Xpeng P7i officially launched in China, deliveries to start in March

Xpeng offers four versions of the P7i with a starting price of RMB 249,900, above the RMB 229,900 for the Tesla Model 3.

(Image credit: Xpeng)

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) today officially launched the P7i, the facelift of its flagship sedan P7, in China, with deliveries to begin in March, in a departure from the company’s previous practice of taking a long time between model launches and deliveries.

Xpeng is offering only four versions of the P7i — the 702 Pro, 702 Max, 610 Max Performance, and 610 Wing Performance — with starting prices of RMB 249,900 ($35,890), RMB 269,900, RMB 289,900, and RMB 33,900, respectively.

This is higher than the Model 3 sedan’s starting price of RMB 229,900 in China, although the Tesla model is only available in two versions in China, with the other version starting at RMB 329,900.

Consumers who reserve the Xpeng P7i by April 30 will receive four years of free charging, up to 1,500 kWh per year, and they will also receive a free Dynaudio upgrade valued at RMB 6,000.

The model’s show cars and vehicles for test drives are currently available at Xpeng’s experience centers, a tightly scheduled rhythm that differs from its previous approach.

The Xpeng P7i will continue to be built on the regular 400 V platform, rather than the 800 V high-voltage platform used by the G9.

However, the P7i’s maximum charging power has been increased from its predecessor’s 90 kW to 175 kW, allowing it to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in 29 minutes.

The Pro version of the Xpeng P7i comes standard with one Nvidia Orin-X smart driving chip with 254 TOPS of computing power. The Max version of the model comes standard with two Orin-X chips as well as two LiDARs.

CnEVPost got an early look at the model at the end of January and learned from the event at the time that the P7i’s LiDARs are set near the headlights as in the Xpeng G9, and the supplier is RoboSense as in the G9.

The chip driving the in-car infotainment system in the Xpeng P7i has been upgraded from the P7’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A chip to the Snapdragon SA8155P.

The number in the model’s name represents the CLTC range, which tops at 702 km.

The two versions of the Xpeng P7i with a range of 702 kilometers are rear-drive single-motor, capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.4 seconds. Its two versions with a range of 610 km are dual-motor four-wheel drive models and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds.

For Xpeng, the P7i will be the model that will be crucial to boosting sales.

The P7i’s predecessor, the P7, was the Xpeng’s main seller for a long time, selling 59,066 units in 2022, contributing 49 percent of the Xpeng’s annual sales of 120,757 units, data monitored by CnEVPost show.

Notably, the Xpeng P7i’s launch comes at a delicate point in time, with Chinese car companies — both internal combustion engine automakers and new energy vehicle (NEV) makers — engaged in an unprecedented price war.

On January 6, Tesla sharply lowered the prices of all its China-made models in an attempt to boost demand for its electric vehicles in China, becoming the first automaker to publicly cut prices in the country.

On January 17, Xpeng lowered the prices of all models except the G9, with the P7 receiving the largest price cut. After that, a number of other NEV makers also started to reduce prices or offer purchase discounts.

Prior to this month, it was mainly NEV makers that were openly offering price cuts and purchase incentives, but earlier this month, authorities in central China’s Hubei province joined forces with a number of local car companies to offer subsidies, with some models offering subsidies of up to RMB 90,000.

BYD also announced yesterday that consumers who order the BYD Song Plus lineup from March 10 to March 31 will receive an RMB 6,800 discount, or RMB 8,800 for the Seal.

While these purchase offers appear to be temporary promotions by car companies, they reflect the overall pressure the Chinese auto industry is currently facing and are bound to allow the impact to be magnified as more brands participate.

($1 = RMB 6.9638)

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