IRON from Xpeng. The robot left the production line itself

XPeng, a Chinese electric car manufacturer, has launched a humanoid robot factory in Guangzhou. In the recording published by the company, the IRON robot undergoes subsequent stages of assembly. At the end, he leaves the production line and walks away on his own.

A factory like in the automotive industry

According to XPeng, over 80 percent key processes in the plant are automated. The robots are manufactured according to quality standards known from the automotive industry, and the line was designed from the beginning with large-scale production in mind.

What IRON can do

IRON is a general-purpose humanoid with a silhouette similar to that of a human. It has 76 degrees of freedom, i.e. independent movements that its joints can perform. There are 21 of them in each hand, thanks to which the robot precisely grasps objects. It is controlled by three Turing AI chips developed by XPeng, with a total computing power of 2,250 TOPS.

The robot works independently, without remote control by a human. XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng announces that the goal is a robot that “will truly become part of everyday life.”

When on sale

Mass production is scheduled to start by the end of 2026. First, the robots will go to XPeng showrooms and offices. In 2027, the company wants to start selling to customers in China and abroad, initially in trade and services. It is possible that IRON will reach factories and homes in the future. The price has not been announced yet.

Big money for robots

XPeng’s robotics division recently raised over USD 900 million from investors, and its valuation exceeded USD 6.3 billion. This is the largest single round of financing in the history of China’s humanoid robot industry. According to Electrek, XPeng is ahead of Tesla in terms of production, whose Optimus robot is still not in mass production.

Sources: Antyweb, XPeng (PR Newswire), Electrek, CleanTechnica