Motor Distributors Limited (MDL), who have been distributing Mercedes cars in Ireland for decades, have been expanding their car empire of late. Two years ago they took on distribution of the Chinese BYD brand and Smart’s range of fully electric cars. Earlier this year the company announced that they had been appointed Irish distributor for another Chinese brand, called XPeng.
Mercedes executives say that BYD is the biggest car brand you have never heard of. Well XPeng (pronounced zeeping), are not far behind, with the latter now competing with Tesla in the worldwide electric car market.
I picked up my Artic White G6 XPeng at MDL on the Naas Road on a crisp March Monday morning and I think the colour suited the temperature.
If you have driven an electric car then you will you know that in most of them there is no stop-start button or handbrake. Once the key fob is on your person or for females in their handbag, you sit in, engage the drive selector, which in this case is a stalk to the right of the steering wheel and away you go. It’s that simple.
All electric cars are very fast, like a greyhound breaking from the traps and the XPeng is no different; it will get you from zero to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds.
The two questions every prospective buyer of an electric car wants to know is price and range. Prices start at €42,400 for the Standard Range version with 66kWh battery and the range is 435km, while the Long Range version with an 87.5kW battery and offering a range of 570km, will cost you €49,440.
The G6 is very spacious and like most new cars the dash is dominated by a huge infotainment screen. While driving the XPeng you get bird’s eye view of your surroundings and on the infotainment screen you will see images of the cars you are overtaking and those approaching in the opposite direction. If you indicate to turn left, then the screen tells you what’s happening in the left lane, likewise if turning right.
There is plenty of head and leg room for five well-built adults. The interior is a bit dark, but a full length sun-roof brightens the interior décor. The boot is massive, officially 570 litres of space, but no ‘Frunk’ at the front. No worries there as ‘Frunks’ in electric cars are only useful for holding the charging leads.
The dash has a minimalistic look and almost everything you need to do while driving can be done from the massive 14.96-inch infotainment screen.
The XPeng is similar in looks to a few other electric cars, most notably Tesla’s Model Y, some of Kia’s new EV range and the Skoda Enyaq.
This is a very impressive motor, but overall I think the Irish jury is still out on electric cars. There are serious gaps in the public charging networks and we have all heard anecdotal evidence that some early adopters have been shocked at the prices offered when trading-in their electric cars. Like many other things in life, it seems to depend on who you talk to.
Initially XPeng is only available at MDL’s outlet in Deansgrange in south Dublin but the company is planning to expand their dealer network. Ciaran Allen, Sales Director at MDL is always a good man for the stats and he says that 55% of all new cars in Ireland are sold in the greater Dublin and Cork areas. So when MDL get those highly populated areas of the country covered then a fair chunk of the population will know about XPeng cars.
I really liked it and had no issues or complaints and yes, it does charge very quickly.
Other new models on the way from Xpeng include the G9 SUV, P7 Sedan and P7+ Fastback Sedan. And how about their flying car which is called the Land Aircraft carrier, and is currently priced at two million yuan or €253,600?
Apparently ‘flying cars’ are currently on trial in China. When they do come here you will only be able to use the ‘flying cars’ between what we call park and ride locations, unless you have a massive parking space in your back garden.
