Tesla and Xpeng face off in AI-driven autonomy at the Paris Motor Show

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 ...