Thanks to Garage 42’s Doraemon for arranging this week-long test drive experience for me.
The test drive car I received was the XiaoPeng P7’s long-range auto-driving Smart version, which provides 670 km of NEDC range and NGP auto-driving functions.
I made an appointment to pick up the car on Thursday noon, and after picking up the car, I directly drove on a short trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou to get familiar with the vehicle. Next, I immediately planned a 2000-plus kilometer long-distance trip from Shanghai to Jinan to Qingdao and back to Shanghai, with a total distance of about 2200 km, which was definitely a deep experience.
This article is divided into 3 parts, reviewing the whole trip from the perspective of a pure electric vehicle novice.
Trip Planning and Range Experience
Overall Trip
Since it was my first time driving a pure electric car on a long trip, I did some homework before departure.
The trip was planned in 3 sections, clockwise around Jiangsu/Shandong provinces, respectively:
- The left part is from Shanghai to Jinan, about 867 km;
- The top part is from Jinan to Qingdao, about 412 km;
- The right part is from Qingdao to Shanghai, about 800 km;
Only the first section was planned before departure, and the other two sections were left to chance after getting familiar with the vehicle’s performance. When the vehicle’s battery level showed over 100 km of range, I stopped at a service area to recharge.
Preparations
From the above chart, it can be seen that, excluding charging during destination stays, a total of 8 charging sessions were conducted along the way, except for the 3 full charges before departure from Shanghai, Jinan, and Qingdao, the other 5 were charged to 80-90% capacity.
Here I will focus on the charging process during the first section of the trip.
Since it was my first time driving an electric car, there were actually 3 routes to choose from between Shanghai and Jinan. The routes passing through Yangzhou and Xuzhou were not the shortest, but when planning the trip, I found that the XiaoPeng car’s navigator did not have the function of planning mid-trip charging (Tesla does have this function), it could only show that the current battery level could not reach the destination. Fortunately, the right-hand side of the navigator map showed all service areas along the way and whether there were charging services, but I still hope that mid-trip charging planning can be added in future software updates. Therefore, I could only use Baidu Maps on my phone for a rough plan, because Baidu Maps can select new energy vehicles when planning routes, showing mid-trip charging poles, which is more user-friendly.
Looking back, choosing these two places as waypoints also considered the possibility of no charging stations in service areas, so one could enter the city on the highway for recharging. As it turned out, this planning came in handy during the Xuzhou section.
Almost Stranded on the RoadThe actual distance from Shanghai to Yangzhou is only about 290 kilometers, so there were no problems until reaching the service area near Yangzhou, where the trouble started. Those who frequently travel on highways may know that the distance between service areas is not fixed, generally ranging from 30 to 70 kilometers apart. This time, the problem encountered was that when the remaining mileage was about 100 kilometers, the navigation system showed that the next service area did not provide charging service, and with the following service area over 120 kilometers away, it was impossible to reach it. This was a life-threatening situation; what if the car broke down on the highway on the first trip?
I was urgently searching on the navigation system and found that there was a distance of less than 90 kilometers to reach Xuzhou, where there were charging stations near the highway exit. However, I have to say that the NGP assistance was a great help when operating the navigation, otherwise it would have been extremely dangerous to operate the navigation manually while driving on the highway.
Once I gained confidence, with a “let’s give it a try” attitude, I stopped at the service area which appeared on the navigation as not having a charging station. I discovered that, in fact, there was a charging station available, but the charging power was very low, only 40 KW, which was not high-speed charging, so it was not marked on the car’s navigation system. I think this could be improved by using different colors to distinguish the charging stations with different power levels, providing users with more choices.
After finding that the charging speed at the service area was too slow, I stopped for about 10 minutes and then decided to exit the highway to find a fast charging station. Throughout this trip, I realized that the charging power of the charging station was really important, and the experience with charging stations over 100 KW was much better.
NGP Experience in Depth
The assisted driving functions of the XPeng P7 are divided into three parts: LCC lane-keeping, ACC automatic follow-up, and NGP automatic assisted driving, of which the first two functions are mature, while NGP is still in the testing phase.
Compared to the performance competition of engines and transmissions in gas-powered vehicles, new energy vehicles mainly focus on the three electric systems of batteries, motors, and electric controls, as well as the intelligent driving part, which is the most imaginative. This experience went through a process from novelty, to criticism, to acceptance.
NGP Novelty Stage
When I first activated NGP on the highway, I was excited yet nervous and unsure about what NGP could achieve, so I let it go and paid close attention while staying ready to take over. At the same time, I compared NGP’s driving behavior with my own, and driving at this stage was not easy because I had to be constantly aware of the road conditions and NGP’s performance – similar to teaching a new driver who has just obtained a driver’s license. I was even more nervous than a new driver at times.
- LCC received good reviews because it automatically kept the car centered in the lane, preventing it from drifting. I felt much more relaxed this way. If you run over the lane lines, there will be vibration and sound alarms.
- ACC received good reviews because it freed up a lot of energy when driving in slow-moving traffic.
- NGP was novel, not yet perfect, but shows great potential.### Are You Teaching Me How to Drive?
After the initial novelty of driving a few hundred kilometers, a game of man-machine chess began. As an experienced driver with over ten years of experience on the road, I tend to drive aggressively, so once I became familiar with the basic operation of the NGP, I started to teach the system how to drive, so to speak.
Scene One: Parallel Lane Change
There was heavy traffic ahead, with me in the right-most lane and an SUV travelling parallel to me in the lane to my left. Suddenly, the SUV swerved to the right and came uncomfortably close to me. Although I should have braked, accelerated, or slightly moved to the right, the NGP did not react at all. In this urgent situation, I intervened by turning the steering wheel, but as I was struggling to regain control from the machine, I had to use some force. When the NGP gave up control, it happened somewhat suddenly and was not a smooth transition, which caused the vehicle to move abruptly. Fortunately, there was an emergency lane to my right; otherwise, if there was a vehicle there, an accident might have occurred. Looking back now, I realize I could have simply lightly applied the brakes and exited the NGP before turning the steering wheel, but this approach did not quite match my driving instincts. It seemed easier to just slightly turn the wheel to resolve the issue. In retrospect, it may have been because the LCC lane-keeping assist function was active, and the software’s logic for identifying oncoming vehicles on the side was not fully established. Later on, I found these issues explained in the user manual. This situation of contending with the NGP for vehicle control happened a few more times, but thankfully, I gradually got used to it, and I no longer felt the need to fight against the machine.
Scene Two: Automatic Overtaking and Lane Changing with Signals
An essential function of automatic driving scenarios is automatic lane changing. It is unwise to follow closely behind vehicles in front when they slow down. The NGP’s lane-changing strategy is still relatively conservative. It initiates lane changing only when the current vehicle speed is lower, and the time delay is rather long. Often, the command to change lanes was triggered only after several seconds of following the vehicle ahead, and the vehicle may change its mind and move back after changing lanes, without considering the road conditions of adjacent lanes, indicating that the software’s detection mechanism needs improvement. In practice, it is often necessary to manually turn on the turn signal to let the system know it’s time to change lanes, making the whole experience not as smooth. When the turn signal is on, the system can detect the vehicles on the sides and back. In situations where there are cars nearby, despite plenty of room for the vehicle to move to the next lane, the system will cancel the lane change to wait for a safer opportunity.
In this situation, I had to compete with the NGP for control many times, but the system did not have the ability to learn from the driver’s style just yet. At this stage, it only has some hard-coded logic, which made it difficult for me to teach the machine.
Scene Three: Speed Limit of Cruise Control
I believe that experienced drivers on the highway wouldn’t stick to the speed limit of 120 km/h all the time. However, XPeng’s NGP software is programmed with a cruise control limit of 120 km/h, as well as all other logic related to maximum speed. From a safety perspective, this isn’t much of an issue, but in some situations, it carries a certain degree of risk. For example, when there is a vehicle ahead with a speed of 110 km/h, the system determines that overtaking is necessary, but due to the speed limit of 120 km/h, it cannot quickly pass. It is often seen that after changing lanes, the car runs parallel to the vehicle at the side for a long time, and then encounters other slow vehicles ahead, forcing it to brake or revert back. As a human driver, we usually step heavily on the accelerator pedal to overtake quickly, which is actually safer. NGP could completely release the speed limit by 10-15 km/h, and then make appropriate reminders in the software. PS: NGP cannot be used on highways without lights at night.
In addition, the car’s navigation is considerate enough to prompt the average speed limit of the interval speed measurement. This is very thoughtful for experienced drivers, who can safely follow the speed limit.
An Able Assistant
After teaching NGP how to work during the first segment of the journey, I became more relaxed. During the second segment, I gradually understood NGP’s characteristics. In the third segment of the return journey, because it was early in the morning when the sky was just bright, I was quite tired and lazy, driving more casually. In this situation, the performance of NGP exceeded my expectations and saved a lot of energy. Especially during periods when traffic volume is not high in the morning, NGP can basically be trusted to take over the driving.
NGP navigation relies on Gaode’s high-precision map. Apart from a few road sections, for some unknown reason, that suddenly appear with dozens of meters without any modelling that require manual takeover, 95% of the time we can rely on NGP.
The premise is that one should not be in a hurry, don’t compete with the system, maintain a relatively calm attitude, chat, listen to music, slow down the pace, it’s really likeable. Before I realized it, I had already driven over 800 kilometers, which seemed much easier than the first segment.
NGP Long-Distance Driving Experience Summary
If you often make long drives on the highway, NGP is a very good assistant that effectively relieves fatigue. In addition, small temporary situations can be briefly handed over to the system, such as drinking water or eating something. In the past, when driving manually, performing these actions would have been quite dangerous, and in just a few seconds, the car might deviate from the lane and cause an accident. However, with the assistance of NGP, it is still quite safe in situations where there are no cars ahead or behind.At present, XPeng NGP is still in the stage of collecting various corner cases and improving system logic. However, with time, it should be able to solve more scenarios. Although it may not achieve the performance of an experienced driver in the short term, it is possible to free up some energy to achieve it. In fact, I don’t have strong expectations for the development from manual driving to fully automated driving. As long as the logical optimization of the mentioned scenarios is done well, it should be sufficient.
Other Experiences
High-Speed Driving Experience
Before the test drive, I had no expectation for the acceleration performance of the P7 Long Range Battery version. However, after testing it, I was pleasantly surprised. With a 196 kW/390 Nm engine and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of around 6 seconds, it may not be impressive, but overtaking on the highway is really smooth. The power is responsive and there is enough acceleration when driving at high speed. I think there is no need to chase after the 3.x second acceleration time, as it is much better than a gasoline car. The lateral support when changing lanes and the level of silence during the drive are also good.
Long-Range and Charging Experience
The NEDC range when the battery is fully charged is 670 km, which is displayed as 570 km on WLTP. There is a small issue with the vehicle’s logic. If the distance to the destination is exactly between these two algorithms, NEDC will show that the car can reach the destination, but WLTP will show that the battery is not enough. However, both algorithms are not accurate. Based on my driving style, the energy consumption is around 18 kW per 100 km, and the total battery capacity is 80 kW. It is recommended to charge up to 90% of the battery capacity and reserve about 100 km of range for finding a charging station when driving at high speed. Therefore, the actual usable battery capacity is about 60 kW, and when the range is around 350 km, it is time to find a charging station. When the range is around 400 km, it becomes more anxiety-provoking. Therefore, when calculating the range, I multiply NEDC range by 0.6.
Impressive “XPeng”
The voice recognition feature is highly localized and the experience is very good. The recognition accuracy is very high and it outperforms Siri and other one-question-one-answer methods. Continual dialogue is the future of voice recognition. As long as the commands are stated properly, almost all operations can be completed using voice. This may be what is lacking in Tesla’s pure screen solution. The system is smooth, except for the first few minutes after start-up.
Family’s Evaluation
From the exterior to the interior workmanship of the car, my family were all praising it. The design has a sense of technology, which is relatively rare for XPeng cars in our area. My aunt, who is the owner of an old Volvo S60, was even tempted to sell her gasoline car and buy a XPeng car.
These are my experiences and thank you for watching.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.