Chinese smart electric vehicle maker XPENG and the global auto giant Volkswagen Group jointly announced on April 17 the signing of a strategic cooperation framework agreement on electronic and electrical architecture (E/E Architecture) technology.

Photo credit: XPENG

Through this strategic cooperation, the two parties will jointly develop and integrate XPENG's latest generation of E/E Architecture to Volkswagen's China Main Platform (CMP) in China. The jointly developed E/E Architecture is expected to be equipped on Volkswagen-branded electric vehicles produced in China from 2026.

XPENG said its in-housed developed E/E Architecture is the core technology of its vertically integrated hardware and software. Thanks to this advanced architecture, intelligent driving assistance software and vehicle network operating systems can be decoupled from the underlying hardware and vehicle platform, enabling rapid cross-platform software iteration.

XPENG added its latest-generation E/E Architecture utilizes a central computing and domain controller framework, providing a high-performance onboard computing environment and a competitive cost structure. This architecture supports Gigabit Ethernet high-speed data transmission between the central domain and intelligent driving assistance domain controllers. The domain controllers incorporate numerous electronic control units, achieving a highly integrated architecture and competitive cost structure. This architecture also supports efficient OTA updates for complete vehicles, providing high-speed OTA for users' vehicles and the vehicles rolled off production lines.