Last November, XPeng (XPEV) said it intends to integrate 2 LiDARs into its sensor suite which will be used for the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s 3rd model – a compact sedan. The company will begin incorporating them later this year.
However, who the LiDAR supplier would be was unknown until now. XPeng has just revealed that the hardware will be supplied by China-based Livox.
Livox is a relatively new company which in 2016 was spun off from leading drone maker DJI. The LiDAR will be manufactured at the company’s new automotive-grade plant and customized for XPeng specs, with capacity anticipated to reach 100,000 pieces per year per line.
Livox has adjusted its Horiz sensor for improved performance so it can meet the required automotive grade standards. Horiz’ detection range will therefore increase from 90m in the public sample version to 150m should provide XPeng’s ADAS system XPILOT with faster object recognition both on highways and urban roads.
When comparing its lidar to a rival, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu believes XPeng made certain considerations when choosing the supplier.
“Livox’s LiDAR uses Time of Flight (ToF) architecture and 905nm wavelength with performance that appears lower than Luminar’s Iris, suggesting to us XPeng may be optimizing for time-to-market and cost,” the analyst said.
The company hasn’t provided pricing yet, but Yu believes the cost will be less than $800 per unit and as the car will be a mid-tier vehicle rather than a typical top of the range luxury sedan, it “could potentially be sub $500.”
XPeng management has said the quality of its system’s horizontal and vertical position identification and spatial resolution will benefit from LiDAR. Furthermore, ambient light does not affect LiDAR’s perception capabilities.
To this end, Yu rates XPEV a Buy and his $58 price target suggests possible upside of 37% over the coming months. (To watch Yu’s track record, click here)
The rest of the Street also remains in XPeng’s corner. Based on 6 Buys and 1 Sell and Hold, each, the analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy. The forecast is for 12% of upside in the year ahead, given the average price target clocks in at $46.35. (See XPEV stock analysis on TipRanks)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
