Test Drive Experience of XPeng P7

I’m glad to have the opportunity to collaborate with Garage 42 for the test drive of XPeng P7. After several days of in-depth experience, I would like to share with you the pros and cons of this car from multiple perspectives, which may be helpful to you when making a purchase.

Appearance

The appearance of XPeng P7 can be said to be subjective, using the X Robot Face design language, giving it a futuristic warrior-like feeling, full of mystery. The more you look at the front of the car, the more you’ll like it. I used to complain to my friends about how ugly the front of the car was, especially the light strip, which felt a bit odd, but after spending more time with it, I grew to love it. The body of the car is its most beautiful feature, resembling Model S, with a sleek profile that really captures my heart. The side view of the car looks better the more you look at it, matching the frameless glass perfectly.

Interior

The top-of-the-line model uses Nappa leather for the seats, and while you can’t tell by sight, they provide a very comfortable experience while driving. The only downside is the poor ventilation of the seats that doesn’t feel like an improvement. The center console features a wireless charging board, but its position seems too far inwards and not user-friendly enough. The efficiency of the charging is also not the best, but it works as a decent feature. Additionally, the button design on the cupholder is not very practical, as you have to open it every time you want to put a cup inside for the sake of aesthetics. The armrest height is comfortable to hold, making for a great touch.

The top-level DUNNA sound system is fantastic and one of the strongest points of P7 (stronger even compared to Model 3, Byton Han, and Ideal ONE after experiencing all of them). P7’s NVH is impressive, and listening to music with this feature is certainly the most enjoyable experience. The settings are sufficient to make your ears pregnant. If you plan to purchase XPeng P7, I strongly recommend adding this feature.

The hidden air outlet gets a great rating for being fashionable yet practical.

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The panoramic sunroof seems very nice, but its heat insulation effect is poor. When the weather is around 35 degrees, I can clearly feel the sun’s heat on my head. The other cars I own have sunroof ice shields, and the heat insulation effect is very good. I hope the manufacturer can catch up as soon as possible by either adding insulation layers or providing corresponding accessories. Otherwise, many ladies will block the panoramic sunroof as soon as they buy it.

The ambient lights are highly praised! You may not support changing the color, but you must not be without it!

Infotainment system

Central control

At first glance, the interface logic is a bit messy, and the inconsistent icons make me feel like I’m using a domestic Android system (MIUI, EMUI, COLOROS), with many unnecessary elements loaded. I give it a negative review. The built-in software is very comprehensive, but it gives people a very complicated feeling. I hope that all icons can be unified, and the first-level interface can more intuitively show what users need and provide customizable options, otherwise, friends who have their first time using this car generally need to burn their brains for a long time.

Voice control

This is the most frequently used function for me these days. It’s so easy to use that you can complete all operations by moving your mouth. For example, if you say there is a smell in the car, it can help you open the ventilation mode and immediately replace the air. The new version supports non-stop voice conversations, and AI will judge based on what you say. This involves model training and privacy. Is it trained locally or transmitted to the cloud for training? Can privacy be guaranteed? In addition, the new version has also made great upgrades to the XiaoP voice engine, and voices can also be selected. It would be even better if you could add custom voices, like Xiao Ai classmates.

Parking assist

The NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) with high-precision maps is simply a driving artifact for a self-driving road trip. According to the user’s set navigation route, it will automatically navigate and assist in driving from point A to point B. The main functions include automatic lane change and overtake of slow vehicles, automatic optimization of lanes, automatic speed limit adjustment, automatic entry and exit of ramps, automatic switching of highways, automatic emergency lane change, traffic cone recognition/avoidance, truck avoidance, night overtaking reminder, and avoiding of vehicles encountering problems. To a certain extent, its debut has eased the fatigue of long-distance driving, and has also improved some travel safety for long-distance driving. Even if you drive for a day, you won’t feel tired!

The NGP tutorial that XPeng provides for users is very good, but it’s important to note that it is mandatory. Each driver can use their own account, and the cloud synchronizes some driver information. If it is detected that the tutorial is not completed, a prompt must be given. This can prevent many new drivers from making mistakes.

Let’s talk about the advantages:

• Automatically matches the current regional speed limit, avoiding speeding, but it would be better if it could exceed the limit by 10%.
• When a vehicle changes lanes and cuts in front, it automatically judges the speed of the front vehicle and does not brake recklessly.
• Automatically switches to gear 1 when following a car, minimizing the possible cutting in. This aspect is better than Tesla.
• If the driver needs to take over, the vehicle will remind the driver through a pop-up window on the screen, steering wheel vibration, and seatbelt tightening.
• When the driver forcibly turns the steering wheel to another direction, the vehicle will pause for a while, but will continue once the car is back on the straight road.
• Automatic lane switching and overtaking only requires turning on the turn signal light.

I have used the parking memory function, it’s so convenient! It is extremely user-friendly for friends with fixed parking spaces. Once you learn it once, it will remember the route, and it can help handle flooded roads on the next encounter.

XPeng’s visual fusion parking provides better security, but there is still some fear during the reversing process. Due to the many cases of Tesla scratching incidents, there is a small concern.

Conclusion

This car can be said to be the representative of China’s most intelligent new energy vehicles. The more time you spend with XPeng, the more you will feel that it has become your competent assistant. Enjoy the convenience and comfort it brings us. The only weakness is that it doesn’t have a trunk open button, so you have to unlock it with the key every time, and the key is somewhat complicated, cannot be blindly operated. The opening and closing of the front trunk is also not very convenient. As for the cramped space, I think it is okay as long as the back seat passengers are not very tall. As for the future, will I recommend this car to friends around me? The answer is: yes!

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.