On October 8, XPeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) announced that its Robotaxi business has officially adopted the Chinese name "XPeng Youyou" and the English name "XPENG YOYO." On the same day, XPeng's official website launched a dedicated Robotaxi business page, and the "XPeng YOYO Autonomous Ride-Hailing" mini-program was officially opened. After entering the mini-program, users can select points on a map and input destinations, but actually hailing a ride still requires an invitation code. The service is currently limited to designated operating areas in Guangzhou, with other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai not yet open. This marks XPeng's first step from closed testing toward public user operations.
Since the beginning of this year, the pace of progress in this business has accelerated noticeably. In January, XPeng obtained a road testing permit for intelligent connected vehicles in Guangzhou; in March, it established a Robotaxi business department; in May, a Robotaxi production vehicle built on the XPeng GX rolled off the line; in July, it connected the full chain from online ordering and automatic pickup to drop-off and launched employee internal testing, with He Xiaopeng himself completing the first order. To date, more than 2,200 internal test orders have been completed; in August, it obtained a remote testing qualification for intelligent connected vehicles in Guangzhou, allowing driverless testing with no safety officer in the main driver's seat on relevant roads.
On the technology front, XPeng Youyou is equipped with four self-developed Turing AI chips, delivering effective computing power of 3,000 TOPS. Combined with the second-generation VLA large model, it achieves L4-level autonomous driving capability without relying on lidar or high-precision maps. This approach differs from the industry mainstream of "lidar plus high-precision maps," attempting to reduce the cost and difficulty of cross-city deployment by reusing intelligent driving technology and the data closed loop accumulated in the mass-production passenger vehicle segment.
In terms of ride experience, users can remotely adjust the cabin temperature and select in-car fragrance and music styles through the mini-program. The vehicle is equipped with zero-gravity seats and a rear-seat entertainment screen, supports trip viewing and audio-video playback, and also allows air conditioning adjustment through a voice assistant.
On the business model side, XPeng has made clear it will not engage in asset-heavy operations, instead positioning itself as a technology provider and ecosystem enabler. It will export vehicle platforms, autonomous driving software, and AI capabilities to partners, generating revenue through hardware sales, technical services, and commission sharing, while offline operations are handled by partners. Amap is its first global ecosystem partner. He Xiaopeng previously stated that the goal is to achieve passenger operations without safety officers by 2027, and the Guangzhou Robotaxi business is expected to reach per-vehicle break-even as early as the second half of 2027. The launch of the mini-program and the opening of invitation codes are only the starting point of commercialization exploration. Whether the open scope can be expanded, whether the stability of orders without safety officers can be improved, and whether overseas partners can successfully land will be key to testing whether this model can work.