The Chinese brand Xpeng obtained permission from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States) to test its new P7 electric sedan in the country. The Asian manufacturer intends to land in the American market soon.
Xpeng has already confirmed on several occasions that for the moment its main focus is the Chinese market, which is currently the region with the highest sales of electric cars in the world: “Currently, our main focus is to bring the P7 to the Chinese market, ensuring quality production and mass delivery that offer customers the best after-sales services.”
The permits granted by NHTSA are of great importance to collect data in real-time and will allow Xpeng to continue the development of its autonomous driving technology. The brand has also just renewed its permit to test autonomous vehicles in California, granted by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the California State Transportation Agency.
Dr. Xinzhou Wu, vice president of autonomous driving for Xpeng Motors, says: “The tests on the roads in the United States will complement the enormous amount of tests we have already carried out in China. It’s another step forward in our autonomous driving development program, including developing full-frame vehicle perception capabilities, positioning, planning, decision-making, testing, and upgrades. This is the only way to maintain our long-term competitive advantage. “
Recently, the Xpeng P7 received the highest homologated autonomy figure for an electric car ever verified by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. With 706 km under the NEDC approval cycle, the model is ahead of the Tesla Model S, which in its Long Range version homologates 660 km NEDC. This places the Asian model in the highest area of the electric car market and is a warning to Western brands: China is here to stay.