Xpeng prides itself on the expertise of its vehicles. The G6 boasts 29 sensors—together with 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic wave radars, and 12 cameras—and runs on an Nvidia Orin-X processor with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8155P cockpit chip.
That is all used to run the in-house infotainment system (wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are coming by way of a software program replace later this 12 months, apparently) and the corporate’s XPilot security system. This consists of all the regular autonomous security tech, like emergency braking, blind spot warnings, and visitors mild recognition, plus lane-keep help and the G6’s energetic cruise management. As with so many trendy vehicles, the G6 typically misreads street indicators and incorrectly warns its driver about being over the pace restrict.
There isn’t a European equal to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised). So whereas the G6 will be purchased with lidar and more advanced semiautonomous driving in China, that’s lacking from its EU providing.
Because it stands, the system works properly sufficient, however isn’t probably the most intuitive—our take a look at automobile didn’t make any kind of sound to point when the system was enabled or disabled, and not one of the steering wheel buttons used to handle pace and distance are labeled. The result’s you’re going to mistake the quantity management for the pace adjuster in your first outing.
Lastly, the voice assistant responded rapidly to “Hey Xpeng,” however till its grasp of English is improved, it presents much less performance than in China. We requested it for the climate forecast, however it replied with the automobile’s vary. Higher was the way it understood a passenger stating “I’m chilly” and turned up the temperature on that aspect solely.
Out within the Chilly
Must you purchase the Xpeng G6? Massive import tariffs imply Chinese language vehicles stay off the menu within the US, however in case you’re in Europe the G6’s aggressive value might be interesting (however perhaps not for much longer). It matches as much as the Tesla Mannequin Y in a number of key elements, and even exceeds its American rival on the subject of value, the upcoming inclusion of CarPlay and Android Auto, and trip high quality.
However there’s nonetheless work to be achieved for the G6 to completely impress. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t check out the foremost UI replace, referred to as model 15, that’s as a result of roll out in July. However that a minimum of demonstrates Xpeng is eager to rapidly evolve, even when which means swapping out your complete mapping system for another and remodeling the person interface structure to accommodate smartphone casting. We applaud that, and stay up for seeing what different tech upgrades it has deliberate.
All that mentioned, the G6 left us chilly. It carries a number of equipment for the value, and a go to to Xpeng’s cavernous Dutch showroom suggests it means enterprise, actually parking itself between Kia and Nio. It additionally has a roadmap for infrastructure growth, partnering with present service middle teams to offer consumers peace of thoughts. However there’s little right here to actually set the G6 other than high-quality rivals just like the Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Škoda Enyaq, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and naturally, the Tesla Mannequin Y.
Upstarts want to supply one thing new. Tesla’s Supercharger network drew in prospects throughout its early years; Nio presents battery swapping; BYD already had huge scale on its aspect earlier than coming into Europe.
For now, Xpeng looks like an also-ran. The G6 is a par-for-the-course EV that can enchantment to drivers who need precisely this mixture of measurement, vary, value, and quick charging however don’t care concerning the badge. If that’s you, effective, however for now the G6 does little to get WIRED actually excited.
