No, it’s not a Tesla.
You’re going to just have to get used to saying that, should you decide to purchase an Xpeng G6 electric SUV. It’s not quite a clone of the Tesla Model Y, but the two cars are strikingly similar, so you’ll have to explain yourself every time.
Which is a shame, as actually this G6 – freshly updated but not actually physically arriving in Ireland until well into 2026 – is a better car than the now-infamous American one, in many ways.
The G6’s update is subtle enough on the outside – new LED lights at the front and a new tailgate at the back with a neat ducktail spoiler – plus you can have the sinister-looking Black Edition, on which every exterior item from the wheels to the paint to the badges has been given the full heavy metal band cover treatment.
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It looks sharp, actually, and we’d definitely choose it over the slightly lurid violet paint in these photos.
There’s better stuff inside, though. The existing G6, which has only been on sale here for a handful of months, has a cabin that’s nice but looks and feels a bit plain and uninspiring in places.
This updated G6 largely fixes that. The big-screen layout remains, with a maddening – and occasionally downright unsafe – lack of any physical buttons save for some multi-function ones on the steering wheel, but the depth of quality feels, well, deeper.
The Nappa leather seats are lovely (even if the leather does feel a bit rubbery to the touch – maybe it breaks in well), and the revised dashboard behind the screens now looks and feels much more impressive. There’s lots of storage (no glovebox though, which just feels strange) and acres of space in the back, with reclining seats for maximum comfort.
The big screen works tolerably well, although the “wellness” mode – which is meant to adjust the seats and fiddle with the cabin lights for a spa-day feeling when stopping to charge – feels a bit naff, and too many of the buttons are too small to easily use on the move – a common refrain these days, alas. The new digital rear-view mirror is helpful, though, not least as the G6’s rear window is shallow and tricky to see out of.
Mind you, you won’t be stopping to charge much as the big news for the G6 is a new lithium-iron-phosphate battery that can fast-charge at up to 451kW of direct current power.
Now, go looking for a 451kW charging point in Ireland and you’ll be disappointed – the fastest right now are the Fastned chargers at Banbridge, just across the Border – but such powerful chargers are being planned by Ionity and others.
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Xpeng is happy to be smug about being ahead of the game. Find a charger with enough guts behind it, and this G6 can do a 10 per cent to 80 per cent charge in just 12 minutes. That’s getting incredibly close to fuel-filling times.
We stopped briefly at an Ionity charger and found the G6 went from 55 per cent to 80 per cent in just six minutes, despite lots of other cars charging at the same plaza. Not bad at all.
This is the AWD Performance version boasting four-wheel drive, 486hp and enough torque to turn your eyelids inside out under full acceleration.
It’s devastatingly fast: 4.1 seconds to get to 100km/h, which is a fraction slower than the new Tesla Model Y Performance, but at this kind of speed, who’s splitting tenths-of-a-second hairs?
Sadly, Xpeng, in concert with pretty much all other Chinese carmakers, hasn’t figured out how to match fast with fun. The G6’s steering is too light and wispy for any driver enjoyment, and while it cruises in impressive silence and comfort, surely a little cornering fun isn’t too much to ask for? While you’re at it, Xpeng, please smooth out the low-speed ride as well.
Don’t touch the battery. Even with some high-speed blasts on a German autobahn and a lengthy driving route, the G6 AWD Performance seems capable of a genuine 500km real-world range, against a claimed 510km WLTP figure. That’s impressive.
What else is impressive? How about the glowering visage of the bigger Xpeng G9?
This is the company’s EV SUV flagship and, frankly, it looks great. Yes, there are lots of elements taken from other car brands and models in its shape and style, but Xpeng’s French-born creative director Rafik Ferrag has created a truly handsome, imposing, almost regal-looking SUV.
Under the skin, there’s more impressive tech. Our test car was, again, an AWD Performance model, packing 575hp and another savage 0-100km/h time (4.2 seconds for this one). The same battery tech too, stretched to 93kWh and with a 525kW charging speed – that’s half a megawatt!
However, the G9 doesn’t feel quite so impressive as the G6. Its clever adaptive air suspension feels clumsy at low speeds and somehow the cabin – which is generously equipped and genuinely luxurious – didn’t seem as convincing as the smaller car’s.
It’s staggeringly refined, fast and comfy inside, but on this first taste, there’s an indefinable something lacking, and it’s not just that rear-seat space isn’t too impressive for a car this large. Perhaps it’s the knowledge of the incoming BMW iX3, which annihilates the G9’s claimed 540km range with an 800km potential, and which probably won’t be all that much more expensive when the G9 eventually – and don’t hold your breath on this one – arrives in Ireland.
The G6, though? That’s a different story. The first time I drove the G6, it felt fine but underwhelming. Well, this time around, consider me truly whelmed. It will take time for Xpeng to build its brand to the point where most of us would take it seriously as an Audi rival, but believe me, on the basis of how good this car is, that day will come. Just please, Xpeng, make it fun to drive…
