Xpeng G6 review

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Xpeng's Tesla Model Y fighter comes to the UK with a long range and fast charging

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Yes, the Xpeng G6 is another electric SUV out of China that is claimed to be smart, digital-first and sustainable.

It’s got a big screen inside and one of those light bars as well. Novel. The company behind it describes itself as a start-up led by a tech entrepreneur and it has big European expansion plans that include the UK (right-hand-drive cars are coming in November). Exciting.

In the bursting-at-the-seams medium SUV class that contains the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and many, many others, Xpeng is going to need something a bit more eye-catching to draw people’s attention. It doesn’t help that this new Xpeng G6 looks rather a lot like a Model Y with some slimmer lights.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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xpeng g6 review 2024 02 side panning

There are three versions: a Standard range, a single-motor Long Range and a dual-motor Performance. That very closely mirrors the Tesla’s model line-up, and the range figures match, almost mile for mile, those for the equivalent Model Y versions on 20in wheels.

The G6 has 800V electrics, though, like the Porsche Taycan and various Hyundai-Kia-Genesis EVs, which allows seriously fast rapid charging at 215kW for the 66kWh LFP battery in the Standard Range, or 280kW for the 87.5kWh NMC battery in the Long Range and the Performance. In both cases, that works out to a 10-80% charge in 20 minutes.

Xpeng calls its design language the 'robot face', because the slim headlights are like a cartoon robot's eyes. I can't say I really see it.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

So you get something that looks quite a lot like a Tesla Model Y, has almost identical dimensions, goes just as far and charges a smidgen more quickly. But, looking at prices in the Netherlands (UK prices haven’t been announced yet, but they’re quite uniform across Europe), the Xpeng is a couple of thousand euros cheaper than the Tesla, model for model. And that’s before you add the bigger wheels, a colour or the white interior on the Tesla, all of which cost a grand or more. On the Xpeng, only the colours cost extra, and then only €800 (£670).

In the Netherlands, it costs the equivalent of £36,320, £40,545 and £43,925 for the Standard Range, Long Range and Performance respectively. I’m told it might end up a little pricier in the UK due to the inconvenience of Brexit and converting it to right-hand drive. Still, strong value compared with rivals.

INTERIOR

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xpeng g6 review 2024 11 interior

If it’s cheaper, you might expect it all to be of lower quality. Not so, even if it’s not especially distinguishing either. Everything from the interior to the way it drives is as forgettable as the design, but in quite a nice ‘this’ll do’ kind of way, which will suit many drivers just fine, I suspect.

Inside, it could be the Model Y facelift, with plenty of soft-touch leatherette stuff, storage cubbies and a big landscape touchscreen that controls almost everything, including the mirrors, albeit you do get a separate driver display for your speed, range, trip computer and the like.

There are two 50W wireless charging pads. That sort of power would normally melt your phone, but they are actively cooled.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Having driven my fair share of BYDs, MGs and Zeekrs, I didn’t have high hopes for the user interface, but while it isn’t entirely free of quirks and wonky English translations, it’s largely inoffensive. There’s a permanent shortcut bar and most of the important functions aren’t more than two taps away. Before the UK launch there’s a big update planned that will bring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a redesign that looks like it should fix some of the quirks.

The G6 doesn’t offer quite as much interior space as a Model Y, lacking that car’s front and underfloor storage, but is definitely on par with, say, a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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xpeng g6 review 2024 23 charging

To drive? I’ve not tried the entry-level model, but the Performance is very fast, the Long Range is more than adequately fast, the sun is hot and water is wet. More refreshing is that there’s a coasting mode for the regen and the brake feel is nicely progressive. Regen is adjusted in the screen and while ‘X-Pedal’ mode is very strong, it doesn’t completely come to a stop.

Eco mode is the most pleasant most of the time. It calms down the accelerator response nicely. Annoyingly, though, it also limits total power. Normal mode works well enough. Sport mode has launch control, if you're after that sort of thing.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

RIDE & HANDLING

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xpeng g6 review 2024 26 front cornering

The dynamics have had an equally big sprinkling of vanilla powder, with a ride that is on the firm side but stopping short of being actively uncomfortable and handling that has healthy reserves of grip and a well-tuned traction control system tempered by fairly lifeless steering. It never gives you any sense of fun or heightened agility. The single-motor car feels marginally lighter on its feet and has a noticeably tighter turning circle. It seemed fairly quiet on the motorway – at the yawning 100kph Dutch speed limit, at least.

Assisted driving, another problem of many a newcomer, is equally unproblematic. Not perfect, but absolutely fine, and the annoying ones can be disabled quite easily.

Both the Long Range and the Performance returned an indicated 3.8mpkWh. That’s while keeping to the low speed limits in the Netherlands, which is famously not very hilly. If accurate, that’s still an impressive figure and would translate to a range of 327 miles.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

VERDICT

xpeng g6 review 2024 28 rear static

A good car, in short. I just fear that Xpeng’s marketing people will have a hell of a job on their hands making people take notice of a car that doesn’t seem to have many distinguishing features.

Then again, perhaps its unnoteworthiness is, in itself, a feature. In the G6, I wasn’t annoyed by a tetchy ride, jerky accelerator, mandatory one-pedal driving or poor adaptive cruise control, as I might have been in a Tesla Model Y, but I was driving a car that for all intents and purposes does the same things for less money. The product is objectively impressive – I’m just not sure how you turn all of that into a catchy marketing slogan.

Xpeng G6 news

Xpeng G6 to be launched in the UK in a matter of weeks
Xpeng G6 to be launched in the UK in a matter of weeks

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As part of Autocar’s road test team, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews, comparison tests, as well as the odd feature and news story. 

Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s eight-page road tests, which are the most rigorous in the business thanks to independent performance, fuel consumption and noise figures.