X-EEA 3.0 architecture, 480 kW supercharging, going global - Interview with Xia Heng of Xiaopeng Motors

The Most Anticipated Car of 2021 – XPeng G9 Finally Debuts at Guangzhou Auto Show

In this era of intelligent cars, it seems that everyone is imitating Tesla and XPeng. Therefore, we hope that XPeng can bring some fresh blood. On November 19th, after the official debut of XPeng G9, we participated in a group interview with XPeng’s co-founder and CEO, Xia Heng. The interview included many questions about G9 as well as the technology and intelligence direction of XPeng.

XPeng G9

About G9

Q: Will the X-EEA 3.0 technology of G9 be applied to other models in the future?

A: I believe many of our new technologies will be applied to some of our future models, but the overall rollout pace will depend on our actual situation.

Q: G9 is actually one of David and Edward’s platforms, and I remember you mentioned that there will be a new platform when the company goes public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Can you introduce it?

A: When considering the platform, we not only consider the hardware platform but also the intelligent platform. In the whole vehicle platform, we need to consider some new manufacturing factors, not just our existing product factors. We hope to be more like a technology company, designing each product according to hot-selling models.

Q: As a new flagship model, will the price of G9 be more expensive than the Pengyi version? What do you think of the issue of the “price ceiling” for Chinese brands or every brand?

A: The price increase of XPeng Motors is not for the purpose of raising the price, but to enable products to enter higher-end markets under the premise of such good quality. At the same time, we must consider the popularization of technology. It is not the right time to decide the specific pricing yet.

Q: What do you think of the market for the new car G9?

A: I think every consumer will have their own choice, but we hope that XPeng’s products can give customers a very cool feeling. Therefore, we will continue to innovate in terms of functions, especially in intelligence, and bring surprises to customers in terms of styling design and driving performance. Everyone will see it next year at the appropriate time.

Q: Will G9 have more actions in overseas markets in the future? It has been more than a year since we tried the overseas market, what is the current and future situation?

A: G9 is our first model that fully considers globalization from the design stage. From regulatory certification, environmental protection to functional design, we have considered the needs of overseas users, which is what we have learned from trying the overseas market for more than a year.

About Energy Supplement夏珩:我们始终认为新能源汽车行业是有非常大的发展潜力的,但市场需要时间去培育,需要整个产业链的协同推进。今年国家对于新能源汽车行业的支持政策更加积极,从补贴政策到推广政策,都给整个市场带来了很大的振奋。另外,消费者对于新能源汽车的接受度也在逐渐提高,这也是非常重要的。我们对于市场的前景非常看好。Xia Heng: Initially, tech-savvy users out of curiosity will be the first to try out these emerging products. As the competitiveness of the product gradually increases, more and more traditional users will try these emerging products. In the long run, I think the next 5 to 10 years will be a period of explosive growth for electric cars. The next issue to be addressed is cross-city travel. If this problem can be solved well, the advantage of fuel cars may become less significant.

Q: The next two to three years will be a period of explosive growth for the new energy used car market. However, if I bought a used car three years ago and want to change it, the used car platform might not accept it. How do you view this contradictory phenomenon?

Xia Heng: I think the first thing for used cars is to improve the brand power of the product. The resale value of XPeng P7 and G3 used cars is still good in the market. The second thing is to provide an official used car service to eliminate consumers’ concerns.

Q: Does XPeng used-car platform have any plans for recycling batteries? The industry has not yet found good recycling solutions.

Xia Heng: We have been thinking about these issues regarding recycling and reuse. However, at this point in time, we do not have very good comprehensive answers. But we have been exploring some solutions, including carbon neutrality-related technologies and plans.

Source: XPeng Official

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.