US investors looking to build an EV portfolio are not exactly spoilt for choice. Aside from Tesla, many companies haven’t produced cars, or if they have, they’re in such small numbers it’s difficult to know their true potential. Interestingly, however, if you want to narrow your selection to companies that produce more than 100,000 cars a year, you are reduced to a trio of US-listed Chinese producers.
Nio is probably the best known of the three, and comes with its own posy of fanboys who are nearly as militant as some of Tesla’s advocates. Nio’s main party trick is battery swapping, and has well-publicized world-expansion plans which will see its cars in 25 markets, including much of Europe and the US, by the end of 2025.
XPeng, like Nio, is already on sale in Europe—in fact, XPeng got there first. And unlike the third member of the triumvirate, Li Auto, it’s a far more known entity outside of China. Where XPeng is keen to position itself, though, is on the technology side.
While XPeng hasn’t been as vocal as Nio about its expansion plans, the company is gradually expanding its footprint across Europe: Currently the brand is on sale in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and the latest model, the XPeng G9, is very much about that expansion. The company claims this is the first model designed as a world car.
Just this week, XPeng announced launch prices for its G9 flagship SUV and new P7 sports sedan, both boasting a seven-year, 160,000-kilometer warranty, starting at €57,990 ($62,687) for the G9 and €49,990 ($54,040) for the P7. Both are now available for order.
Indeed, XPeng only started selling cars in 2018 with the G3, a small crossover. Following this was the P7, a sports sedan, launched in 2020, which has been the company’s best-selling model to date. These two models are now available in both Europe and China. In 2021 the brand launched the P5, a quite large “compact” sedan that was the first model to feature Lidar and is only available in China.
Earlier XPeng models were akin to an electric mainstream Volkswagen or Ford. While the tech might have been pushing into Tesla territory, the choice of materials was grounded. Here the G9 changes things up: It is not only the largest and most expensive yet from this startup, but seems to be maneuvering toward premium.
There’s no doubt XPeng has played it safe with the exterior. A midsize SUV by US standards, nothing about the design particularly gives it away as an EV. Yes, there is the X-Bot Face 3.0 (everything from XPeng seems to begin with an X); a “lightsaber” running under the hood and general shape appears to form up the letter. Under this hood is a frunk with enough space for a small backpack.
Where the G9 gets more interesting is inside. First off, it is strictly a five-seater, and so given its 4,891-mm length, of which the wheelbase is 2,998 mm, there is plenty of space for occupants. Chinese car design, particularly when it comes to SUVs, seems to be a battlefront for both the number of screens and screen acreage. As such, the G9 is not doing so well with a mere three screens, which do not go from one side of the dashboard to the other. But by the standards of any other country, with the twin 14.96-inch screens—one for infotainment, the other for passenger entertainment—together with the 10.25-inch instrument panel, this SUEV is pretty well served.