As a P7 owner, I test drove the P7i at the Pengpai Exploration event last Saturday, but due to the short amount of time, I didn’t have the chance to inspect it in detail. Fortunately, a salesperson I know told me that the P7i display car would arrive at the store that evening, so I went to check it out right after work.
Firstly, let me talk about the seats. The seats have become softer, and the driver’s seat has noticeably better ergonomic support, so sitting in it for a long time won’t cause any back pain. Additionally, the lumbar support is also improved. Especially for the back seats, the cushions are longer, and the recline angle is greater, making it much more comfortable than the old P7. As someone who spent over five hours in the back seat during the National Day holiday, I can say that now there is no problem sitting in the backseat for a long trip – it’s very comfortable, and I’m happy to sit there.
Secondly, the steering wheel has been changed to a G9-style, which improves the grip feeling, and the adjustment speed and distance are more convenient. The T-shaped armrest box is also the same as the G9 design, which I prefer because it makes holding a phone more convenient – no matter how I place my phone on my old P7, it was never easy to use.
The decorative strip below the screen has also been changed to a matte finish, which is no longer sticky and fingerprint-prone – this deserves high praise!
The new P7i added an electric tailgate, which reportedly can be opened by a foot-kick. I don’t even have such an electric tailgate yet – I currently rely on one-arm strength.
The G9-style full-scene voice 2.0 has been installed in the entire P7i, eliminating the need for a wake-up word and supporting multiple person wake-up. I believe that after seeing the video of G9’s full-scene voice 2.0, everyone can feel how strong Pengpai’s voice technology is now.Then the new version finally automatically opens the air conditioning interface and deletes the air conditioning logic. Of course, the upcoming version 2.10.0 of the old P7 will also solve this problem.
The seat ventilation has been greatly improved. Before getting off the car, I specially turned on the seat ventilation of the old P7. With the same thick pants, the old P7 hardly had any ventilation, but the P7i can clearly feel the difference. When wearing thin pants in summer, it will be even more obvious. Moreover, the rear seats including the middle seat now have seat heaters.
The Denon audio system is also greatly improved compared to the old version.
In addition, the problem of dim headlights in the old version has been solved, and rear privacy glass has been added.
The new version also adds electric suction doors, which is a good configuration. When my friends sit in my car, they often close the car door with too little force, and then the door cannot be closed properly. Electric suction doors can solve this problem very well.
The static experience is still very good. When test driving is available, I will go for another test drive. Our conclusion after the last test drive was unanimous praise, and we would also like to see how it performs on urban roads.
Next is the price. If XPeng can offer a suitable price this time, I think the P7i is still very competitive. In fact, except for the appearance, almost everything has been changed.
Most of the pain points on the P7 have been solved, so my evaluation is that the P7i is the full evolution of the Westworld Bandit. I hope everyone has time to try it out!
As an old P7 owner, I think it is a good thing that the P7i has made such progress and changes. Of course, the new version is based on the old version. I hope the P7i can set a good price and sell well! Let more and more P7s hit the streets and let everyone know that our domestic electric vehicles can compete with and even surpass Tesla in terms of hard power!
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.