Since the demand for electric cars has increased, many Chinese companies have joined to give Tesla, among others, a hard time. One of them is Xpeng, but what can you expect from that brand?
It used to be really simple when you went to buy a gasoline-powered car. You had a choice of familiar brands such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford. In the electric car market, however, there are many new entrants.
Tesla is perhaps the best known, but there are also an awful lot of new players from China. NIO, BYD, and Polestar are the somewhat well-known ones, but you also have Xpeng, for example. What exactly can you expect from that brand?
Is Xpeng the Chinese Tesla?
While all those Chinese competitors to Tesla may all seem new, Xpeng has been around a little longer. The company was founded in 2014 by Xia Heng and He Tao, former executives of Guangzhou Automobile Group. Later, major investment funds got behind the brand, such as those of Abu Dhabi and Qatar. China’s Alibaba also invested in the company.
So although the company had been around for several years, it presented its first electric car in 2018: the Xpeng G3 SUV. The first examples were delivered in 2019 in China. This one had a 47.6 kWh battery, which was good for a range of 300 kilometers.
The G9. (Image: Xpeng)
What electric cars does the brand have?
In addition to the G3, Xpeng has released three other cars. The first of these was the 2020 P7. Unlike the G3, this was a four-door electric sedan. What immediately stood out was the jump the brand made with the battery. It was now 80.8 kWh, which provided a range between 562 and 706 kilometers (depending on the model). Meanwhile, a slightly newer version is on the market with the P7i.
Right after that in 2021, a new sedan from the brand hit the market. The Xpeng P5 is a bit more compact and cheaper than the P7. It has a maximum range of 600 kilometers. Unlike the P7, it is now only available with front-wheel drive and will cost you 51,188 euros roadworthy, where it sits near the Tesla Model Y Long Range.
The Xpeng G9 as the latest electric car
The latest addition to the fleet is the Xpeng G9 with a price tag of 71,990 euros it is in the category of the somewhat more expensive Tesla’s. This, like the first model, is an SUV. On paper it has a range of 570 kilometers, but our colleagues at Autovisie put the model through its paces.
However, their test showed that the battery doesn’t last as long as claimed. Instead of 570 kilometers, they were only able to travel 416 kilometers on a full battery. However, it was seven degrees during that test, they had winter tires on them and there was a fair amount of wind.
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Can it compete with Tesla?
Like Tesla, Xpeng is also working on autonomous driving. Instead of Autopilot, the Chinese have developed Xpilot. For this, the car uses a combination of lidar, radar and cameras. With these, a 3D environment can be created, so the electric car should know exactly who is around it.
With its prices and models, Xpeng is edging toward the premium market. As such, it really wants to compete with Tesla. The big question is whether they will actually succeed. After all, there are many other brands in the same segment.
