Testing Xiaopeng MONA's Active Safety Capability With AES Below 130,000

AES is moving towards more affordable models, and the first shot is fired by Xpeng.

Xpeng is about to roll out the AES feature to all MONA M03 Max owners. Those who frequently follow our AutoLab reviews should be quite familiar with the AES feature.

AES and AEB differ only by the last letter; the B in AEB stands for Braking, while the S in AES stands for Steering.

Previously, the models we evaluated with AES functionality were priced mostly above 300,000 yuan, but the Xpeng MONA M03 Max has brought this feature to under 130,000 yuan.

The AES capability of the XPeng MONA M03 Max was evaluated, and we conducted a comparative assessment against the benchmark for pure electric intelligent sedans, the Tesla Model 3.

Look at the 300,000 yuan car models.

In conclusion, after testing the AES of the XPeng MONA M03 Max, we found that it can consistently activate at 130 km/h in most scenarios. To our surprise, even in challenging situations such as nighttime cone obstacles, it can achieve an AES avoidance at 130 km/h.

Tesla Model 3 still cannot respond promptly when facing traffic cones.

The scenario of a preceding vehicle cutting out is a perfect test for AES. Here, we have created two scenarios: a stationary vehicle and construction cones.

The scenario of a preceding vehicle changing lanes and encountering a stationary car simulates the condition of encountering a broken-down vehicle while driving at high speed. Assuming the broken-down vehicle has not placed a warning triangle and the preceding vehicle does not notice in time, once the preceding vehicle makes an emergency lane change, the time and distance left for us to respond will be insufficient.

When the speed is below 90 km/h, the Xiaopeng MONA M03 triggers AEB for a steady stop. As we increase the speed above 90 km/h, AES comes into play, and the Xiaopeng MONA M03 Max ultimately achieves emergency avoidance at 130 km/h.

The Tesla Model 3 can perform an emergency braking maneuver to avoid a collision at a speed of 100 km/h using AEB, but if the speed is slightly higher, it will be unable to avoid a collision.

Under the condition of construction cones, XPeng also achieved an emergency evasion at 130 km/h.

We also created a dynamic scenario simulating the sudden encounter of a "slow-moving car" ahead while driving at high speed.

In this scenario, the Xpeng MONA M03 Max still completes the maneuver at a speed of 130 km/h.

The best performance of the Tesla Model 3 is an AEB stop at 110 km/h.

AES and AEB are perfectly complementary.

In our six test items, the Xiaopeng MONA M03 Max can steadily brake to a stop with AEB in some scenarios at speeds below 90 km/h. When the speed increases further, AES emergency avoidance is triggered.

How do AEB and AES "allocate" work? Does AES's emergency evasion pose any safety risks?

This is a common concern among many car owners who have never used the AES feature. Whenever the system involves lateral operations, such worries are inevitable.

AEB and AES have a "complementary" relationship, and the system will choose between them in real-time based on specific working conditions. When the system determines that AEB can prevent a collision, it prioritizes triggering AEB; when AEB is insufficient to prevent a collision, it triggers AES.

For example, if you encounter a broken-down vehicle on the highway and the car in front of you makes an emergency evasive maneuver, leaving you with insufficient distance to avoid a rear-end collision even if the AEB is fully engaged, the system will detect if the adjacent lane meets the conditions for AES activation and will trigger the function to avoid danger.

AEB and AES complement each other, making active safety features even safer.

Written at the end

As a pure electric sedan priced at 130,000 yuan, the launch of the Xiaopeng MONA M03 Max made us realize that Xiaopeng has brought the capabilities of urban assisted driving to the 100,000 yuan level, allowing more people to enjoy practical assisted driving.

Nowadays, the launch of AES once again makes us feel that XPeng not only aims to popularize assisted driving but also to achieve safety equality.