Xpeng Vice Chairman: Self-Driving Taxi Operations May Take Longer Than Anticipated

Xpeng G9 recently caught the attention of many onlookers at a mall in Beijing. While self-driving taxis are a promising future for mobility, Xpeng Vice Chairman and Co-President Brian Gu has predicted that it will take more time than anticipated to establish a full-fledged commercial operation.

Gu emphasized that Xpeng is not currently planning to launch this service. Despite this, the company has positioned itself as a leader in driver-assist technology in the market. Gu highlighted the importance of extensive testing before implementing any autonomous driving services, noting that other Chinese tech companies like Baidu and Pony.ai have received approval in certain areas of China to operate fully driverless taxis and charge fares.

This includes locations in Beijing and Wuhan, which are seen as hubs for testing new technologies in the autonomous driving sector. While Elon Musk’s vision of Tesla developing artificial intelligence software for a robotaxi network is promising, Gu believes that it will take more time than expected before self-driving taxis become a significant business.