XPeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) on Thursday outlined a path to Level 4 autonomous driving by 2028 as its Mona L03 carries the automaker’s latest artificial-intelligence platform into China and Europe, sharpening its challenge to Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA).
XPeng Details Next-Generation AI Platform
According to a report by ElectricVehicles.com, the roadmap advances from XPeng’s current SEPA 3.0 architecture to SEPA 4.0, which the company says will combine Level 4 autonomy, an in-house AI foundation model and "embodied AI" across vehicles and robots. The L03 serves as the first global showcase for SEPA 3.0, pairing XPeng’s second-generation Vision-Language-Action system with its Turing chips.
XPeng opened Chinese pre-sales at 143,800 yuan, or about $21,200. Every trim includes a Turing chip, while higher versions run the full VLA system on multiple processors. The launch follows XPeng’s strongest month of 2026, when it delivered 40,126 vehicles in June, up 16% from a year earlier.
L03 Sharpens Challenge To Tesla FSD
The roadmap also turns the L03 into a test of Tesla’s lead in assisted driving. XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng has argued that VLA performs better than FSD on narrow roads and in difficult situations. Reuters reported in May that XPeng benchmarks VLA 2.0 against Tesla’s FSD v14, while Tesla’s latest system still lacked Chinese regulatory approval.
Reuters previously described Tesla FSD and comparable Chinese systems as Level 2 driver-assistance products, meaning drivers must remain attentive and ready to intervene. XPeng’s Level 4 target would allow a vehicle to drive without human control under defined conditions, but the company has not released SEPA 4.0 performance details.
AI Platform Expands Beyond Passenger Cars
XPeng has already widened the technology beyond its own cars. Volkswagen AG (OTC:VLKPF) began mass-producing its first jointly developed XPeng-based model in March, using XPeng’s autonomous driving systems and Turing AI chips.
The company is also building robotaxis, humanoid robots and flying cars around the VLA framework.
Price Action: XPeng shares rose 7.34% to $14.34 in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that XPEV stock has a less favorable outlook in the Short, Medium and Long term.
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