This development comes as other autonomous vehicle teams in China, such as Deeproute, are also working to remove the costly HD maps from their systems. Deeproute, which has shifted its focus from robotaxis to assisted driving for mass-produced cars, launched its map-free autonomous driving solution in March.
Key takeaways:
- Xpeng, often referred to as the Chinese challenger to Tesla, is getting rid of high-definition mapping in its XNGP assisted driving feature, similar to Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature.
- Tesla's FSD does not rely on HD maps or lidars, a powerful light detection and ranging method that’s a staple sensing technology in the development of self-driving cars.
- Xpeng is rolling out its map-free XNGP in 20 Chinese cities soon and plans to expand it to 50 cities by the end of the year.
- Other autonomous vehicle teams in China, such as Deeproute, are also working to remove the expensive HD maps from their systems.