Xpeng says its G6 mid-sized electric SUV has received a “leapfrog upgrade”, but you’ll need to look closely to spot the changes.
First customer deliveries in the Chinese market are set to begin this month, and we’ve contacted Xpeng Australia to confirm when the refreshed SUV will become available here.
Exterior changes are subtle. There’s a new full-width front light bar, which sees the company logo moved to the bonnet.
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Down back, there’s a rear spoiler for greater aerodynamic performance, as well as a new darkened exterior appearance package bringing black paint, 20-inch alloy wheels and brake calipers with a ‘smoked’ appearance, and a black body kit.
There are new wheel designs, while the G6’s bold orange paint has been removed from the colour palette.
Inside, the 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen has been replaced by a larger 15.6-inch unit that promises a clearer display and “more convenient and efficient operation”.
It complements the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, which sits ahead of a revised steering wheel now incorporating capacitive touch controls.
There are new “cloud-sense” seats which Xpeng says feel as comfortable as sitting in the clouds, and which are said to be “ergonomically designed to fit the body curve perfectly”.
The front seats feature heating and ventilation, while the rear seats have a backrest angle of 27-38.4 degrees and 12 levels of adjustment.
There’s also a new “instrument panel galaxy rhythm array atmosphere light and a new four-door diffuse reflection atmosphere light”, while there’s a choice of Deep Space Grey, Majestic Grey, and Turbulent Green interior colourways.
The G6’s single-motor rear-wheel drive electric powertrain produces 218kW of power and 440Nm of torque.
Global China EV reports energy is supplied from 68.5kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) or 80.8kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery packs.
While these capacities have been reduced from 66kWh and 87.5kWh, claimed range is reportedly up to 625km for the smaller battery and 725km for the larger battery, with these figures being based on the more lenient CLTC cycle.
That’s an increase of 45km for the smaller battery but a drop of 25km for the larger one.
In more realistic WLTP figures, the pre-update G6 has a claimed 435km or 570km of range depending on the variant.
Rear-wheel drive versions do the dash in either 6.6 seconds or 5.9 seconds depending on the variant, compared to 6.6 seconds and 6.2 seconds, respectively, for the pre-update model.
Xpeng has yet to confirm whether the dual-motor all-wheel drive version, which produces 358kW and 660Nm and slashes the 0-100km/h time to 3.9 seconds, will continue with the updated G6. This variant has never been offered in Australia.
There’s also been no confirmation that the G6 will continue to offer a LiDAR system to power its wide range of active safety and driver assist features.
The Xpeng G6 went on sale in Australia last year, distributed by TrueEV. Thus far, the company hasn’t reported deliveries to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ monthly VFACTS report, so it’s unclear how many G6s have been delivered locally.
It’s one of a bevy of mid-sized electric SUVs out of China that have come here to do battle with the Tesla Model Y, with others including the BYD Sealion 7, Deepal S07 and Leapmotor C10.
The top-selling Model Y also has to contend with a growing contingent of brands from outside of China, with the likes of the Cupra Tavascan, Nissan Ariya, and Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 all on their way to Australia.
MORE: Everything Xpeng G6
