Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc. said on Tuesday it has commissioned its humanoid robot production line, with the first Iron unit completing automated assembly and walking off the line autonomously as the company transitions from prototype development to manufacturing.
The line, which the company claims is the world’s first automated production line for advanced humanoid robots, achieves over 80% automation in core processes and integrates automotive-grade quality control systems to support future mass production and capacity expansion.
The Iron humanoid features 76 degrees of freedom across its body and 21 degrees of freedom in each hand, with a fully enclosed flexible lattice structure designed for both human-like appearance and safety. Powered by three in-house Turing AI chips delivering 2,250 TOPS of effective computing power, the robot runs Xpeng’s physical AI foundation model directly on-device, enabling autonomous execution of complex tasks without remote operation.
Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said the production line was “created from scratch with no precedent to follow” and that the company would continue pursuing faster production cycles and greater manufacturing scale.
The company reiterated plans to begin mass production by the end of 2026, with initial deployments at Xpeng’s own stores and campuses, followed by an official launch and deliveries in China and overseas markets in 2027. In August, Xpeng’s robotics business secured over $900 million in its first equity financing round led by IDG Capital, with participation from Gaorong Ventures and strategic investments from Alibaba and Tencent.
