Xpeng G6: restyled SUV with 451 kW charging from €42,990

Xpeng is making its G6 SUV even more tempting. Beyond a lightly refreshed look, the Chinese brand is promising lightning-fast charging and embracing artificial intelligence in a big way. At €42,990, the pricing still looks keen. Here’s what we expect ahead of the road test.

Filling up with electricity in under 12 minutes sounds like a fantasy. Yet that is exactly the claim being made for the new Xpeng G6. In this facelifted form, the Chinese SUV can accept up to 451 kW of DC power. In other words, it should jump from 10% to 80% charge in a flash. It’s a headline figure for the European market that could put the Tesla Model Y under pressure-especially as the G6 is priced competitively.

Stormtrooper looks and minimalism: Xpeng’s styling gamble against Tesla

It’s hard to deny the Xpeng G6 has taken a page from Tesla’s design book. Even so, the Chinese SUV has enough of its own touches to avoid feeling like a copy. With a slim light bar across the front, the clean nose strongly resembles a Stormtrooper’s face. The sides are smooth too, without sharp creases. The same approach continues at the rear, where it gets notably thin tail-lights.

That space-age theme carries on inside, where the G6 pares the cabin back as far as possible. Everything is extremely minimalist-perhaps even a bit dull. You get a straight, uncluttered dashboard, a central touchscreen, a digital instrument display, a floating centre console, a panoramic roof and plenty of room. On the plus side, the perceived build quality is fairly good. Less impressive: there is no glovebox.

800V charging: how the Xpeng G6 adds 350 km of range in 15 minutes

If the G6 doesn’t spark much emotion visually, it becomes genuinely disruptive at rapid chargers. With up to 451 kW DC capability, its 800V architecture makes it almost as effortless to live with as a combustion car. We’ve already tried it at a motorway service area and, yes, the charging speed is frankly astonishing-especially as the charging curve barely tails off. Even the Tesla Model Y is left behind.

That would mean roughly 350 km of motorway range recovered in a quarter of an hour… The catch is finding chargers powerful enough to get close to the figures claimed by the Chinese brand. Ionity is currently rolling out stalls capable of delivering up to 600 kW, but they are still extremely rare. So you’ll need a little patience before this kind of ultra-rapid charging can truly put the “time wasted charging” anxiety to bed.

Xpeng G6 vs Tesla Model Y: the numbers compared

Specifications	Xpeng G6 Long Range	Tesla Model Y Long Range
Power	295 ch	Around 300 ch
Range	525 km	609 km
Max DC charging power	451 kW	250 kW
Price	€46,990	€46,990

Xmart OS: can Chinese AI really make you forget Tesla Autopilot?

Xpeng is investing heavily in software to deliver more innovative products. The latest G6 therefore gains the Xmart OS interface, designed to adapt to users’ habits. Enhanced with artificial intelligence, the voice control can handle multiple tasks and improve via over-the-air updates, just like the Xpilot Assist autonomous-driving system. Thankfully so-because we found the latter to be very… imperfect.

We’ll share everything in the full road test, as the system’s not-particularly-reassuring reactions can’t be ignored. It’s not comparable with Tesla Autopilot. For now, the 15.6-inch touchscreen runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 processor, delivering polished graphics and impressive smoothness. There are lots of menus-really lots-which can make usability trickier, especially as physical controls are scarce.

The €42,990 shock price: why the G6’s standard kit embarrasses rivals

This is the other undeniable strength of the Xpeng G6: an especially aggressive price that could win over plenty of buyers. The entry-level model priced at €42,990 is far from basic, with a 470 km range and DC rapid charging up to 382 kW. As for equipment, it’s comprehensive and doesn’t demand any extra payments. That’s striking when some brands charge for almost everything.

You can count on Nappa leather upholstery, heated, massaging and ventilated front seats, autonomous driving, keyless entry and start, a panoramic roof, a 360° camera, 20-inch wheels, a 16-speaker audio system, and so on. The rest of the line-up steps up in €4,000 increments: €46,990 for the Long Range version, then €50,990 for the 485 ch Performance model…

Would you be ready to take the plunge and switch from the Tesla Model Y to enjoy the lightning-fast charging of this Xpeng G6? Tell us what you think-we’ll respond in our road test, published this Sunday at midday!