EVwire brief: Xpeng has given its robotaxi a name of its own, with the Chinese automaker officially branding its ride-hailing service as "XPENG YOYO" and opening online registration to the public in China through invitation codes.
The rebrand comes as Xpeng's robotaxi program moves past technical validation and into commercial operations with real riders. Before the name change, Xpeng ran paid internal tests at just 1 RMB (about $0.14) per ride, which were mainly meant to make sure the payment system and the overall service flow worked as intended.
Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng noted that the YOYO completed more than 2,200 internal test rides before the company started opening it up to more users through an invitation-based program.
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In a LinkedIn post, He described the YOYO as a new chapter for Xpeng's robotaxi program. The English name was picked because it is short and easy to say across different languages, which should help the brand travel well in global markets. It shoud be noted, however, that the service's Chinese name, “小鹏悠游,” carries a meaning of its own.
“In Chinese, “悠” speaks to a relaxed, effortless journey. “游” brings the idea of movement and exploration. Together, 悠游 captures the experience we want Robotaxi to bring to everyday mobility: sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.”
Here’s the CEO’s LinkedIn post:
As for the business side, Xpeng won't be running the YOYO fleet itself. The company sees itself as the tech supplier behind the service, making money from hardware sales, services and commission sharing, while its partners around the world handle day-to-day operations.
Under the hood, each YOYO runs on four of Xpeng's in-house Turing AI chips, with a combined 3,000 TOPS of computing power, which Xpeng claims is the highest in-vehicle compute in the world. The robotaxi uses Xpeng's VLA2.0 model and skips HD maps and LiDAR entirely. This means that YOYO doesn't need a pre-built, high-precision map of a city to operate, which Xpeng says makes it quicker to launch in new cities.
Riders get some perks, too. Registered users can preset the cabin temperature and turn on the fragrance system before they get in. Inside, they'll find zero-gravity seats with massage functions and a large entertainment screen in the second row.
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Context:
Xpeng's robotaxi program has moved quickly this year. The company became the first automaker in China to mass-produce a robotaxi when its first units rolled off the line in Guangzhou in May. CEO He Xiaopeng took the company's first internal Robotaxi ride in July, about eight months after the program was announced.
Xpeng cleared another hurdle in August, when it received a remote testing qualification from Guangzhou. This allowed the company to test its robotaxis on select Class I, II and III roads in the city without a safety operator behind the wheel. Xpeng has previously said that it is targeting fully driverless operations by early 2027.
Source: Xpeng press release, He Xiaopeng on LinkedIn
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