Xpeng starts robotaxi production, Changan already holds an L4 licence

Chinese manufacturers have stopped treating autonomous driving as a technology demo. On 18 May 2026 Xpeng announced that the first unit of its mass-produced robotaxi had rolled off the line in Guangzhou. That makes the company the first Chinese manufacturer to series-produce a car of this type.

The car is built on the GX platform and designed to meet level L4 requirements. Four in-house Turing AI chips run on board, with a combined computing power of up to 3 000 TOPS. The car drops lidar and detailed HD maps in favour of a vision-only solution, the same strategy Xpeng uses in its series cars. An end-to-end VLA 2.0 model makes the decisions and cuts the system's reaction latency below 80 milliseconds. Xpeng says this improves generalisation across cities and makes deployment abroad possible too.

The interior has tinted windows, zero-gravity seats and entertainment screens for rear passengers. A voice assistant controls the settings. Xpeng plans to launch pilot rides in the second half of 2026 to check technical feasibility, passenger acceptance and the business model. Full autonomous operation with no minders on site is promised for the start of 2027.

Changan: from an L3 plate to L4 testing

Changan Automotive is building its expertise around regulatory milestones in parallel. In December 2025 the company received China's first special licence plates for level L3 autonomous driving. This year it obtained permission to test its own level L4 robotaxi, as a manufacturer with full rights to test unmanned driving in real conditions.

On 4 September 2026 Changan unveiled Tianzhu Linghang, its fully self-developed driver assistance system. All versions are fitted with lidar and use an end-to-end architecture. The system has already entered production. The company also claims full in-house capability in batteries, powertrains and control electronics. Its battery brand "Jinzhongzhao" won a second state award for scientific and technological progress in 2025.

For a European reader this is a signal that Chinese companies are not waiting for uniform EU legislation on L3/L4. They are building their own supply chains and gaining experience on their own, far more permissive market. The gap in the pace of regulatory work is becoming as important as the gap in car prices.