Tesla and Xpeng face off in AI-driven autonomy at the Paris Motor Show
The two automakers were the only ones offering public test rides in the show's Autonomous Lab, and no European brands joined them
The Paris Motor Show is usually a place to admire sheet metal from behind a velvet rope. This year, two companies let the public climb in and watch the car do the driving.
Tesla and Xpeng were the only automakers offering public test rides in the show’s Autonomous Lab initiative, running from October 12 to 18, 2026. The rest of the industry, including every European manufacturer, sat this one out.
What’s actually on the road
Tesla brought six Model 3 sedans running its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software. Xpeng arrived with a smaller fleet: two L03 coupe SUVs using its Navigation Guided Pilot system, branded NGP VLA 2.0.
Public rides run daily from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Each test drive lasts approximately 25-30 minutes.
The routes are designed to show off the systems’ core skills. Passengers see the cars handle pedestrian detection and lane changes, the everyday maneuvers that separate a useful assistant from a nervous one.
Tesla also leaned on its track record. Its FSD software has logged over 100 million km in Europe, a figure the company can point to when skeptics ask whether the tech is ready for the continent’s roads.
Xpeng’s showing carried a more personal touch. CEO He Xiaopeng tested the NGP system himself in Paris, a signal that the company sees Europe as more than a side project.
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The fine print on “autonomous”
Despite the Autonomous Lab branding, neither system drives itself in the sci-fi sense. Both are classed as Level 2++ advanced driver assistance, which requires a human to supervise at all times.
There’s another catch. Neither FSD (Supervised) nor NGP VLA 2.0 is approved for consumer use in France yet.
Different stages of the same race
For Xpeng, Paris marks its first large-scale demonstration in Europe. The company ran preliminary trials in other cities earlier in the year before scaling up for the motor show.
Xpeng is set to launch NGP to European customers by the first quarter of 2027. The rollout is expected to lean on the company’s Turing chip technology, its in-house silicon for powering the system.
Tesla used its stand to show how far beyond driver assistance its ambitions reach. Alongside the Model 3 fleet, it exhibited the Cybercab and its Optimus Gen 2 humanoid robots.
Why Europe’s absence matters
The most striking detail in Paris may be who didn’t show up. Not a single European automaker participated in the public test ride program.
Whatever the reasoning, the optics hand the stage to outsiders. Visitors to Europe’s own motor show got their autonomy demos from a Californian company and a Chinese one.
What this means
Tesla’s position is different. With over 100 million km of FSD driving logged in Europe, it arrives with data on its side, but approval for consumer use in France remains the hurdle that turns demos into revenue.
For investors in either company, the key variables are regulatory, not technical. Watch for any response from European regulators to these demonstrations, and for real-world feedback on safety and performance from the public rides.