U.S.-listed shares of XPeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) ticked up in premarket trading Wednesday after the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer announced a partnership with Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) digital mapping unit, Amap, to roll out a new autonomous taxi service.
In a statement released by Amap, a mapping and navigation platform comparable to Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Maps, the company said XPeng’s self-driving vehicles would be integrated into its ecosystem, allowing users to book driverless rides directly from the app.
XPeng previously revealed plans to develop three self-designed robotaxi models, with pilot trials set to begin next year. The automaker will now collaborate with Amap to establish a global service network for these autonomous vehicles, though no specific launch timeline was provided.
If successful, XPeng would become the first Chinese EV maker to develop and deploy its own robotaxi—without relying on third-party hardware or software from traditional driving-tech providers or automakers. This would mark a strategic distinction from rivals such as WeRide, Pony AI, and Baidu’s Apollo Go, all of which have partnered with external firms for their driverless programs.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Vice Chairman Brian Hongdi Gu said that, if all goes as planned, XPeng expects to begin robotaxi operations in 2026. While the initial rollout will focus on China, Gu added that the company envisions expanding internationally in the future.
Gu emphasized XPeng’s integrated approach to technology development: “Combining hardware and software is essential to making robotaxis commercially viable,” he said, adding that companies focused solely on one aspect “will not be able to achieve mass-scale production.”
XPeng plans to equip its robotaxis with its proprietary “Turing” chips, which Gu told the WSJ offer greater computing power than competing processors and are more cost-effective than Nvidia’s widely used autonomous driving chips. According to the WSJ, most Chinese robotaxi developers currently rely on Nvidia hardware.