‘CHINESE TESLA’S’ NEW SUV FEATURES ‘BULLETPROOF’ BATTERIES; 80% CHARGE IN 12 MINS

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Xpeng has rolled out the 2025 model of its all-electric SUV, G6. Amidst the host of 81 upgrades over last year’s model, the G6 features “bulletproof” batteries that go from ten to 80 percent state of charge in just 12 minutes, multiple media reports said. 

At the outset, Guangzhou-headquartered Xpeng looks much like the Chinese version of Tesla. Founded in 2014, the company unveiled its first SUV model in 2018 and has a production output of nearly 200,000 vehicles a year. It has set up offices in California, the US, and Munich, Germany, while also unveiling plans to build humanoids to help assemble cars at its factories. 

It offers free charging across its network of chargers and has also rolled out a Tesla autopilot-like driver assist system for its range of electric vehicles. However, peeking a little deeper, one can see how Xpeng is looking to make its mark in China and build its products for the rest of the world. 

The bulletproof battery is one such example. 

Bulletproof battery

The Xpeng G6, which was first unveiled in 2023, is a five-door coupe SUV, much like Tesla’s Model Y.  The EV entered the foreign markets last year. For the 2025 model, the vehicle maker has unveiled three trim levels, with a battery range between 625 km to 725 km on the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC). 

All three variants have the company’s ‘bulletproof’ batteries that can charge between 3C and 5C. For the uninitiated, the C refers to cycles or the number of times a battery can be charged within an hour. So, at 3C, the battery can charge from 10-80 percent in 20 minutes, while at 5C, it achieves the same in 12 minutes. Xpeng is also working on tech that does this in five minutes.

Faster charging is accompanied by greater heat dissipation, but Xpeng claims that it has equipped its battery packs with an armor that protects it even when temperatures hit 1,832 Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius). 

In addition to heat protection, this armor delivers impact protection from 80 tons of force from a side collision and 2,000 joules of impact from the bottom, delivering high-battery safety. 

Turing AI ADAS

Another striking feature of the Xpeng G6 2025 model is the Turing Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) that uses the company’s proprietary 40-core Turing chip, which is as good as three chips to get the same job done. 

Xpeng is using the Turing chip to develop its Canghai neural network, which has superior bandwidth and 12x faster image processing, eventually leading to an L4 autonomous driving feature.  

At the recent launch, Xpeng confirmed that the G6 will be available at prices starting at RMB 176,800 (US$24,400), which is 11 percent cheaper than last year’s model. In comparison, a Tesla Model Y is nearly twice the price. 

The rear permanent magnet motor of the G6 has an output of 218 kW and torque of 450 Nm. The G6 has a top speed of 125 miles (202 km) per hour and can hit 0-60 miles (0-100 km) in 6.3 seconds, comparable to a Tesla. 

Overall, the Chinese EV makers are not competing on price alone but also offering top-notch features, making it even more difficult to neglect them. 

This report contains information that first appeared in Electrek and Car News China

2025-03-17T13:51:35Z