- Xpeng says China will soon produce a product to beat the Tesla Model Y
- Co-founder He Xiaopeng says the company isn’t far from beating Tesla
- Tech-focused company wants to compete with premium European players
During the launch of Xpeng’s upcoming L03 EV in Munich this week, the company’s first simultaneous vehicle unveiling in Europe and China, founder He Xiaopeng said that he believed the marque was “not far from beating Model Y,” according to the Financial Times.
Not one to shy away from Tesla comparisons, Xpeng has always strived to be seen as more technology-focused than many of its closest Chinese rivals, with humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, and eVTOL lightweight electric aircraft also part of the company’s portfolio.
The L03, which is said to have a starting price of €35,600 (around $40,600/AU$58,000), features sporty SUV coupe styling, a 15.6-inch central infotainment display, lounge-style seating, and what the company calls its most advanced intelligent driving capabilities ever introduced to global markets.
“L03 has the potential to be a blockbuster model in terms of being a volume driver and certainly one of the Model Y killers, but not the killer,” Lei Xing, founder of Chinese consultancy AutoXing, told the Financial Times.
Having driven the company’s G6, which is clearly a Tesla Model Y rival in both exterior design and the technology it offers, I have to agree. I still think Tesla’s recently updated Model 3 and Model Y are the better cars to drive.
The software at the heart of those cars also delivers a much slicker user experience.
Secondly, Tesla’s Supercharger ecosystem remains one of the cheapest and simplest to use in most markets today. Granted, it doesn’t offer the fastest charging speeds, but its convenience and reliability more than make up for that.
Spend any time in a Tesla or with Tesla owners, and they will attest to how simple the recharging process is — from the fact that the vehicle plans journeys based on range and state of charge to the contactless billing process.
Analysis: catching up fast
Having driven Xpeng products in Europe, I have been impressed by the speed at which the company has improved successive generations of its vehicles.
A tangible jump in the quality of the G6’s interior, faster charging speeds, and more potent processing power generally made it much easier to live with — not to mention the engineering updates under the skin that made it better to drive.
The latest L03 is reported to push things further with its VLA 2.0 (Vision Language-Action) software that powers its Next Generation Pilot autonomous driving functionality. It will also be the first Chinese automaker to ship a vehicle with Google Maps built in.
But even with this, it’s difficult to see Xpeng nailing the simplicity of Tesla’s software and ownership experience. That philosophy was built into the company’s DNA, with the Model S rapidly becoming regarded as the iPhone of the EV world when it launched some 14 years ago.
Xpeng is undoubtedly making waves in the EV industry, but there were just 900 UK registrations of the G6 during its first 10 months on sale, compared with 24,298 Tesla Model Ys.
Sales in Europe were more impressive, but the Model Y remains the top-selling electric vehicle in many parts of the world, as well as the second most popular in China.
The L03 may well be edging closer to ‘Tesla killer’ status, but it feels like Xpeng still has a mountain to climb when it comes to convincing customers it offers a superior EV ownership experience.
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