra-low wind resistance shape, as well as core technologies such as global 800V, front and rear integrated aluminum die-casting and XNGP, which will undoubtedly become a hot topic in the domestic medium and large MPV market. This will benefit the majority of consumers

Finally, let us sort out what competing products Xiaopeng X9 will face after it is released at the Guangzhou Auto Show: Denza D9, Lantu Dreamer, Hechuang V09, Jikrypton 009, Trumpchi E9, WEY Alpine , as well as traditional strong competitors Buick Century/GL8 and Toyota Sienna. By the way, there is also the soon-to-be-released Ideal MEGA. Which brand do you think is more competitive?

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