During Xpeng AI Day, company CEO He Xiaopeng announced a plan to allow drivers from Pro versions of older Xpeng models to be upgraded to the capabilities now offered by the AI Hawk-based XNGP system.
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The program is based on crowdfunding, meaning it relies on a certain number of people signing up and paying a fee for Xpeng to roll it out. There are actually two separate schemes: one for smart driving and the other for the cockpit control chip.
The Smart Driving Chip upgrade program is for Pro versions of previous models and involves upgrading the single Nvidia Orin X chip to dual chips. Pro versions currently support high-speed NOA, but not urban NOA, which was introduced on Max versions, which relied on Lidar to provide the service.
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The models covered are the Xpeng P7i Pro, G9 Pro/Plus, G6 Pro/Plus and X9 Pro. Owners must pay 19,999 yuan (2,800 USD) to sign up. The registration period is between November 11 and December 12. At least 1,000 people must register for the program to continue.
Together with the additional Orin
Hawk AI is the new system introduced with the Xpeng P7+, which no longer relies on Lidar to provide urban self-driving capability.
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The cockpit chip renewal plan replaces the original Qualcomm 820A chip for the Snapdragon 8295 chip. This enables more cockpit functions and provides twice the smoothness.
Cars included in this upgrade are the Xpeng G3, G3i, P7. Buyers have to pay 4,999 yuan (700 USD) and this time, 4,000 yuan are required to sign up for the program to continue. The registration period is again between November 11 and December 12, 2024.
Once the crowdfunding is successful, development and testing of the upgrade plan will begin immediately, with delivery expected to start in October 2025.
Editor’s note:
Zeekr was widely criticized earlier this year for launching two new updates for the 001 in 2024. Only the second update made the car capable of smart driving. Users compared Zeekr unfavorably to Tesla, which can bring the latest self-driving functionality to a five-year-old car.