As a first batch owner of XPeng P7, I’d like to share some feelings over the past two years.

Hello everyone, I’m Peng Youbo from Guangzhou. Today, I came to visit the XPeng Motors headquarters in Cencun, Tianhe District of Guangzhou, and handed over my P7 because I’ll be replacing it with a XPeng G9 tomorrow. I would like to share some of my thoughts and feelings from the past two years with you all.

Preface

Many of my friends say that I’m a loyal fan of XPeng. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I am, but after a deep understanding of many new energy brands, I still find XPeng to be the most suitable for me. Perhaps there’s no best car, only the most suitable one for oneself. Indeed, XPeng is very suitable for me right now.
Since I received my XPeng P7 in July 2020, I have participated in more than 50 user research activities, averaging twice a month. This is how car companies strategize and conduct research through professional third-party organizations to investigate user groups that fit various characteristics, or to conduct research activities after car design prototypes have been made. Through this process, I have come to know many users of different car brands, learned about their values and real-life driving needs, and also gained insight into the future development trends and directions of the automotive industry. I can say that I am more knowledgeable about Chinese new energy vehicle users, and am an observer in this industry.3. Over the past two years, I have test driven or accompanied friends to test drive many cars, including Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model 3, Model Y, XPeng G3I, P5, P7, G9, NIO ET, ET7, EC6, ES6, ES8, Li Xiang ONE, L9, Mercedes-Benz EQA, EQB, EQC, BMW I3, IX3, Zeekr 001, BYD Han, Tang, Dolphin, Sea Lion, Wanjie M5, M5 EV, M7, Avita 11, Changan Shenzhen Blue SL03, Geometry E, A, GAC AION V, Y, Smart ELF #1, FEIFAN MARVEL R, and DENZA X. I can say that I am the person among my friends who has test driven the most new energy vehicles (excluding my automotive media friends).
The viewpoints expressed below are not intended to gain agreement, but rather to express my true feelings. Everyone’s viewpoints are not right or wrong. If you disagree, it is very normal. The world is diverse. Listen carefully, express rationally, and be different together.

Why Choose Pure Electric Cars1. On May 16, 2019, the US Department of Commerce listed Huawei and 20 affiliated companies in the “Entity List” for export control, citing “cybersecurity and technology.” This has led to a shortage of chips in 2020. At that time, I believed that as the country became stronger, there would be inevitable games and even conflicts with the United States in various aspects in the future. And our country aims to establish the internationalization of the RMB, which will inevitably impact the existing dollar system, as oil is also linked to the dollar. Oil resources will only become scarcer, and oil prices will definitely rise sharply in the future, and this price is not controllable by our country. Getting rid of our dependence on oil as much as possible and avoiding possible “neck tying” has also become the current key strategy of the country. Therefore, the country also strongly supports the development of the new energy vehicle industry. Moreover, the domestic traditional automobile industry has always been suppressed by the technology and market occupation of Europe, the United States and Japan. Perhaps the new energy track is a track that can help our country achieve “overtaking on curves”.

In 2020, I was driving a traditional luxury car brand. After years of use, my experience was that a car that costs over 300,000 yuan was not good in handling and power. It may only have a more luxurious interior and brand premium, which is nothing more than selling a label. And I feel that my characteristics do not fit in with the general user group of this brand, so I want to consider a new energy brand.

Why choose XPeng

My childhood friend, Haoge, is the first generation owner of XPeng G3. He uses XPeng G3 with a range of 365 kilometers. As long as he plans the trip well, he has no problems driving from Guangzhou to Qingdao, or to and from Sichuan. I realized that as long as I change my traditional oil car thinking and driving habits, such long-distance travel is also realistic. This greatly increased my interest in electric vehicles.2. I believe that when choosing a new energy vehicle, its power supplement system and after-sales service are very important. Currently, there are six electric car brands that have established their own power supplement system brands: Tesla, Nio, XPeng, Zeekr, RisingAuto, and Porsche.
Finally, I had to choose between Tesla Model 3 and XPeng P7. As I work in the internet industry, I particularly focus on the in-car system. When I entered the showrooms of both brands, I said the same thing to the salespeople: regardless of brand, model, price, or color, I would be fine with any of them as long as the in-car system was good. After detailed research, I found out that He XPeng founded UC and later came out of the Alibaba system. He is an engineer who understands the internet. The XPeng in-car system is as easy to use as a tablet, and can also install apps. It is designed specifically for Chinese users. Most importantly, the voice interaction experience is particularly great. All functions on the screen can be controlled by voice commands, and users don’t have to touch the screen, which can distract them while driving and pose a safety hazard. The driving experience of the MODEL 3 is more extreme, but the localization design of the in-car system is not admirable. The voice interaction function is sluggish and requires accurate pronunciation to issue commands. Even when I went to test drive MODEL Y a year later, the voice interaction still hadn’t improved.
“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best”. To be a little cynical, both Tesla and XPeng were fledgling car companies a few years ago, and I expected that there would definitely be various problems with their products and services. What if there were brake or battery problems? Should I go to California in the US or Tianhe in Guangzhou for “friendly communication”? The answer is self-evident. After comprehensive consideration, I finally chose the XPeng P7. Of course, after more than two years of use, the experience has been very good.

About the Brand

Some people think that the name “XPeng” sounds outdated. It’s normal for everyone to have their own opinions, and I understand that. However, I think it’s not easy for a man who has already achieved financial freedom to use his own name to establish a new brand, enter a new field, and do difficult and correct things. If the startup fails, this shame will be carried on his name for a lifetime. He has more responsibilities and cannot afford to fail. Here, I see XPeng’s sense of responsibility and commitment.
After the XPeng G9 launch event, the company was able to immediately change SKU and pricing, then re-release the product. This event is unprecedented in the industry, and I admire their execution. Subsequently, the leadership team significantly increased their holdings of the company’s stocks, stabilizing the morale and showing the brand’s attractiveness.
XPeng has always insisted that intelligence is the primary productive force. They have already announced the roadmap of their CNGP and XNGP intelligent assisted driving system, as well as the OTA timeline, which is truly more practical and reliable than other brands. Some people say that intelligence seemingly has little impact on driving. However, this “value inflection point” will soon appear, and users will increasingly demand and accept intelligent electric cars. When it appears, the requirements for intelligent assisted driving systems of all major brands will even be higher. Don’t listen to some salesmen who say, “L2-level automatic assisted driving is similar for every brand.” In a previous evaluation of new travel, “What is Good LCC? | 8 Models of LCC Assistance Driving Evaluation”, XPeng’s P5, with only 30 computing power, almost won by a crushing way. You can see what the other 7 models are (if you don’t care about intelligence, you can ignore this part).
Now, after internal adjustments, XPeng has shown a keen interest in listening to user feedback and making work plans based on their suggestions. Regardless of the results, this is indeed a positive move. How many other brands allow users to participate in the design process of brand building and brand operation?
XPeng will launch a modified P7 with laser radar in the first quarter of next year. I cautiously foresee that it will continue to sell well, after all, the appearance is indeed beautiful, the handling is also good, in addition to a mid-size SUV and a new model.

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About me

I am truly grateful that my P7 has been my shelter from the wind and rain for over two years, escorting me through the pandemic and taking me to farther and more places, becoming a great partner in my life and work. I have also made many hardworking classmates in Guangzhou and Peng friends all over the country, which is worth far more than the price of this car. P7 is definitely a good car.

* Here are some famous dialogues from movies and TV shows:
‘Be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.’ – from the movie “Cold War”
‘True love is worth the wait.’ – from the TV series “Westworld”