What is your car budget?
30-40 thousand dollars.
How much did you spend to buy it?
41.99 thousand dollars, with 15 thousand dollars in points as a gift for same-brand replacement and blind pre-order.
How long did you wait for the delivery of your car?
“ Within one quarter “
The waiting time was not particularly long, but the delivery experience was not good.
Is this your first car?
“ No “
The previous car models, usage time, and mileage were: Mitsubishi Yishen (6 years, 70,000 kilometers), Mazda Atez (1 year and 7 months, 21,000 kilometers), Cadillac ATSL (3 years, 42,000 kilometers), Lynk & Co 02 (currently using for 2 years, 13,000 kilometers), and XPeng P7 (1 year and 3 months, 30,000 kilometers).
Is this your first time buying a new energy vehicle?
“ No “
I have purchased a P7 480E before.
Do you have a home charging pile?
“ No “
I don’t have a fixed parking space.
Why do you want to change your car?
The original demand for buying another new energy vehicle was that the brand new electric vehicle experience brought by P7 gave me a clearer positioning of what kind of electric vehicle I needed. The most prominent feeling that P7 gave me was that the car evolved from a means of transportation to a tool for life, with rich intelligent and entertainment functions. Whether driving, waiting, or resting at noon, I have had a better experience. The low cost of electric cars also makes it easier to meet my travel needs, and I often take weekend trips to the surrounding areas, which enriches my life. The second is the charm of assisted driving. In the 1 year and 3 months when P7 was in use, it became the car with the highest mileage in my unit time, because there were 12,000 kilometers of assisted driving, and this was only ACC+LCC (yes, I did not buy NGP), but this level of assisted driving has allowed me to extend my single driving distance from the previous 400 kilometers to 800 kilometers, and even in July 2021, I completed a 4,000-kilometer self-driving tour across 5 provinces alone with my wife and child. Thirdly, I am beginning to look forward to future technological progress, which is naturally due to the OTA updates. During my use of P7, there were two OTA updates that impressed me, which directly changed the user experience of related functions. In the past, whatever functions you had when you bought a car were already fixed. As time went by, the functions you got would not only not increase, but would gradually be lost due to hardware damage.The core driving force for purchasing a new energy SUV is due to the P7’s lack of space and comfort during frequent long-distance drives, as well as the absence of NGP and more advanced driving assistance features. Based on these two points, the plan to change cars began.
What cars did you consider before buying it?
Although there seem to be many alternative choices of vehicles, they are actually limited by my own criteria, especially considering that there are few options for pure electric SUVs. Therefore, the search is expanded to include extended-range or plug-in hybrids, but options are still limited. First of all, due to the requirement for driving assistance and intelligence, BYD is the first to be excluded, and their design style is also unacceptable to me. Secondly, I paid attention to and test drove the Lynk & Co 09 from the PHEV to EMP versions, because of its solid workmanship, relatively modern design, and good after-sales service. However, later I discovered that the EMP version still used MobileEye’s driving assistance, so I had to give up on it.
Finally, the realistically included options were just XPeng, Ideal, NIO, and Avatar. Ideal L8&L7: Several friends around me have the Ideal ONE, and its reputation is still good. The appearance of Ideal L9 is intimidating at first glance, with a tall and mighty stature, and the interior also feels very classy. However, it is too large and has 6 seats, and when I visited the store during the National Day holiday to see the L8, it was crowded with people. At that time, my idea was to test drive the L8 and imagine the L7. The test drive process was well-serviced, the procedures were very standardized, and the route design was also reasonable. The entire experience was the best, even better than NIO. The reasons for giving up mainly include: 1) the exterior design details are few and my wife is indifferent to it; 2) the materials used in the interior, including the chassis, are not worth the price. Initially, it looks good, but upon closer inspection, it is relatively rough; 3) there is no sense of driving and the driver is basically a tool. As someone who always buys sports cars, I can’t accept it. 4) Combining my own car use situation and the past year’s car use history, I realized that an extended-range of only 150 kilometers is not convenient for me because I do not have a home charger. Therefore, here in Ideal, consideration for non-pure electric vehicles is cut off as well.
NIO ES6&ES7: I have had a connection with NIO for a long time. Before the launch of the ES8, I had the opportunity to participate in the Zhuhai test drive event for the EP9. In April 2020, I almost bought the ES6, but gave up because the timing was not right. This time, it was naturally included as a key consideration. The reason for giving up the ES6 is that compared to the newly released ES7 and ET7, the ES6 model is too old, and the configuration and value for money are relatively poor, and the driving assistance is also unreliable. The reason for giving up the ES7 is that the price is too high, well above the budget, and NIO’s electricity consumption management has always been unsatisfactory. On the contrary, my wife was fond of the ET5, which feels very aesthetically and tactilely pleasing, with a good sense of control, apart from the lack of headroom in the rear. It is really a very good car, and with NIO’s unbeatable service, if it were not for my firm idea of switching to an SUV, I would probably have bought the ET5.## Avita11:
I joined the heart-moving gold and the sales staff frequently cared about me, reminded me to participate in lucky draws, and I found the appearance and interior design quite stylish. The reason for giving up was that when it was released, as a new brand-new car, the benefits were not reliable. After G9 took the lead, Avita11 also followed up and added benefits. I even went to Shenzhen to check out the car, and found that the trunk was particularly small. Strictly speaking, this is not a traditional SUV, but the design is very beautiful and of high quality, but there are also many over-designed and completely unclear designs, which also reflect the immaturity in model design. In addition, there is no localized service at all, and I do not even know when it will open a store in Zhongshan (the first sales store opened at the end of 2022), so I have no desire to test drive it, after all, it costs around 340,000 yuan.
How many points would you give it for appearance? Show some pictures of the car you love!
“ It’s very beautiful! “
Are you satisfied with its space?
“ It’s more than enough! “
How do you think its power is?
“ The power is excellent! “
How many points would you give its auxiliary driving system?
“ It is used very frequently! “
How is its energy consumption and endurance performance?
“ It is extremely energy-saving! “
Are you satisfied with its car machine?
“ It is outstanding! “### What’s your daily charging frequency like?
Once a week.
Share three places you hope it can improve:
- Delivery experience is particularly poor, with a lot of room for improvement in service.
- The clarity and stitching level of the 360-degree imaging are subpar and clearly not up to par.
- The seat movement is a brain-dead design. Trying to listen to music, my butt got numb, so I turned it off directly. It’s still somewhat useful for watching movies, but since this hardware has been installed. I hope future products can think of some more useful scenarios, such as combining with autonomous driving to form vibration prompts and the like.
Share three things you are most satisfied with it:
-
Energy consumption performance.
800V YYDS! The G9’s energy consumption performance is absolutely first in its class!
On the day of delivery, I traveled 100 kilometers, 90 kilometers on the highway and 10 kilometers in the city, with the air conditioning on, energy was recovered during braking, and there was no aggressive driving. Since I forgot to turn on NGP manual driving, I didn’t achieve the most ideal energy consumption performance. The whole way was driven at the speed limit, and the speed was nearly 120KM/H for the first 30 kilometers. The energy consumption was between 18-19 on average, and it leveled off at 16 later on when more cars came on. For the return journey within these two days, driving in the city for 80 kilometers with music, massage, and air conditioning, and often driving short distances (within 30 minutes) has an energy consumption of around 13-14. This is a four-wheel-drive performance beast that can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. Such energy consumption performance is simply amazing!
I will be driving long distances for about 5000 kilometers during the Spring Festival, crossing about 7 provinces with a temperature difference of 20 degrees and an altitude change of 1500 meters. I will report the detailed energy consumption performance later on. -
Driving experience.
Almost perfect! Adjustable suspension + geek mode YYDS! To paraphrase a well-known expert, “two-wheel drive is the pinnacle, and four-wheel drive is in the clouds”!
In terms of steering, although the G9 is an SUV, its sensitivity and front-end steering ability are even better than the P7. Of course, due to the size of the G9’s body, its following capability is slightly inadequate compared to the P7.
In terms of shock absorption, the G9 is all-around superior to the P7, especially in the larger ups and downs and turning process where the P7 performed poorly, the G9 performance is significantly better. At first, I used the standard mode, and I felt that the overall suspension experience was still relatively hard, although it was much better than the P7’s experience of passing through bumpy road, but the power response of comfort mode was not suitable. Through the geek mode, I set a mode with power standard, flexible ESP, 30:70 distribution, middle of energy recovery, low suspension, comfortable rigidity of suspension, and comfortable steering feel. The entire G9 became a miraculous state of power on-demand, easy driving, excellent ride comfort, and flexible body. It was especially great for my driving style, and my wife couldn’t stop praising it when riding in it.## III. Comfortable and Sensory Experience of Audio Massage
As a non-professional, I personally feel that the audio quality of G9 is much better than that of the P7’s Dynaudio, as some of my friends who I recommended to purchase P7 ended up choosing Dynaudio instead. The audio quality is also better than the 14-speaker Bose in my previous Mazda and the YFL in my Volvo XC40.
I recommend using the original sound and turning off the space sound effect while listening to music, as it provides a special experience for human voice. Turning on the space sound effect and selecting the cinema mode provides a great experience while watching a movie.
In terms of sound insulation, it is excellent below 110 and at a normal level around 120, which is slightly better than P7. During daily city driving, if music is not played, the outside noise feels very distant and gives a sense of isolation from the external environment, which may be uncomfortable for some people. Therefore, I prefer to play music most of the time.
The massage function of the seats is amazing. I almost turn it on as soon as I get into the car. The modes are diverse, the massage intensity is abundant, and the 10-point massage covers a wide area, which provides a great massage chair experience when combined with the meditation mode.
Share Your Driving Experience:
Although the process of owning a G9 was quite tortuous, I am still glad that I have it. I will continue to actively share more driving experiences and impressions. As a person who loves driving, this is a product with great power in its class, living up to what “Master Brother” said, “The best SUV under 500,000.” Of course, there are still some shortcomings, such as issues with the driving recorder and inadequate comfort in the rear seats. However, I believe those are minor flaws that cannot cover up the car’s advantages. I sincerely hope that XPeng Motors can truly solve these problems and gain more competitiveness in terms of product and technology. After all, the world needs some people to do “difficult and right things”!
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.