Author: Jingtao Wu
“The best SUV under 500,000 RMB!”
With the recent launch of the Ideal L9 and NIO ES7, the attention on the large SUV products from new energy vehicle brands has continued to rise. As one of the three new energy vehicle brands with the least disclosed information, XPeng G9 (“Little Blue Bird”) naturally attracts more curiosity and expectations from everyone.
Perhaps seeing everyone’s expectations, He XPeng, the CEO of XPeng Motors who is always happy to share the current situation of the new car industry and his own products, posted a Weibo yesterday to introduce everyone to the progress of the company’s large SUV, G9, and the latest features of the product.
First is the progress that everyone cares about the most. He XPeng said: “G9 is currently moving forward according to the original plan, starting pre-orders in August, and officially launching in September. User delivery will start soon after launch.”
At the same time, he also said: “We have great confidence in this flagship product, which will be the ‘best SUV under 500,000 RMB‘. For us, this means we have achieved what others have not done and will also do it better than others.”
Many netizens are enthusiastic about the discussion of this “best SUV under 500,000 RMB” statement, because previously, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Motors, said: the Ideal L9 is the best family flagship SUV under 5 million RMB.
NIO CEO Li Bin also said: “Whether it’s an oil car or an electric car, for the price range of 400,000 to 500,000 RMB, the ES7 is the ceiling for large SUVs.”
With He XPeng’s description of G9, when discussing the leading figures of the three new energy vehicle brands, this topic becomes extremely interesting. I believe that in these descriptions, we can not only see their confidence in their own car models but also feel the corporate culture and style of promotion of these three new energy vehicle brands.
At the same time, He XPeng revealed some new information about the specific product details of XPeng G9. First of all, in terms of driving experience, the chassis of XPeng G9 is adjusted by a German team, making its driving experience comparable to the Porsche Cayenne, and the zero-to-100km/h sprint time is at the 3-second level. The NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) of the entire vehicle is also comparable to the GLS Maybach.At the chassis hardware level, the G9 is equipped with an intelligent dual-chamber air suspension from “top suppliers” with dual-chamber air springs. By using the perception hardware and high-precision maps, the G9 can predict road conditions in advance and adjust the suspension actively.
In terms of battery life and replenishment, the XPeng G9 has a range of over 700 kilometers, and also features an 800V high-voltage ultra-fast charging platform. XPeng Motors will also gradually deploy an 800V/480kW ultra-fast charging network throughout the year, achieving a replenishment efficiency of 200 kilometers of range in just 5 minutes. As He XPeng said, “To give an inaccurate example, the charging efficiency has transitioned from the 2G era to the 5G era.”
Finally, as XPeng Motors’ strength, the XPILOT intelligent driving assistance system is available on the G9. As He XPeng said, the XPILOT system is a fully self-developed intelligent driving assistance system, and represents the highest level among mass-produced cars. The hardware will feature two lidar sensors, as well as dual Orin chips for computing power.
According to He XPeng, “It will be a higher-level intelligent driving assistance system, achieving the safest and most user-friendly intelligent driving assistance from start to finish, in all scenarios, and being truly integrated with hardware, software, data, and operations.”
As the latest mid-to-large-sized SUV model to hit the market among the three “Xiaoli” companies, the XPeng G9 faces both opportunities and challenges. The challenge is that compared to ES7 and Ideal L9, the G9’s launch time is significantly later, making it a significant challenge from the perspective of seizing market share. The opportunity lies in the fact that the later launch time allows the XPeng G9 to more clearly see the full picture of its competition. Now it remains to be seen whether the XPeng G9 can seize and make the most of this self-initiated “latecomer advantage”.
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.