XPeng G6 Review | First Drive

In 2023, XPeng struck a deal with Volkswagen, sharing buying power and platform tech, which leads us to this, the G6 coupé-style SUV, set to go on sale in the UK in October. The company plans to woo buyers away from European rivals with two key selling points – its generous standard equipment levels and its battery technology. 

Standard equipment includes electrically adjustable, heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, a panoramic glass roof, Dolby Atmos stereo, and 20-inch alloy wheels. Battery tech, meanwhile, is among the best currently available in the segment, with the car capable of a range of up to 570km between charges. A 10-80 per cent charge takes 20 minutes, with charging speeds of up to 280kW and a heat pump for improved efficiency. 

There are three models to choose from: the 262PS (190kW) RWD Standard Range with a 66kWh battery, or two models with an 87.5kWh battery – the 290PS (210kW) RWD Long Range, or the car we're driving today, the 476PS (350kW) AWD Performance.  

The XPeng G6 has a robot's face, a monobrow nose, and shades of Judge Dredd’s visor paired with an 'X' badge like a Star Wars X-wing fighter. The triangulated light housings in the lower bumper are another styling feature shared with the G7 and G9.

While the G7 is a luxury saloon and the G9 is a conventional SUV, the G6 taps into the lucrative coupé-SUV market by combining a sloping roofline with decent practicality. Frameless doors look sporty, and recessed door handles keep the design clean - popping out when you approach the car. 

The retractable rear wing fitted to cars sold elsewhere isn't fitted in Europe, where rearward visibility is deemed more important. Instead, you get a subtle roof mounted spoiler. The slim LED tail lights are the most notable feature on the G6's bulbous behind. 

Our car's fiery orange paint was its most striking element – fitting for a Dutch car launch, it's similar to the orange of the national team's football strip.

The AWD Performance might have 'Performance' in its name, but it's clear the G6 is not a performance SUV in the traditional sense, one that cracks all the sensible stuff while still being a hoot to drive when the car's empty and you find yourself on an invitingly twisty road.

There is a hefty disclaimer to go with the next couple of paragraphs because we drove the car in biblical rain, the likes of which you may well never encounter in years of ownership. As it was, the car would understeer dramatically with an armful of lock and steering that provided little to no indication of when you'd reached or surpassed the limit. 

Strangely, the performance was also a tad underwhelming; the G6 was very quick – XPeng quotes 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds – but it lacked the gut-wrenching performance that makes other EVs feel like they can defy physics. The car's hair-trigger throttle in its most extreme driving mode made it hard to drive smoothly, lighting up the front wheels joining roundabouts. That immediate shove you’d expect of an EV wasn’t there - like the G6 needed time to decide exactly how to deploy its power. Weather conditions clearly didn’t help. 

You'll find no glaring downsides if you approach the G6 like an average family SUV, though. Selecting Comfort rids the car of its jumpy throttle and has all the performance you'll ever need for overtakes or joining motorway traffic. On a cruise, it rides well, and it's quiet, although the autonomous driving aids have a similar dislike for driving smoothly as we encountered in the larger G9. 

At slower speeds, the ride can be choppy, although it's never harsh; you sometimes sense the dampers are fighting a losing battle as they release the compression of more than two tonnes of SUV. 

Cameras everywhere mean tight manoeuvring is generally very easy. However, the steering's vagueness makes the G6 – which is 4,753mm long and 1,920mm wide and nearly identical to the Tesla Model Y – feel more unwieldy than you'd expect. 

The G6's interior is a pleasant place to sit. Dominating the design is a tray-sized central infotainment screen with a letterbox-style gauge cluster replacing analogue dials. 

Interior quality is decent, with tweed trims and soft-touch plastics that, unlike in a Volkswagen, extend from the front to the back doors, although they don't have the pleasing density of the German car. Hard plastics are most notable at the base of the centre console and the lower half of the dashboard. 

Oddly, like other new-wave EVs we've tested, the G6 doesn't have a glovebox – the kind of omission you'd imagine many European owners would miss. That said, storage is generous in most other respects; there's a deep cubby under the central armrest and large pockets in all four doors.

Passenger space is also perfect. The front seats have full electric adjustment as standard, and all cars come with a vegan-leather-wrapped cabin – you can choose from white or black colouring. It isn't overly convincing as a leather substitute but should be easy to keep clean. 

Back seat comfort is also excellent. Six-footers have loads of room sitting behind someone just as tall up front, and a completely flat floor enhances the feeling of space – it feels like a car that would be pretty comfortable with three full-sized adults sitting abreast. The huge panoramic glass roof and the large rear windows mean the G6 doesn't feel gloomy inside like other coupé-style SUVs. 

And there's more good news when you open the generously large 571-litre boot. You can make the most of its square shape, and the small load lip isn't enough to stop you sliding luggage into place. There's no spare wheel under the floor – when is there ever these days? But there is plenty of storage room for cables. LED lighting, a USB socket, and a smaller netted storage show some practical thinking has gone into the space. 

The only option on the G6's specification list is an electrically deployable tow bar, and with it fitted, the car can pull a braked trailer weighing up to 1,500kg. 

The G6's giant iPad-style infotainment screen is the feature you've come to expect in one of the new electric cars – it's fiddly to use as a touchscreen, but the excellent voice activation gets around this problem. It understood and (unlike the G9 we tested earlier) acted on requests we made, with "Hey XPeng…" followed by your instruction – and was able to complete tasks as varied as opening the passenger window, turning on the seat heating, and setting the sat-nav. The system automatically differentiates between the driver and passenger. 

Early prototypes we drove didn't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but customer cars will have wireless versions of both fitted when the first deliveries start towards the end of the year. The wireless charging, which is cooled, is excellent, comparable to plugging your phone directly into a socket.

The X-Opera stereo could have been more impressive. On paper, it has everything you want: 18 speakers, including a bass box and two speakers integrated into the driver's seat, Dolby Atmos, and a 960W output. But it misses the intricate detail and body-shaking bass that the best systems boast. 

In other areas, you get the sense that XPENG is trying to reinvent the wheel; you direct the air vents via the touchscreen rather than directly on the vents, and to open the doors from inside, you press a button rather than yanking intuitively on a handle. Indicators that don't self-cancel annoy, the car bongs going onto roundabouts – for reasons unconfirmed but potentially to do with the lane assist, and turning off the audio speed warning requires an expedition deep into the car's sub-menus. 

The G6 is a good-looking, well-specified, and (likely to be a) fiendishly well-priced SUV when it goes on sale in the UK in October. Based on our drive, its battery range is entirely believable and it charges quickly. 

The drive isn't completely on the money; it's neither as bonkers quick nor (more relevantly) as well resolved as a Tesla Model Y, but to most people, most of the time, it does the job. Decent steering feel, smoother suspension, and better autonomous driving calibration would turn what is an excellent first attempt on the UK into a car that could be compared with the top end of the class.