Xpeng coming to the UK

[CharlieAlphaMike]

I went to see the Xpeng recently. They're on the way to the UK within the next couple of years I think. The P7 I viewed had scissor lift style doors which looked a bit 'naff' IMO but I think you can have 'normal' doors. The P7 car itself was interesting, with a lot of very clever tech stuff. The P5 didn't excite me quite so much but still impressed with its technology.

I'm not sure what the price point will be in the UK but I'm led to believe the P5 will start at around £30K with the P7 starting at approx £40K.

The P7 I saw in the showroom was in a very bright Lime Green colour but I smiled when I saw the marketing blurb on the website which read: 'Bold styling requires bold colours. Show who you are' and then listed the colours as: White, Red, Grey, Silver and Black Hardly what I'd describe as 'bold' colours.

Anyway, I wonder if there is any interest in the Xpeng from fellow PH'ers?

Here's the website:

https://www.heyxpeng.com/se/p7?prentId=2

[C.A.R.]

How do you pronounce that?

Both models look a bit unremarkable really, styling cues clearly taken from Kia / Hyundai.

Why are so many manufacturers struggling to make the charge port doors 'blend in' with the styling? Instead we have massive great 'cat flap' sized doors slap in the middle of the front wing. Toyota are especially bad with their new bZ4X thing.

Logo also looks a bit "DS" like?

Some hefty pricing, as is familiar with EVs now, will need to be backed-up by decent build quality. People bemoan Tesla (quite rightly for earlier examples) but they've improved over time and are now acceptable. Tesla's justify their price by being easier to live with and boasting the charger network; how will other £40k+ new brands sell themselves?

If you weren't convinced by their gallery which includes pictures without the car even in it (just some ginger bird in a field?!)

[Portofino]

Xpengable?

[CharlieAlphaMike]

C.A.R. said:

How do you pronounce that?

Both models look a bit unremarkable really, styling cues clearly taken from Kia / Hyundai.

Why are so many manufacturers struggling to make the charge port doors 'blend in' with the styling? Instead we have massive great 'cat flap' sized doors slap in the middle of the front wing. Toyota are especially bad with their new bZ4X thing.

Logo also looks a bit "DS" like?

Some hefty pricing, as is familiar with EVs now, will need to be backed-up by decent build quality. People bemoan Tesla (quite rightly for earlier examples) but they've improved over time and are now acceptable. Tesla's justify their price by being easier to live with and boasting the charger network; how will other £40k+ new brands sell themselves?

If you weren't convinced by their gallery which includes pictures without the car even in it (just some ginger bird in a field?!)

X Peng I think is how it's pronounced. I agree, they look quite unremarkable but then so do most cars these days I think, Apparantly Porsche had a hand in the design, although I'm not sure which bit they helped with.

Tesla have it right on so many levels and their charge port cover is great by design but perhaps a little flimsy in use.

I had a really good look at both the P5 and P7 in the showroom and I must say, I was quite impressed by the fit and finish. The interior in particular seemed like a nice place to be. Like with all cars, time will tell whether the quality lives up to expectations.

[aestetix1]

Can't see any pricing on there.

[soupdragon1]

Bring it

[OutInTheShed]

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

[kambites]

OutInTheShed said:

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.

The problem is they're not that much cheaper than European EVs with similar feature sets anymore. Take the MG ZS for example - it's 175000 Yuan in China which is about £22k. In the UK it starts at £28k on the road which is surprisingly reasonable considering the taxes applied. However whilst it is cheaper than European equivalents, it's not much cheaper.

Obviously there are cheaper EVs in China than the ZS, but they generally tiny and wouldn't meet European type approval rules. I don't think we're going to see sub £25k family EVs imported from China, simply because there aren't many family EVs in China which are cheap enough there to be sold at that price point here without making a loss. We might see a few small oddities imported as "quadracycles" but they'll probably be more akin to an updated version of the G-Wizz than a "proper car".

Right now the best hope we have for a cheap usable EV is probably actually the Dacia Spring if it ever comes here.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 12th July 10:04

[CharlieAlphaMike]

aestetix1 said:

Can't see any pricing on there.

They haven't announced prices yet. It was the showroom staff who indicated the expected price points but they're still waiting for confirmation.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

OutInTheShed said:

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

My 'local' showroom is in Stockholm, Sweden. There's no UK website yet as far as I'm aware but Google Translate will help.

Failing that, find the Xpeng global website. The problem with that is, it will show some other models (SUV's) that won't be coming to the UK.

[georgeyboy12345]

Dat is (x)Peng yo

As the kids would say

Actually I like it. Looks smart.

[dudleybloke]

Looks xpengsive.

[OutInTheShed]

dudleybloke said:

Looks xpengsive.

Winner!

[DodgyGeezer]

Looks like a Tesla from the side (nice interior at a glance)

[Pelicula]

I'm getting a lot of Volvo from that...

[Gummi]

It’s pronounced shao-pung. Still very much a start up manufacturer. Quite a lot of interesting technology in the high end models but driven attributes and material quality isn’t great, as Chinese customers aren’t interested in that.

[Register1]

OutInTheShed said:

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

I think as soon as the Chinese start to import some of their class leading cars, BYD, Xpeng, Nio, SAIC et al, then the whole UK EV market is going to be shaken up.
There are some awesome EV's in China recently.

Plenty more here.
https://www.licarco.com/news/best-chinese-ev-manuf...

Edited by Register1 on Friday 15th July 16:47

[georgeyboy12345]

Register1 said:

OutInTheShed said:

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

I think as soon as the Chinese start to import some of their class leading cars, BYD, Xpeng, Nio, SAIC et al, then the whole UK EV market is going to be shaken up.
There are some awesome EV's in China recently.

Plenty more here.
https://www.licarco.com/news/best-chinese-ev-manuf...

Edited by Register1 on Friday 15th July 16:47

Nice link. While many are quite bland/generic looking and some are plain ugly, I quite like a few of them. These three are particularly handsome

BYD Han
https://www.licarco.com/byd-han-ev

Nio ET5
https://www.licarco.com/nio-et5

Changan Deep Blue C385 - getting some Saab 9000 vibes from the rear of this!
https://www.licarco.com/changang-deep-blue-c385


I don't think they need to rebrand with long dead English marques that most people have forgotton about, or anything like that. If they can get the economies of scale to undercut the price of traditional European brands, I think they will be immensley popular. Sure, a few idiots might laugh if I tell them I drive a Changan, but their smirks will quickly be wiped off their faces once they see it. I do wonder what potential regulatory barriers there are to enter a market like Europe though - does anyone know?

[Register1]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Register1 said:

OutInTheShed said:

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

I think as soon as the Chinese start to import some of their class leading cars, BYD, Xpeng, Nio, SAIC et al, then the whole UK EV market is going to be shaken up.
There are some awesome EV's in China recently.

Plenty more here.
https://www.licarco.com/news/best-chinese-ev-manuf...

Edited by Register1 on Friday 15th July 16:47

Nice link. While many are quite bland/generic looking and some are plain ugly, I quite like a few of them. These three are particularly handsome

BYD Han
https://www.licarco.com/byd-han-ev

Nio ET5
https://www.licarco.com/nio-et5

Changan Deep Blue C385 - getting some Saab 9000 vibes from the rear of this!
https://www.licarco.com/changang-deep-blue-c385


I don't think they need to rebrand with long dead English marques that most people have forgotton about, or anything like that. If they can get the economies of scale to undercut the price of traditional European brands, I think they will be immensley popular. Sure, a few idiots might laugh if I tell them I drive a Changan, but their smirks will quickly be wiped off their faces once they see it. I do wonder what potential regulatory barriers there are to enter a market like Europe though - does anyone know?

Some very tasty cars.

This my pick.
https://www.licarco.com/changang-deep-blue-c385

[DodgyGeezer]

Register1 said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Register1 said:

OutInTheShed said:

Will the car lapse into some scandiwegan language halfway through the journey, like the website does?

I think they should buy one of the old English Marque names like Riley or Hillman and market it better.

TBH, I think the real deal is when the chinese start importing some of their affordable BEVs rather than a. n. other expensive EV.
I guess there are UK/EU barriers to that like collision avoidance tech?

I think as soon as the Chinese start to import some of their class leading cars, BYD, Xpeng, Nio, SAIC et al, then the whole UK EV market is going to be shaken up.
There are some awesome EV's in China recently.

Plenty more here.
https://www.licarco.com/news/best-chinese-ev-manuf...

Edited by Register1 on Friday 15th July 16:47

Nice link. While many are quite bland/generic looking and some are plain ugly, I quite like a few of them. These three are particularly handsome

BYD Han
https://www.licarco.com/byd-han-ev

Nio ET5
https://www.licarco.com/nio-et5

Changan Deep Blue C385 - getting some Saab 9000 vibes from the rear of this!
https://www.licarco.com/changang-deep-blue-c385


I don't think they need to rebrand with long dead English marques that most people have forgotton about, or anything like that. If they can get the economies of scale to undercut the price of traditional European brands, I think they will be immensley popular. Sure, a few idiots might laugh if I tell them I drive a Changan, but their smirks will quickly be wiped off their faces once they see it. I do wonder what potential regulatory barriers there are to enter a market like Europe though - does anyone know?

Some very tasty cars.

This my pick.
https://www.licarco.com/changang-deep-blue-c385

They're certainly not ugly - however they are very 'samey' (bit like hot, blonde, California surf bods - you end up wanting brown or red hair)