- Xpeng highlights rapid progress in autonomous driving with its new VLA 2.0 platform.
- The company expects Level 4 autonomy to become widespread within one to three years.
The Xpeng VLA 2.0 autonomous driving system has become a focal point in the rapidly evolving intelligent mobility sector, with the company openly inviting global competitors to experience the technology firsthand. Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng publicly welcomed industry peers, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to test the system and evaluate its capabilities.
The statement underscores the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer's growing confidence in its smart driving platform and signals stronger ambitions in the global autonomous driving competition.
Confidence in Next-Generation Smart Driving
During an interview with local media on the sidelines of China's annual Two Sessions parliamentary meetings, He Xiaopeng highlighted the company's strong belief in its second-generation Vision-Language-Action model, known as VLA 2.0.
The executive emphasized that the technology represents a dramatic leap in capability compared with previous advanced driver assistance systems.
According to him, if earlier ADAS technologies could be rated at a maximum of 100 points in capability, the new platform can potentially reach 10,000 or even tens of thousands of points, illustrating a massive jump in performance.
Xpeng plans to begin broader internal beta testing of VLA 2.0 among users in mid-March. Meanwhile, the first-generation version of the system is expected to be commercially released later in March.
AI and Computing Power Accelerating Development
The company attributes the rapid advancement of its autonomous driving technology to the integration of large language models and its proprietary computing architecture.
He Xiaopeng noted that development cycles have shortened significantly. Progress achieved within four weeks today would have required roughly a year of work under previous technological conditions.
Rapid Industry Progress Toward Higher Autonomy
The executive believes that Level 4 autonomous driving capability could arrive sooner than many expect. As regulatory frameworks mature and technology improves, widespread adoption of L4 smart driving could occur within one to three years.
Looking further ahead, he predicted that Level 5 fully autonomous driving may become reality within five years, drastically reducing the need for human intervention and reshaping daily transportation patterns.
Growing Interest from Global Industry Players
The technology has already attracted strong interest across the automotive sector. He Xiaopeng revealed that the cost of renting a vehicle equipped with the VLA system for testing purposes has reached around 8,000 yuan, reflecting the high demand among companies eager to evaluate the platform.
Following its official release later this year, Xpeng expects both domestic and international industry participants to conduct additional tests. The company also plans to gradually expand deployment of the technology to selected overseas markets starting next year.
Investment analysts have responded positively to the progress. Morgan Stanley described VLA 2.0 as a bold leap forward, suggesting that the continued development of vision-language-action systems and physical artificial intelligence could strengthen investor confidence in the company's long-term technology strategy.
The automaker continues to benchmark its progress against Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. He Xiaopeng previously tested the platform in Silicon Valley in late 2025 and observed that it had reached a stable stage approaching quasi-Level 4 autonomy.
Internally, the company has set an ambitious goal for its smart driving platform to match Tesla's FSD performance within China by August 2026, reinforcing its commitment to competing at the highest level of the global autonomous driving industry.
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