How to get from autonomous vehicles to flying cars: Xpeng CEO

**SPEAKER_2** (0:02)
This is a podcast by The Straits Times.

**Lee Nian Tjoe** (0:12)
You are listening to a podcast by The Straits Times, and this is a special episode where I sat down with Mr He Xiaopeng, the chairman and chief executive of Xpeng in October at their new showroom. In this episode, we unpack the autonomous driving race. When can you and I jump in a robot taxi to get from Sengkang to Potong Pasir? Taking a broader view, how many of these new-fangled Chinese car brands will actually survive in the next few years? We go above and beyond to hop on to an unmanned flying car, which Xpeng is going to deliver to customers in 2026 Now, if you're not familiar with what Xpeng the brand is, let me summarize it for you in a nutshell. Xpeng has been called one of China's best answers to Tesla when it comes to electric vehicle and autonomous driving tech. It sees itself as a maker of cars that is centered on technology.
So, naturally, I asked Mr. He about the race for autonomous driving supremacy and where Xpeng fits.

**He Xiaopeng** (1:10)
At present, autonomous driving is developing faster in China and the US. I think other countries are still in what is relatively an observation stage, especially in Europe where I just went on a trip. Strictly speaking, I think there are two types of autonomous driving. The first is called Level 4, which is Unmanned Driving, and Google's Waymo represents one example. The second type is called Autonomous Assisting Driving. It includes the Chinese brand Xpeng's called NGP and the offering called FSD in America. These two technologies have been around for a long time. From my point of view, the United States have opened more and more cities to Level 4 There are about three cities. In China, also, are several cities that are opening up portions to Level 4 Chinese companies with Level 4 include We Ride, Pony and others. Another part is the Automatic Driver Assistant. China has entered a new phase in Urban Assisted Driving. It means that, for example, Xpeng's Assisted Driving can be used in every city in China. The second issue is that the rate of the driver taking back control is becoming lower and lower. What does this mean? For example, in 100 kilometres, how many times do you need to take back control? The daily driving distance is less than 100 kilometres. Most of us drive less than 100 kilometres a day. So if you only need to take over the wheel once a day, and it is done in a safe condition, like you think the car is driving too slowly, you take over the wheel, or when it doesn't know where to park, you drive. These are all called taking over. I think that by 2025, we will only need to take over once or twice per 100 kilometres. This will make driving easier and safer. So back to your question, we call it end-to-end automated driving. It is developing at a very high speed.
From the car park at home to parking at the office, all of this will be automatic. For Xpeng in China, our cars will be able to do this 90% of the time.

**Lee Nian Tjoe** (3:34)
So what if I want to be able to jump into a car but in a passenger seat, and let the car do the driving completely?

**He Xiaopeng** (3:43)
Level 5 autonomous driving means the car can drive itself in any situation, whether it is during a typhoon or an earthquake. I don't think that can be readily achieved. Now if there is a typhoon today, the roads are already flooded, it is difficult even for a human driver. So Level 5 is something that is very far away.

**Lee Nian Tjoe** (4:08)
But wait a minute, what about the various robo-taxis that are already running in China?

**He Xiaopeng** (4:16)
For those, their objective is to be able to be completely autonomous in a small area. Our objective is to globally be able to minimize the need for a driver to take the wheel. So these two directions from a point of view, we hope that our cars can do worldwide and can help local users drive in a more relaxed manner.

**Lee Nian Tjoe** (4:41)
What do Singaporeans need to get this level of technology into our cars, this relaxed driving and this assisted driving that you talk about?

**He Xiaopeng** (4:52)
I strongly suggest that Singapore needs to allow a high level of assisted driving, because the level of such assisted driving in China and the US is already very high, and development is very fast. Second, in any emergency, the driver can take over, so the safety is higher than an unmanned vehicle. Third, it does not take away anybody's jobs, because as a driver, maybe I drive 100 kilometres. Now, I am still a driver, but I might only drive 100 metres out of the entire distance. For example, when I am parking, I need to choose the space before the car takes over. I believe in Singapore, the driving is very regulated, people keep to the rules, so it is very easy to perfect highly automated driving here.