Overtake Model 3? — Autoreview

The electric, twin-engine and all-wheel drive Chinese XPeng P7 sedan is not yet officially sold with us, but they are asking for five million rubles “in a gray way”. Does the more expensive Tesla Model 3 Performance carve it under the nut – and what does Xiaomi have to do with it?

ToXPeng was founded in 2014 by Chinese billionaire He Xiaopeng, who was then head of Alibaba Mobile’s internet division. The largest Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has acted as a “digital” partner – and here’s the result: XPeng P7 has been produced in China for more than two years. And it is in good demand – last year more than 100 thousand electric sedans were sold. Russian “parallel” sellers offer both rear-wheel drive versions with 267 hp and twin-engine all-wheel drive with 430 hp. And at our disposal was a twin-engine top version of the 4WD High Performance of 2021 with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 80.9 kWh.

Frameless glass in the doors and recessed handles are not surprising today, but cars in China are available in the Wing version – with lifting front doors!

Not to say that the P7 is a design masterpiece, but it looks good next to Tesla. The main thing is the lighting technology in the spirit of the time: both the headlights and the taillights are connected by LED “screeds”. A couple of clicks on the screen (how do you say “light music” in Chinese?), and XPeng is ready to demonstrate a one-minute light show to the music of Edvard Grieg. You can immediately, or you can postpone the “concert” at least for one in the morning – hello to the neighbors! XPeng will open the windows at the appointed time and start an expressive piano solo to spectacular light passages – the LED strip under the hood imitates the keyboard. By default, only one song is loaded, but authorized users can upload others.

The car has no license plates, so it was taken to the landfill by a tow truck. Plus, we saved the charge – after all, there is no quick charge of the Chinese standard GB / T at the test site

Thank you for your help in preparing the company’s material Autobnb and Autoelectrowho provided the cars for the test, as well as the CarTaxi service – for tow truck call

However, this will not surprise the owner of Tesla: Model 3 “shines” to the music just as well. And not only the headlights wink, but the windows in the doors fidget back and forth to the beat of the music, and on the final chords, the charging plug hatch also slams.

Recessed handles automatically extend when unlocked

Only you won’t catch me with such pampering. But the drag coefficient is impressive – only 0.236! However, Tesla’s three-ruble note is even lower, 0.23. Recessed door handles contribute to the decrease in Cx, except that Tesla has a protruding front, and Xspeng has a back.

When unlocking with the key. By the way, Chinese is not impressive – some kind of simple oval made of cheap plastic. It is better to leave this one at home, and open the car with a thin card, bringing it to the central pillar. Or a mobile phone, but for this you need to install a special application, which is currently available only to Chinese users.

If the “three-ruble note” inside is frankly plastic and upsets with cheap leatherette, then XPeng is more pleasant. Chinese armchairs are both more comfortable and upholstered in natural nappa. The Model 3 has one central display, while the P7 has two – the central 15-inch media center and 10-inch tidy lie in the same plane. All control – from the “climate” to the music settings – touch. But there are only hieroglyphs in the menu! At the very least, you can navigate only by mean pictograms. Fortunately, at least the temperature and fan speed settings can be changed directly from the steering wheel.

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