On November 3rd, Xiaopeng Motors released the "Instructions on Upgrading the Urban NGP Function of Xiaopeng P5" in response to recent joint complaints from some car owners regarding the upgrade of the urban NGP function of Xiaopeng P5.
Regarding the issue of the delayed implementation of the previously promised CNGP (City Navigation Assisted Driving), the official explanation stated that the Xiaopeng P5's City NGP is a city intelligent assisted driving function that relies heavily on high-precision map technology. The opening of this function is influenced by many factors, and requires a long research and development process of acquisition, production, verification, and multiple tests to improve the reliability and safety of use, And the approval of urban map information must be completed according to regulations, making it difficult to achieve rapid coverage of different cities.
At the same time, the official also promised to continue OTA for the P5 model and gradually launch functions such as smart scene, steering assistance, and sentry mode optimization in 2024. In addition, Xiaopeng also launched a 20000 yuan intelligent driving voucher for current owners of Xiaopeng P5 P version who have already obtained XPILOT 3.5 intelligent driving assistance software.
Recently, a joint letter written by the owner of Xiaopeng P5 to He Xiaopeng, the founder of Xiaopeng Automobile, has attracted public attention. The joint letter document shows that the number of signed car owners was 256 on October 29th, but in just a few days, the number has exceeded a thousand.
These car owners accuse Xiaopeng Automobile of unfair treatment towards P5 old car owners, stating that the OTA upgrade intelligent driving function previously promoted by Xiaopeng has not been implemented, and P5 old car owners are unable to use Xiaopeng's CNGP function.
It is understood that at the beginning of the release of the Xiaopeng P5 in 2021, it mainly promoted the urban NGP assisted driving function. The Xiaopeng P5 is divided into three versions: G, E, and P. The most expensive version, the P version, is equipped with LiDAR and can achieve urban driving assistance. Although the Xiaopeng P5 car had already been mass-produced at the time, it did not support this feature at the beginning of delivery. Xiaopeng announced that it would upgrade and open up the use of urban roads nationwide through OTA in the future.
The car owners stated that it has been two years since they collected the car, but the CNGP function is currently only available on some road sections in five cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan.
Not only that, according to multiple car owners, the CNGP function usage experience in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen that have been opened is not satisfactory, only supporting some main roads, and switching to small roads to exit assisted driving. In addition, the use of driving logic such as starting, avoiding, and meeting is not reasonable enough.
On the contrary, Xiaopeng's other assisted driving function, XNGP (Full Scene Intelligent Assisted Driving), is significantly more valued. The official said that its first phase will open 20 cities, and 50 cities will be opened by the end of this year. By 2024, it will achieve full coverage of advanced intelligent driving in major cities across the country.
In fact, the difference between the two driving assistance functions is that CNGP relies on LiDAR and high-precision maps to achieve high-level intelligent driving functions, while XNGP can achieve high-level intelligent driving functions of "removing high-precision maps".
Since the beginning of this year, major automobile brands have shifted their intelligent driving routes from "LiDAR+high-precision maps" to gradually breaking away from high-precision maps in order to accelerate the commercialization of intelligent driving. Because the use of high-precision maps in cities requires approval from various departments, the "no map" plan is more conducive to the rapid popularization of intelligent driving, while also reducing the high fees that car companies need to pay for purchasing high-precision maps and reducing the cost of intelligent driving for cars. Xiao Peng is one of the promoters of the "no map" plan.
In the eyes of car owners, Xiaopeng plans to open 50 cities based on "no map" city assisted driving, but has not mentioned any follow-up plans for CNGP. This indicates that Xiaopeng's future focus is on models equipped with XNPG, and perhaps P5 car owners may still not be able to use the national version of CNGP functions normally in the future.
In addition, Xiaopeng recently released the XOS Tianji Intelligent Cockpit System, which can improve interaction efficiency and provide scenario based services. It will be launched on the Xiaopeng X9 model for the first time. Other older models G6, G9, P7i, and P7 can all be upgraded through OTA, but P5 and earlier G3 models are not available.
According to the owner of Xiaopeng, Xiaopeng customer service responded by stating that they do not support P5 models that are also equipped with Qualcomm 8155 chips because the Tianji system only supports the horizontal screen version. In Xiaopeng's product series, both P5 and G3 have vertical screens.
In addition to CNGP and cabin system issues, the joint letter from the owners of the Xiaopeng old P5 also mentioned more than 10 issues, including the failure to update the visual wipers, a serious decline in the value retention rate of the highest priced version P5, and the ineffective AEB emergency braking function. The interface news found that many Xiaopeng car owners have also reported similar issues on third-party complaint platforms.
Returning to one of the key issues of this incident, with the rapid iteration of new energy vehicle software and changes in architecture, the hardware of the old model is difficult to support later OTA upgrades, leading to similar disputes not only among Xiaopeng's family. Previously, Lingke was also unable to upgrade its system due to issues with the chip of its old model, which resulted in complaints from car owners.