The new G9 from Chinese Tesla challenger Xpeng comes with an impressive 29 sensors around the car. That is just two fewer than the version of the midsize SUV that went on sale last October in the brand's home market.
However, one of those two sensors dropped from the European launch model this month was the G9's 3D sensor lidar.
"Lidar is extremely cost intensive," Martin Stegelmeier, head of product planning for Europe, told Automotive News Europe. "We want to be at the forefront of ADAS [advanced driver assistance systems] for European carmakers, but we also have to offer a competitive price. With lidar we wouldn't be able to do that."