Not for the first time, a new car brand has arrived on the Irish market as a potentially good Scrabble score. The previous champ was Hyundai, whose use of the letter Y would ensure you a haul of points, even without landing on a triple-word-score square.
However, newly arrived Chinese brand Xpeng may just have beaten it. It may be a shorter word, but that X pays serious Scrabble dividends.
Unlike its Chinese rival BYD, which has been in business for several decades now, and which began as a battery maker before it ever started making cars, Xpeng is a far more recent company. It was established in the Chinese city of Guangzhou as recently as 2014, and only put its first car on sale in 2018.
The Xpeng (it’s actually pronounced shao-peng, but no-one’s going to yell at you for pronouncing the X) G6 electric SUV, which has just gone on sale in Ireland, doesn’t look or feel – at least initially – like the product of a company which has only been making cars for seven years. It feels instantly, immediately competitive, in fact – a sign of China’s incredible industrial might and battery technology dominance.
The G6 is a smart-looking car which nonetheless doesn’t manage to be very memorable in its styling. It’s a default egg-shaped windcheating SUV. Originally it seemed as if Xpeng had taken significant inspiration from the big-selling Tesla Model Y for the style of the G6, but with Tesla having just released its latest, updated and restyled Model Y, it now looks as if the inspiration is flowing the other way – the Tesla now looks like a clone of the G6.
[ Chinese electric car brand Xpeng to enter Irish market next yearOpens in new window ]
There are two versions of the G6 available, There’s a standard rear-wheel drive model, with 258hp and a 66kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery – good for repeated charging and robust in its chemical make-up) which has a WLTP range of 435km and a price tag of €42,000.
Or, for €49,440 you can have the long-range version, which gets an 87.5kWh lithium-ion battery (not as robust as the LFP one, but it’s more energy-dense) which manages a claimed 570km on a full charge and has the same 258hp motor. Those prices are competitive, but not undercutting most of the big European and Japanese rivals by much – the expectation is the Xpeng will be a premium brand, not a cheap brand. To back that up, there’s also a 476hp performance model, with two motors and four-wheel drive.
The G6 is crawling with digital assistance, not just in terms of driving but also in more ephemeral areas, such as a one-touch on-screen button that sets up the cabin for ‘mindfulness’ or another that converts the seats into a lie-flat double-bed
Sit into the G6 and it has a pleasantly airy cabin, especially with the white colour scheme for its dashboard and synthetic-leather seats. It’s a shame that such synthetic leather almost always feels like recycled rubber bouncy balls, but the cabin is roomy and the G6 is comfortable, aside from a notably offset driving position.
Inevitably, the big 15-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash controls everything, and the dearth of proper buttons will be annoying at times, but it’s a fairly easy screen to find your way around, and it includes such online services as Spotify and TuneIn Radio. Significantly, and unlike its American rival, the Xpeng G6 gets a clear, simple, 10-inch driver’s instrument display, which takes a lot of the strain and complication off the big central screen.
There are also familiar column stalks – taken straight from the Mercedes parts bin, or at least the same supplier, as far as we can tell – and with roomy back seats and a decent 571-litre boot, the G6 feels less like a new arrival and more like a thoroughly mature product. EV doubters may be mollified, to an extent, by the fact that our test car was showing 500km available on an 80 per cent charge, and that it recorded 20kWh/100km on a brief test drive.
Better still, with 800-volt charging technology, you can add as much as 230km of extra range in as little as 10 minutes of charging, assuming you can find a DC charger pumping out enough current to meet the G6’s ultimate 280kW charging speed.
To drive? Well ... In fairness, this was a brief test drive but on this assessment no-one is going to be sneaking out on a Sunday morning to take their G6 for a spin. It’s smooth (aside from an over-firm low-speed ride quality), brisk without being notably fast, very refined, very comfortable, and easy to drive with light steering and good forward (if poor rearward) visibility.
Xpeng prides itself on being a very tech-forward company, so the G6 is crawling with digital assistance, not just in terms of driving – the usual battery of sensors, cameras, and driving aids are present and correct – but also in more ephemeral areas, such as a one-touch on-screen button that sets up the cabin for “mindfulness” or another that converts the seats into a lie-flat double-bed. Car-camping, anyone?
Of probably more importance for most consumers is a substantial list of standard equipment, including a panoramic glass roof, heated and chilled seats, heated steering wheel, ambient lighting and Xpeng’s own “XOpera” sound system which seemed suitably symphonic.
[ China’s EV sales set to overtake traditional cars years ahead of westOpens in new window ]
Xpeng is being imported into Ireland by Motor Distributors Limited (MDL), which also holds the franchises for Mercedes-Benz, Smart and BYD. “In appointing dealers who will represent Xpeng, we will be recruiting outside our current network,” MDL’s Ciaran Allen told The Irish Times. “Our objective will be to maintain a competitive balance between all of the brands we represent and, insofar as conditions within the market permit, to create its own independent presence for Xpeng within the retail environment.”
When it comes to the EU’s recently introduced tariffs on Chinese-built electric cars, it looks as if Xpeng will follow what others have done and, in the short term at any rate, absorb those extra charges without passing them on to the consumer. “To-date, manufacturers whose products MDL represents have taken a pragmatic view and absorbed the impact of those the EU has applied,” said Allen.
Could a glut of affordable EVs tempt Irish motorists to make the switch?
As for the state of the electric car market in Ireland, following the disastrous 24 per cent fall in sales in 2024, Allen said: “Markets have always ebbed and flowed and will continue to do so in future. EV sales in Ireland will rise with the tide as EV ownership becomes more prevalent; as the number of brands and EV dealerships increases; as motorists become even more aware of the benefits that EV motoring brings, not least in terms of cost savings; as EV technology advances; and as our infrastructure expands.”
Allen also pointed out that, even with the drop-off in sales last year, Irish buyers responded positively to MDL’s other Chinese brand, BYD, and its high-tech cars with relatively affordable prices.
“As BYD’s sales volumes to date show, Irish motorists are responding enthusiastically to the cost savings that electric motoring brings, and to the ‘more for less’ value that Chinese-built vehicles deliver,” he said.
“Now, with the arrival of Xpeng on to the market here, and the launch of its ‘hi-spec’ G6 SUV, the added competition that this new market entrant brings will drive growth and increase customer interest even further.”
[ China’s electric-vehicle leader BYD posts record sales in 2024Opens in new window ]
Allen also said MDL expects a “significant expansion in dealer numbers” to cope with demand for both BYD and Xpeng, and he dropped hints of major new BYD models to come – including a hybrid-engined Seal coupe, and even a Seal estate. Later this year BYD will launch an affordable compact EV crossover called the Atto 2, and an SUV version of the electric Seal, called the Sealion 7.
Back with Xpeng, how will it score with Irish buyers? Given the G6’s immediately obvious all-round competence, and the fact that rival BYD has already proven popular here, expect it to do well.
Further models – including a G9 mid-size SUV and a sleek four-door saloon called the X7+ – will follow in the coming months, and Xpeng even has plans – serious plans – for a combined six-wheeled truck with a built-in autonomous drone-like personal helicopter. That vehicle, called the Land Aircraft Carrier, is deep into development in China already, and the helicopter bit has already passed its Chinese airworthiness tests.
Could such a thing ever go on sale in Ireland? “Suffice it to say, the question is one that underlines Xpeng’s vision, their capacity for ‘outside-the-box thinking, and their penchant for invention in matters relating to individual transportation,” said Allen.
