Wednesday 11 December 2024 10:33 GMT Comments Get your EV tariff and charger in one place. Find out more The Xpeng X9 has fully autonomous functionality in China, which Brown experienced. “I was in the X9 last week in China and I didn’t drive it, the car drove me. It was incredible. I’ve never been in a fully autonomous car. “I came out of the head office and got in the car, there was a woman next to me and she said we were going to do a loop back to the office. She put the navigation in, the car drove itself out onto the road and navigated the traffic all on its own. She didn’t have her feet on the accelerator or the brake. She had her hands lightly on the steering wheel as required, but the car moved itself, indicating when needed and even safely crossing three lanes of traffic. “We came to a tight corner and the car slowed down. I asked why the car was slowing and was told that the X9 was looking at other cars around it and anticipating that they were going to pull out, so it slows its speed down. It was doing the same with cyclists.” Xpeng sells the self-driving technology in its cars, as Brown explained. “Xpeng has got a really clear story. It’s a technology company that builds cars. It’s not a car company that integrates technology. open image in gallery The Xpeng G6 interior is well made and features 15in infotainment and 10in driver display screens (Steve Fowler) “The technology is the element that they focus on most and the car is built around the technology. If you’ve got a car and you’ve got a battery in an EV, you can have a really great car, but unless the computer system or the management system linking the two together works really well, things start to fall down. But because Xpeng is a technology-first company, it’s one of the few EVs that you get into and everything works like an EV should. “The range is pretty much what it says in terms of WLTP, it’s faster to charge, it’s got a good range. All the systems are intuitive. The car is on an 800V platform with 280kW fast charging speeds too, so it will go from 10 to 80 per cent charge in less than 20 minutes.” open image in gallery The Xpeng G6 features fast charging to get from 10 to 80 per cent in under 20 minutes (Steve Fowler) On price, we’d expect the Xpeng G6 to be in the region of £40,000 to £45,000. “In Europe they’ve priced it at five to eight per cent lower than a Tesla Model Y,” said Brown, “And we’ll have a standard range and a long-range model.” Xpeng cars will be on sale through a selection of around 20 of IM Group’s established retailer network. “We’ll have a blended approach,” says Brown. “We’ll have traditional dealers that are very much retail focused. We’ll also have dealers that are more used to selling through fleets, so leasing higher end products on a monthly payment. We’ll be much more focused on the online journey.” Recommended