Xpeng Names Robotaxi 'Yoyo' as It Pushes Toward Driverless Commercial Service

• Xpeng has unveiled its robotaxi's official name after completing more than 2,000 internal test rides in Guangzhou.
• The company previously said it aims to operate passenger services without safety drivers in 2027.

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) has officially named its robotaxi Xpeng Yoyo, establishing a brand for its autonomous mobility business as it moves toward commercialization.

The Chinese electric vehicle maker announced the name on Weibo on Thursday, saying the Chinese name evokes a relaxed and carefree travel experience.

Xpeng said the English name is easy to pronounce worldwide, marking the product's first step toward going global. The announcement did not disclose a specific date for opening the service to the public or the scale of operations.

The branding comes as Xpeng moves from internal testing toward commercial readiness for its robotaxi business, with plans to expand through partnerships with mobility platforms.

Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said on an August 24 earnings call that the company's factory-built, mass-produced robotaxis had completed more than 2,000 internal test rides in Guangzhou, validating the full workflow for demonstration passenger services.

The company had completed development of a cloud-based remote takeover platform and aimed to operate passenger services without safety drivers in 2027, Mr. He said at the time.

Xpeng plans to partner with leading Chinese and international mobility platforms in 2027 to expand in major cities in China and overseas, generating revenue through vehicle sales, technology services and a share of operating revenue, he said.

Xpeng completed its first internal robotaxi test ride in July, with Mr. He becoming the first user to experience the full process from booking online to taking a ride.

He said at the time that the company had taken 8 months to progress from announcing its robotaxi plans in November 2025 to launching regular road tests in January 2026, rolling its mass-produced vehicle off the assembly line in May and starting internal ride testing in July.

Based on Xpeng's flagship GX SUV, the robotaxi is engineered to Level 4 autonomous driving standards and uses a vision-only system that does not rely on LiDAR or high-definition maps.

The vehicle carries 4 of Xpeng's in-house Turing AI smart driving chips, delivering 3,000 TOPS of effective computing power. Its driving decisions are powered by the company's second-generation Vision-Language-Action (VLA 2.0) model.

Xpeng previously announced plans to open its robotaxi SDK (software development kit), with Amap becoming its first global ecosystem partner.

Mr. He said in July that achieving large-scale robotaxi deployment would be a long-term process, with the company continuing to improve safety, ride comfort and the system's ability to handle unfamiliar scenarios.