XPENG are Chinese & launched the G6 model a Tesla Model Y competitor here in 2025 with a G9 luxury MPV set to follow. We liked the G6 enough to award it our Executive Car of the Year for 2026 & that was based on the first version. As Chinese brands are apt to do the G6 has already been updated & this new version arrived at Company Car Towers for us to test & here’s how we got on.
What is it ?
A five door electric RWD SUV hatchback with smooth lines that features a slim bonnet front light strip with an X in the centre, a Porsch-esque narrow rear light strip, steep rear window & slim side windows with pop out door handles.
Exterior & other updates
Model choice & Performance
Prices
Interior upgrades
Updates from the Mk 1 include a new steering wheel that like the Tesla has just two button controls, a suede effect headliner, upgraded door panels & pillar finishes & a new ambient lighting system. Redesigned speaker covers, softer wireless charging panels now at 50w each & on RWD Long Range & AWD Performance versions, an upgraded 9″ digital inner rear view mirror now features.
Displays & build quality
Quality throughout is very good with a mix of soft plastics & tactile fabrics & synthetic leather for the seats. The steering wheel is an odd squared circular shape with just two spin wheels on the centre section that control the media, volume, cruise control when in use, the climate when not. The right side stalk is for the gears & pushing it all the way down engages cruise control. The left hand stalk controls the wipers & lights.
Cabin practicality
Good news is the spacious cabin which offers excellent front head & legroom. The rear seats offer plenty of this as well & it’s large enough to fit three adults in side by side. The large windscreen offers a great forward view, but both the narrow rear window & shallow side windows make parking a tad difficult & you’ll need to utilise the side mirrors using the screen sub-menus & reversing camera on occasions. The steering wheel adjusts fore & aft & the electric seats offer a memory function & are heated too.
Located between the front seats are twin cup holders & wireless smartphone chargers, with a large soft covered armrest offering storage beneath. The glove box is a good size as are the front & rear door pockets. The USB connections are harder to reach as they are hidden down low in the centre where there’s another storage area. Rear passengers get two USB’s & an armrest that folds down from the middle seat, with two cup-holders hidden within it. 
BootThe boot comes with a light movable parcel shelf & 571 litres of space, so plenty of room for the heavy charging cable which can be stored in a bag. Fold down the rear seats & the space goes up to a whopping 1,374 litres .
Infotainment
Any Tesla customer will be familiar with the clutter free set-up with almost all functions going through the screen. SatNav, DAB, Apple CarPlay & Android Auto are all included. The Snapdragon processor makes the screen quick & responsive, although you’ll need a bit of time to get used to the menus. Luckily the icons are easy to understand & we found the ones we used most were climate, CarPlay & Radio with Settings getting you into a sub menu allowing you to turn off the lane departure warning & speed warning. Some functions such as adjusting the door mirrors could be easier & we’d have welcomed a few physical buttons.
Overall, the XOS cockpit system has been upgraded too, so customers benefit from faster app responses, a smarter voice control with Hey XPENG now offering intelligent recommendations across four zones in the cabin.
Charging & batteries
The G6 is based on the latest generation of XPENG’s SEPA 2.0 platform built on 800-volt technology. This updated G6 now will peak charge at a whopping 451 kW up from the previous 280 kW. Charging the battery on a public fast charger from 10 to 80% now takes just 12 minutes.
The battery size has been updated, so it’s now slightly smaller. You can now choose a 68.5 kWh battery with a 292 mile WLTP driving range or an 80.8 kWh battery with a 326 mile range in RWD Long Range or 316 miles in AWD Performance versions. At home on a 7.4kWh charger a full replenish of the larger battery will take approximately 11 hours.https://www.rolecserv.com/ev-products/evo
Specifications
Safety
Where many Chinese brands safety systems are over intrusive XPENG’s is much more user-friendly. Indeed if the speed warning comes on say you’re doing 31mph in a 30mph zone, the car will tell you & give you the option to turn this off. And the sub-menu to adjust the myriad of features is easy to find & to de-select as required.
Comfort
First off we’d like to say the the G6 is nicely refined with a compliant ride & quiet cabin. Little wind or road noise intrudes & a hands-free call was easy to make without shouting. The seats are big & comfortable & for a car of its size it handles well & is easy to manoeuvre in town. Light steering that’s direct, good tyre grip & decent suspension handled our poorly maintained local roads. The reversing camera is large & clear & when you indicate to pull out or overtake the screen illustrates what’s around you within a corner rectangle for extra caution.
Opening the doors via the pop out handles adds a bit of class. You exit by pressing a finger tip sized door button which keeps the interior door clean as well.
Driving
Regeneration levels can also be altered with Low, Medium High & XPedal the options, the latter offering almost one pedal driving. For the thrill of it when you’re in Sport mode there’s a Launch option which was great fun unleashing the cars full potential. Despite the power on tap it’s an easy car to drive, quiet, refined & comfortable & one of the better Chinese EV’s for all of these. The acceleration isn’t crazy either so when exiting junctions this doesn’t result in any wheel spin as the safety features on board control the car with ease & it behaves itself well even when you use the Launch function.
Day to day in my local town it was a relaxing car to be in & on a 200 mile motorway trip, one of the best cars I’ve driven so far this year for striking the comfort-relaxed-fun balance. The lack of obtrusive safety alerts is also good news, with XPENG’s designers realising that most of us can decide when to put the brakes on. If you engage the regeneration through the brake pedal this too is very good, with no noticeable transition between the regenerative set-up & the conventional discs & brake pads.
As far as driving range goes we were driving the Performance model with a 316 mile range. Indeed a 200 mile return trip saw us use up 208 miles of our range, with most of this at a constant 70mph. We’d surmise that 300 mikes is doable. And a footnote on the battery itself. XPENG have done a very good job of masking the battery weight & it doesn’t overwhelm any of the cars drivability.Pros
Striking exterior, quality interior with plenty of space for five. Drives & handles exceptionally well. Competitively priced. Just 3% BIK.
Cons
The lack of physical buttons in the cabin to adjust simple things is a touch annoying but you do get used to it.
Verdict
Would we choose one over a Tesla ? We would & we’d be happy driving a G6 everyday as well, especially as the new Performance model offers such exhilarating acceleration.