CES 2018: XPeng G3 takes on Tesla
Chinese start-up XPeng with Alibaba backing reveals new concept at CES 2018
We first reported on the the XPeng back in October 2016, after they revealed their first concept SUV at the Beijing Motor Show that year. Since then the company, which was founded in Guangzhou in 2014 and then named Xiaopeng, has undergone a name change to a more streamlined XPeng, and is here at CES showing the latest version of its electric SUV, the G3.
The G3 is a more developed prototype of the 2016 car, which was very close to production ready and was aimed at young Chinese consumers living in Tier 1 cities. Like its predecessor, it’s a five-seater mid-sized SUV, meant to be a home-grown and much less expensive alternate to the Tesla equivalent.
The G3 is planned with a dramatic panoramic roof that sweeps up from the windscreen and over the passenger compartment. On top of this is mounted a periscoping roof camera for recording journeys around town and beyond.
The exterior is similar to the earlier car, with a simple massing and lines, a mask that echoes the ‘X’ theme… and a little bit of Tesla as well. The interior of the CES car is not complete, so a we may yet see a more developed, even production-ready version.
XPeng is not well known outside China, but it does have the backing of some significant capital backers that include Morningstar and the deep pockets of Alibaba. No doubt we will hear from them again soon – perhaps with a production-ready interior when we journey to China later this Spring.
