Xpeng G6 review

8

Tech-heavy Chinese electric SUV is a close match for the Tesla Model Y across the board - and should be cheaper

Find Xpeng G6 deals
New car deals
Nearly-new car deals
Other Services
Sell your car
84% get more money with

There are enough electric SUVs on sale now that not all of them need be labelled as Tesla Model Y rivals, but when they're so obviously designed to light a fire under the rear of the world's best-selling EV as the Xpeng G6, the comparison invites itself.

Revealed last year and conceived in almost every respect as a direct alternative to Elon Musk's world-beating family crossover, the G6 is now being imported to the UK by Solihull's International Motors, which plans to follow it up with another four slick, tech-focused EVs in a range of segments.

Customer deliveries are set to get under way in the middle of the spring, and while prices are yet to be confirmed, it's understood the G6 will undercut the Model Y – which is due a fairly chunky update later this year – by a useful margin. 

The G6 is yet another electric SUV out of China that's claimed to be smart, digital-first and sustainable. It’s got a big screen inside and one of those light bars as well. The company behind it describes itself as a start-up led by a tech entrepreneur and touts the benefits of having R&D facilities in various countries worldwide as it targets a roll-out in key markets outside China over the coming years.

In the bursting-at-the-seams medium-sized SUV class that contains the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and many, many others, Xpeng is going to need something a bit more eye-catching to draw people’s attention. It doesn’t help that this new G6 looks rather a lot like a Model Y with some slimmer lights.

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

7
Xpeng G6 review 2025 02 rear tracking

There are three versions: the single-motor Standard Range, single-motor Long Range and dual-motor Performance (although the last of those isn't yet confirmed for UK sale). That very closely mirrors the Model Y line-up, and the range figures match, almost mile for mile, those for the equivalent Teslas on 20in wheels.

The G6 has 800V electricals, though, like the Porsche Taycan and various Hyundai/Kia/Genesis EVs, which allows seriously fast rapid charging at 215kW for the 66kWh LFP battery in the Standard Range or 280kW for the 87.5kWh NMC battery in the Long Range and the Performance. In both cases, that works out to a 10-80% charge in 20 minutes.

Xpeng calls its design language the 'robot face', because the slim headlights are like a cartoon robot's eyes. I can't say I really see it.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

So you get something that looks quite a lot like a Model Y, has almost identical dimensions, goes just as far and charges a smidgen more quickly. But in Europe, the Xpeng is a couple of thousand euros cheaper than the Tesla, model for model. And that’s before you add the bigger wheels, a colour or the white interior on the Tesla, all of which cost a grand or more. On the Xpeng, only the colours cost extra, and then only around €800 (£670).

Various Brexit-shaped hurdles and the cost of converting it to right-hand drive will nudge the G6's list price up to around £40,000 for the Standard Range car and £45,000 for the Long Range, giving it a useful cost advantage over the American, which starts at £46,990.

INTERIOR

7
Xpeng G6 review 2025 09 dash

If it’s cheaper, you might expect it all to be of lower quality. Not so, even if it’s not especially distinguishing either. Everything from the interior to the way it drives is as forgettable as the design, but in quite a nice ‘this’ll do’ kind of way, which will suit many drivers just fine, I suspect.

The G6 doesn’t offer quite as much interior space as a Model Y, lacking that car’s front and underfloor storage, but is definitely on par with, say, the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Both rows offer plenty of space above and in front of their occupants, and the 571-litre boot is only slightly less roomy than the Skoda Enyaq's. 

There are two 50W wireless charging pads. That sort of power would normally melt your phone, but they're actively cooled.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Inside, it could be the facelifted Model Y, with plenty of soft-touch leatherette stuff, storage cubbies and a big landscape touchscreen that controls almost everything, including the mirrors, although you do get a separate driver display for your speed, range, trip computer and the like.

Having driven our fair share of BYDs, MGs and Zeekrs, we didn’t have high hopes for the user interface, but while it isn’t entirely free of quirks and wonky English translations, it’s largely inoffensive. There’s a permanent shortcut bar and most of the important functions aren’t more than two taps away. Plus, because it runs on ultra-rapid Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, it's among the most graphically crisp and quick-reacting infotainment systems on offer.

Naturally, though, like the Tesla's, this touchscreen is given rather too much to do. Almost every control and function is a couple of taps or swipes away, which is bad news for on-the-move utility, even if the menus are logically arranged, the icons are large and the various diagrams easy to understand at a glance. Case in point: the wing mirrors are adjusted using the scrollers and arrows on the steering wheel (good), but finding the mirror adjustment menu in the touchscreen at 60mph is so difficult as to make that concession to tactility rather redundant (bad). 

Happily, though, Xpeng engineers are said to have spent months in the UK getting the G6 right for the market, and while that doesn't manifest in an entirely bespoke suspension tune or drivetrain settings, it does mean the lane-keeping assistance and speed-limit warning siren (features that have never seemed to work on our poorly signed, battered roads) can be disabled in seconds. Plus, since we last drove the G6 in Europe, Apple CarPlay has been integrated as standard - another win over the Model Y. 

Broadly, we would rather there were more physical controls on offer, but those that are here click and clack with a resounding air of quality and durability that – along with the high-quality cabin materials – speaks to the potential for this car to appeal to would-be Audi and Mercedes-Benz buyers.

The wraparound 'XOpera' speaker system gets a big tick for quality as well, and the little headrest speakers for sat-nav instructions and phone calls are a nice touch, if a touch gimmicky.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

9
Xpeng G6 review 2025 17 front tracking

We’ve not tried the entry-level model, but the Performance is very fast, the Long Range is more than adequately fast, the sun is hot and water is wet.

The 281bhp range-topper we're getting is, of course, agreeably swift off the mark, but stops short of nauseatingly rapid. You can choose from one of three drive modes, including mile-maximising Eco to stabby-throttle Sport (which brings the obligatory racy graphics for the infotainment and gauge cluster), and it's all very much as you'd expect: quiet, composed and satisfyingly smooth. There is almost zero chance you will notice the standard car's 27bhp deficit in the real world. 

Eco mode is the most pleasant most of the time. It calms down the accelerator response nicely. Annoyingly, though, it also limits total power. Normal mode works well enough. Sport mode has launch control, if you're after that sort of thing.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

What's refreshing is that this more potent G6 has a hopped-up rear motor, rather than a second motor on the front axle, which means it avoids the more brittle ride and drastically worsened efficiency that tends to accompany a power increase. Frustratingly, though, the larger battery is tied to the more powerful powertrain and vice versa; the ideal combination would seem to be pairing the 87kWh pack with the 254bhp motor for a range boost beyond the current 354 miles. 

More refreshing is that there’s a coasting mode for the regen and the brake feel is nicely progressive. Regen is adjusted on the screen, and while ‘X-Pedal’ mode is very strong, it doesn’t completely bring the car to a stop. 

RIDE & HANDLING

7
Xpeng G6 review 2025 03 front panning

The dynamics have had an equally big sprinkling of vanilla powder, with a ride that is on the firm side but stopping short of being actively uncomfortable and handling that has healthy reserves of grip and a well-tuned traction control system tempered by fairly lifeless steering. It never gives you any sense of fun or heightened agility.

Still, it feels less fussy and more composed over rough ground than the Model Y.

Both the Long Range and the Performance returned an indicated 3.8mpkWh. That’s while keeping to the low speed limits in The Netherlands, which is famously not very hilly. If accurate, that’s still an impressive figure and would translate to a range of 327 miles.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

There’s a fair bit of roll in sharp bends and the brake pedal felt oddly springy, but full-bore driver thrills are plainly not the aim here, so we will happily sacrifice some engagement for refinement. In any case, visibility is excellent and the steering at least predictable, so it’s easy to place on the road.

The single-motor car feels marginally lighter on its feet and has a noticeably tighter turning circle. Our brief forays onto Dutch and British motorways suggest that it's a pretty composed cruiser, too, with little to speak of in the way of buffeting and tyre roar making their way into the cabin.

Assisted driving, another problem of many a newcomer, is equally unproblematic. Not perfect, but absolutely fine, and the annoying ones can be disabled quite easily.

VERDICT

Xpeng G6 review 2025 19 front static

The G6 is a good car, in short, but Xpeng’s marketing people will have a hell of a job on their hands making people take notice of a car that doesn’t seem to have many distinguishing features.

Xpeng G6 news

Xpeng to bring seven-seat X9 'starship' and G9 to UK in 2026
Xpeng to bring seven-seat X9 'starship' and G9 to UK in 2026
Xpeng G6 to be launched in the UK in a matter of weeks
Xpeng G6 to be launched in the UK in a matter of weeks

Then again, perhaps its unnoteworthiness is in itself a feature. In the G6, we haven't been annoyed by a tetchy ride, jerky accelerator, mandatory one-pedal driving or poor adaptive cruise control, as we might have been in a Model Y, but we were driving a car that for all intents and purposes does the same things for less money. The product is objectively impressive; we're just not sure how you turn all of that into a catchy marketing slogan.

Perhaps the G6's crucial advantage is that it beats the long-awaited Model Y 'Juniper' facelift to market. Anyone sat there twiddling their thumbs waiting for the world's best-selling EV to be brought up to 2025 spec might just have their head turned in the meantime by this objectively well-specified and competitively engineered alternative.

And failing that, maybe the decent touchscreen and chunky monthly saving will do the job. 

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As a road tester, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews and comparison tests, while also managing the magazine’s Drives section. Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s in-depth instrumented road tests.

He loves cars that are fun and usable on the road – whether piston-powered or electric – or just cars that are very fit for purpose. When not in test cars, he drives an R53-generation Mini Cooper S.

Felix Page

Felix Page
Title: Deputy editor

Felix is Autocar's deputy editor, responsible for leading the brand's agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry - both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today's most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years.