A Chinese smart electric SUV inspired of Tesla Model X

In the eyes of many people, Elon Musk is often portrayed as an unpleasant figure. Nevertheless, the world technology industry owes a lot to him, especially in the field of automotive electrification. One of them was when Tesla decided to open wide the access to its patents in 2014.

This fully electric-powered Xpeng G3 inspired by Tesla Model X. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2ORxPWB)

In fact, it is difficult to designate which auto manufacturers utilize the patents held by Tesla in the development of electric cars. But some did not hesitate to reveal to the public that Tesla was his biggest inspiration. One of them is Xiaopeng Motors, a Chinese startup company that was founded shortly after Tesla published its patent rights above.

Right side view of fully electric-powered Xpeng G3. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2ORxPWB)

Four years later precisely in 2018, Xiaopeng finally officially unveiled the figure of its first fully electric-powered car named Xpeng G3. From the exterior appearance is still not too similar to the Tesla Model X even though they are both SUV types. However, when entering into the cabin, then immediately seen the resemblance.

Dashboard view of fully electric-powered Xpeng G3. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2ORxPWB)

Starting from a minimalist look dashboard with a large vertical-oriented screen in the center, up to the display of the digital instrument panel, everything is almost identical as made by Tesla. Even the panoramic windshield of Xpeng G3 is also is also one of the features of the Tesla Model X.

Interior view of fully electric-powered Xpeng G3. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2ORxPWB)

But the similarity stopped in the interior. Even though Xiaopeng uses almost the same battery technology as Tesla, but the Xpeng G3's mileage efficiency is still less than the Tesla Model X, from the two electric SUV variants offered are estimated to be able to cover a distance of ± 351 km and 365 km in a single battery charges.

Likewise, the performance of this electric SUV is also far from impressive, for example its ability to accelerate from 0 - 50 km/h (not 100 km/h) is done in 3.8 seconds. The maximum power output only reaches 145 kW from its permanent magnet synchronous motor, while the torque is around 300 Nm.

A little surprising, Xiaopeng apparently did not forget to embed a series of sensors to realize the autonomous driving tech features on the Xpeng G3. Not only that, the person who was appointed to be the leader of the autonomous division was Junli Gu, who used to be the machine learning lead on Tesla’s Autopilot team who took part in developing those car's autonomous driving program.

Furthermore one of the Xpeng G3 mainstay features is its ability to park without a driver by only relying on its autonomous driving technology. Look at the video below;

All of these can be obtained by the China's automotive consumers at very affordable prices, starting from 227,800 yuan, or around Rp.480 million, before being subsidized by the government. Yes, because in China there're subsidies policy for those who buy an electric car, so after subsidies, the price of the Xpeng G3 is only around 136,000 yuan, or ± Rp. 287 million. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | ELEKTREK | INSIDEEVS]
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