Recently-listed Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng shipped 100 European-spec G3is from the Guangzhou Xinsha Port. The vehicles are expected to arrive in Norway by November.
Xpeng officially started taking orders of the G3i models with a range of 520 kilometers in Norway from June this year, with prices starting at CNY 257360. Compared with the Xpeng G3i sold in the Chinese market, the Xpeng G3i sold to Norway has been adapted and optimized for the characteristics of both European and Norwegian local needs in terms of hardware and software, to comply with relevant regulatory certification standards.
Xia Heng, the co-founder of the firm, said, "the first European-spec super-long-range Xpeng G3 intelligent SUVs formally left for Norway today, which made us so proud. It indicates that Xpeng Motors has made headway in various links such as product R&D, intelligent manufacturing and market expansion, and its products have started to be tested by overseas consumers."
Xpeng's fellow Chinese counterpart NIO also recently outlined its plans to hit the European market. Li Bin, the founder and chairman of NIO, revealed: "We hope to enter some countries that welcome electric vehicles in the second half of 2021." Li Bin did mention entering the European market but did not disclose the specific country. At the same time, NIO plans to enter the world's major markets by 2023 or 2024.
As with other Chinese products in many countries, people are still skeptical and the acceptance is still elusive among general consumers. Chinese products are known to have quality issues. Will Xpeng be able to change people's minds about their product? Well, we will have to wait and see.