XPeng plans to start operating its robotaxis in the second half of this year and achieve full vehicle autonomy in 2027
announced on Monday (May 18, 2026) the start of mass production of its line of autonomous taxis – also known as robotaxis. It is the first Chinese automaker to start a large-scale assembly line for vehicles with level 4 autonomous driving – when the car fully takes over driving without the need for human intervention – developed entirely with Chinese technologies.
The announcement comes less than 1 month after the owner of , Elon Musk, confirmed on his profile the start of production of his own robotaxi, the Cybercab. This movement demonstrates how the development of autonomous vehicles is a commitment for automakers and that there is already a race for who will launch the first models to the public.
XPeng plans to start operating its robotaxis in the 2nd half of this year. The expectation is that the vehicles will achieve full autonomy – without the presence of a person responsible for safety – by the beginning of 2027.
XPeng uses self-produced AI (artificial intelligence) chips and navigation software to achieve safe and efficient autonomous driving. The automaker partnered with Amap, a mapping application similar to Google Maps, to collect traffic and street data to accelerate the evolution of its AI model, the so-called Turing chips.
Even with the vehicles ready and with safe autonomous driving, taxis will still not be able to circulate freely on the streets. This is because the Chinese government is still working on regulations to allow the circulation of these driverless vehicles. For now, cars with level 4 autonomous driving are only allowed for testing in pilot zones.
To date, the Chinese government has developed a series of new guidelines to regulate this type of vehicle, which are expected to come into force across the country on July 1, 2027. It is not yet certain that driverless autonomous cars will be allowed to operate freely.
Even without regulation, Chinese companies are already accelerating their autonomous vehicle projects to be ready for this new market. The Swiss bank estimates that around 300,000 autonomous taxis will be operating in the 4 main Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) by 2030.
