Recently, the word "Xpeng Motors" seems to have blown up the circle of friends in the automobile media. Of course, this automobile brand is still relatively "unfamiliar" and its exposure in the media seems to be not high. Most people only know that it is an electric automobile manufacturing brand. Of course, the voice on the Internet is not very friendly to electric automobile manufacturers in recent years. There are not a few brands that have been crowned as "PPT". Will Xpeng Motors be such a company?
Before we talk about this, we should talk about what Xpeng Motors is. In mid-2014, Tesla opened hundreds of technical patents, which was a spring rain for the electric vehicle industry. Xpeng Motors, founded by He Xiaopeng, the founder of UC, and Henry, the former head of the control department of GAC New Energy Center, was the new bud after the spring rain. Set up a team in 14 years; By the end of 15 years, the prototype of Xpeng Motors had completed the independent development of motor, electric control, battery and central control large screen, and had passed the 5000KM road test. In March 16, Tucki completed the A round of financing totaling 100 million US dollars; Half a year passed, and on September 13th, Xpeng Motors officially handed over his first answer sheet-Xpeng Motors BETA.
We were lucky enough to test-drive this Xpeng Motors Beta on the second day of its launch, and let’s take a look at this enterprise without much nonsense and get on the real car directly through the product.
The design exceeded expectations.
Beta, the meaning of testing, is generally used in software development. With this name, Xpeng Motors can also see the internal Internet genes of the team. Of course, as the name suggests, Xpeng Motors brought a test car this time. The overall shell has changed from the Lexus NX developed before to a new design, and the interior is exactly the same as the renderings. Some parts may be different based on the mold problems after mass production, but 90% of the design scheme of the whole car has been the same as that of the mass production car.
This technological hub has contributed a lot to the overall style, but whether the final production version comes standard is still unknown.
The interior design is sincere
The appearance of Xpeng Motors still gives us a high impression, but the appearance is for others to see, and the interior is for ourselves to appreciate. Let’s take a look at its interior.
Since Tesla’s big screen came out, people’s concept of big screen has suddenly changed from iPad to iTable. Of course, this design can integrate dense physical buttons on a central control screen, and the visual experience is still improved a lot. The design of air-conditioning air outlet reminds people of Audi’s through air outlet, but personally, I think Tucki has a higher value. The steering wheel is moderate in size and sporty in shape, and its grip during driving is still worthy of recognition.
30% of the staff of Tucki Company are high-end talents from Internet companies such as Ali, Tencent, Samsung and Huawei, so there is no doubt about the development of the central control system. Screen resolution and response are the levels that should be achieved in this era. At present, the dashboard and the central control large screen of the trial car in Xpeng Motors are not equipped with anti-reflection, but they will be improved in the mass production models.
Other functions can be omitted, but the roof camera should be listed. This should be the first mass-produced vehicle with a camera installed on the roof. The official reply is also very cute. It should be said that "life is like a trip, you don’t have to care about the destination, what you care about is the scenery along the way and the mood of watching the scenery". Engineering people will give you the most direct way to express romance, and then they will say to the co-pilot’s sister, "I am in charge of steering the direction of life, and you are in charge of recording every bit along the way", adding another killer to pick up hot chicks’s weapon list. Of course, taking photos is only the most basic function. For example, looking for a car remotely in the basement can also turn on the camera to observe the surrounding environment through the APP, and the hardware and software will be further developed and upgraded later, which is another attempt to build a car with Internet thinking.
There is no doubt that the small table board can improve the practicability, and it is ok to temporarily put the mobile phone wallet, etc., but we still do not advocate the co-pilot to put anything that affects driving safety in this place while driving.
The five USB interfaces of the whole car also fully demonstrated Xpeng Motors’s affirmation of his battery life.
Moreover, the floor inside the test car can not be lifted, and the performance of the storage space under the floor can not be really understood.
The driving experience is remarkable.
After the data is listed, it is still intuitive to get on the car body. First of all, after the brake is released, the car will be in an idle state. When the switch is pressed, the initial impulse is still a little strong, and then the ride comfort is very good, and there is no obvious power loss when the switch is released. With the brake entering the corner, you can feel the power surge when you accelerate again. Because the venue is small, you can’t feel it in a straight line for a long time, and the later force needs to be verified. The performance of steering when cornering is remarkable, and the clear directivity gives people confidence.
As for the overall suspension performance, the cornering support on the test drive site is still good. Because the road surface of the site is relatively smooth, the feedback experience of the road surface bumps is not intuitive, and the comfort level needs to be truly felt during the road test.
Because this set of powertrain is a mass production standard, the chassis suspension may continue to be adjusted in the later stage, and the reference degree of driving experience is still very high at present. As far as the space of the whole vehicle is concerned, the front row is normal, and the rear leg space is average. As this is a 90% completed vehicle, I hope that the remaining 10% will be left a little for space layout.
High-tech functions are full
I have to talk about automatic parking here. Xpeng Motors’s automatic parking doesn’t require the driver to be in the car, which means it is a function of "loading X and leaving, which is really exciting for XX". First, find the parking space. After the vehicle shows that it can park automatically, you can take your things away, take your belongings and get off the bus, and press the lock key for a long time. When the double flashing lights of the vehicle jump and the instructions have been conveyed, you can turn around and leave handsomely if you have a tiger in your heart. If you want to smell the roses a little, you can stop and watch the small details of this technology changing your life. Of course, how can you just park in? You can also move the car out and drive to your side, but I’m sorry that you still need to open the door yourself at present.
In the later stage, there will definitely be richer and deeper function development in high technology. Because this is a car with Internet genes, the function upgrade means that the hardware is unchanged and the software is upgraded, which is still very beautiful for customers.
summary
Xpeng Motors Beta gives me a solid feeling. Although the details of the trial car can’t be carefully examined, the real focus can still be intuitively felt. It took two years from the establishment to the understanding of this brand, but it took only one hour to get interested in it. The product finally achieved its attitude. I hope that in the torrent of new energy vehicles in China, Xpeng Motors can become a clean stream. Keep this spirit of practical products well, and it will never be a PPT for consumers, but a car that can be seen and touched.
