Xpeng Boss Admits Tesla's Autonomous Driving Feature Is Now Better

Autopark is part of FSD, allowing Tesla cars to park on their own either with drivers watching or even without drivers in the car. (Photo: Tesla)

JAKARTA Xpeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng has again tested Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology or Tesla's autonomous driving in Silicon Valley. He said that the latest version of the FSD system had shown a big leap.

More than a year since his first trial in June last year, He assessed that FSD's capabilities have now grown drastically to approach the Level 4 autonomous level. In a post on Weibo, He wrote that FSD has evolved.

"FSD has evolved from L2's smooth advanced driver assistance experience more than a year ago to a performance nearly equivalent to a convincing Level 4," he wrote, as reported by Cnevpost, Thursday, December 11.

He conveyed this assessment after trying out Tesla, which is equipped with FSD V14.2 software as well as a Tesla robotaxi. During five hours of testing in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, He said both standard vehicles and robotaxi, which use the same software model, appeared consistent, providing smooth and stable travel.

"Although there are still shortcomings, this system significantly exceeded last year's capabilities. Our colleagues will share the video later," he continued.

He said the experience reinforces his belief that the use of the same autonomous driving system and hardware architecture for private vehicles and robotaxi is the right strategy.

Xpeng, known as one of Tesla's closest competitors in China, is indeed strengthening its ambitions in the field of autonomous technology. At the AI Day 2025 last month, the company announced plans to launch three robotaxi models in 2026 and begin operational trials.

He also revealed that Xpeng's latest smart driving software, VLA 2.0, will be released in the coming quarters. But he admits the original version will not be able to match the performance of FSD V14.2.

To motivate the team, He even made a bet if on August 30, 2026 the VLA software was able to match the performance of FSD V14.2 in Silicon Valley. If he wins, he will build a Chinese-style canteen for the Silicon Valley team.

On the other hand, if the target is not achieved, Liu Xianming as the head of the Xpeng autonomous driving team who just took office last October promised to run naked across the Golden Gate Bridge.

He had previously tried FSD V12.3.6 and Waymo vehicles in June 2024. At that time, he noted Waymo was superior in dealing with complex traffic in downtown San Francisco, while FSD performed better in Silicon Valley and highways thanks to its smooth handling in various conditions.