October 03, 2022

Auto News

Chinese automaker challenges Tesla with release of self-driving software

Electric carmaker Xpeng has announced the rollout of new auto-pilot navigation software in a challenge to American automaker Tesla and its current position as the world leader in electric vehicles.

The new piloting system called City NGP, or Navigation Guided Pilot, allows vehicles to operate with only minimal help from the driver, and the launch was seen as a bold statement by the Chinese start-up.

The new feature, designed specifically for urban settings, opens the door to a "full range of driving tasks" that will revolutionize driving in the city, the company said in a statement, according to CNBC.

Xpeng engineers were motivated to build a navigation system for cities that would help drivers get around everyday scenarios such as pedestrians, traffic, potholes and accident scenes.

The feature is currently being tested in some of the company's P5 electric sedans that were rolled out last year near the company's headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The magic of the new navigation system is found in light detection technology and lasers that produce a 3D representation of the environment that the car uses to steer itself.

The race toward fully autonomous driving has become intensely competitive and is one of the most pivotal aspects pushing electric vehicle sales.

Xpeng is the same company that introduced an electric flying vehicle at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition two years ago.


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Amazing car facts you probably did not know

The first electric car was made 190 years ago. A Scottish inventor named Robert Anderson is credited with creating the first electric vehicle back in 1832. He used non-rechargeable cells and an electric motor to propel a carriage. His endeavour even pre-dates the invention of lead-acid batteries.

The modern cruise control as we know it was invented by a man named Ralph Teetor. He got the patent for the technology in the year 1950 and called it Speedostat. What is more fascinating, however, is the fact that Ralph was actually blind and got the idea because he was riding with his lawyer once who kept on speeding up and slowing down. This annoyed the inventor so much that he set himself on a path to find a solution for the issue.

The most amount of kilometres driven in a car by a single owner is a little more than 52 lakh kilometres. For reference, that distance is equal to taking almost 130 trips around the world. This feat was achieved by Irvin Gordon in a Volvo P1800S. His work made him travel 200km every day and was a major contributor towards the huge figure.

Steering wheels were not used before 1894. Instead, the vehicles would be turned using levers. Alfred Vacheron was the first person seen with a round steering wheel on his Panhard when he entered the Paris-Rouen race in the year 1894. The system proved to be so successful that Panhard equipped all their models with a steering wheel by the end of the 1800s.

Until 1973, whale oil (that's right, whale oil) was used in the transmission of some motor vehicles. Sperm whale oil was an ingredient used by the auto industry in automatic transmission fluid. In fact, General Motors utilized the oil from World War II until 1973 when the Endangered Species Act banned its use.

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Thanks for reading,

The Editor

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