Say hello to…
…the Xpeng G6, a Tesla Model Y rival from a Chinese new entrant brand. Xpeng is a technology company that’s become a car manufacturer and so far it’s only car in the UK is the all-electric G6 which is offered with a choice of 65kWh or a 84kWh battery pack coupled to a 254hp or 281hp motor respectively. Both versions are rear-drive and have a WLTP range of 271 miles or 356 miles.
Keeping things simple, the G6 is offered in a single, very high, specification with standard equipment including clever cruise control, auto parking, 360-degree camera, auto high beam, 15-inch infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, powered tailgate, 20-inch alloys, 4x USB ports, wireless charging, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, powered front seats, heated and ventilated front seats and heated rear seats.
Is The Xpeng G6 Suitable For My Fleet
At a simple product level, the G6 has the real-world range, interior practicality and DC charging speed to be a fleet winner. Real-world range was not far off the WLTP figure during our test thanks to an efficiency figure of 4.0. There’s a big boot – although the luggage cover seems to be set unnecessarily low – at 571 litres. And the maximum charge speed in the long range car is an impressive 280kW. Even the standard range car’s maximum is 215kW, which is better than in many rivals.
However, with only a handful of retailers so far in the UK, fleets should rightly be concerned about the level of aftersales support.
Leasing An Xpeng G6
Gateway2lease is offering the long range G6 for £542 a month on a 3+36 contract with 10,000 miles per year. Maintenance is forecast at £47 a month, according to Gensen Reports. Class 1A NIC comes in at £18 a month.
Driving An Xpeng G6
What’s impressive for a new entrant is that the G6 drives very well on UK roads. It’s something that few other new brands have got right first time.
The Xpeng G6 engineers have set up the car so that driver feedback is good, the car is doesn’t pitch or roll excessively when cornering and ride comfort is firm but good and judged just right for a car in this class. Over unavoidable potholes the car doesn’t bang and isn’t harsh. The seats are comfortable too, making long journeys easy.
On the move the brakes are reassuring, although they’re a little grabby at manoeuvering speeds.
Oddly, for a tech firm, it’s the in-car systems that let the side down.
Xpeng has gone for the approach used by Tesla; everything has to be operated either through the screen or through unlabelled buttons on the steering wheel. Although there is an indicator stalk.
In the Tesla, for the most part, everything is easy to find and logically displayed. In the Xpeng G6 this is not the case.
Firstly, there is no trip computer for efficiency, so it’s very difficult to work out your real-world range. The car does give the most recent distance figure for set distances (up to 100 miles) but sometimes this just isn’t believable. The car was showing 9.9 kW per 100 miles at one point for the past 100 miles which would equate to more than 10 miles per kWh, or a range of 850 miles. The G6 is efficient, but it isn’t that efficient. And you’ll need to work out the range because the range indicator kept flickering between vastly different numbers.
If you’re an Android Auto or Apple CarPlay user, then there’s not short way to adjust the controls through the infotainment screen. And if you do go back to the car’s system to adjust a setting, for instance the aircon, and then back to CarPlay the car doesn’t remember which app you were in, adding to the number of steps and screen presses.
The steering wheel controls do offer some short cuts – and it’s super easy to turn off the warnings for speed limits and lane keeping – but they also make it too easy to accidentally press the wrong control. The buttons also change function depending on what you’re doing. For instance, use cruise control and the functions change.
The connectivity between the car and the app scores some points back for the Xpeng’s technology. It works well and reliably, meaning you can do all the usual pre-cooling (or heating) and check on your state of charge, plus you can use your phone to lock and unlock the car.
Overall, the Xpeng is good car and if the support – in terms of technology updates and retail network – come up to scratch soon, fleets users will find it appealing.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The Xpeng G6
An impressive first UK car for Xpeng, it just needs a few software updates to make it more user friendly.
Xpeng G6
- Model: G6 Long Range
- Power: 281hp
- Torque: 440Nm
- Max speed: 125 mph
- 0-62mph: 6.2s
- Official range: 356 miles
- Test range: 336 miles
- CO2 emissions: 0g/km
- BIK tax band 2025/26: 3%
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