Styling
With its smoothed-off, minimalistic pebble-like shape punctuated by a slim full-width light strip front and wide clusters at the rear, the Xpeng G6 isn't what you'd call a particularly daring or beautiful piece of car styling - but it is appealing. There's obviously a Tesla-esque whiff to the profile shape of the vehicle, but our test car, finished as it was in black with black 20-inch wheels and black badging, had plenty of presence. It's sort of unusual-looking enough that people will afford the G6 multiple glances, trying to work out exactly what it is; they might even erroneously identify it as a
Genesis GV60. Certainly, we think it's one of the more handsome machines to emerge from China so far, for sure - it's something with aesthetics that manage to please European sensibilities, which is a nice start from the Xpeng.
Interior
High-quality fixtures and fittings are the hallmark of the Xpeng G6's cabin, although it is - like every other compatriot car from its homeland - a machine which has a total over-reliance on its central 15.6-inch infotainment touchscreen. Adjusting things like the heated seats and steering wheel is all done through this, in not the most intuitive fashion we might add, and there's a complete dearth of buttons inside the G6 except for on its two-spoke steering wheel. We also rage at companies who put the vehicle's exterior-light controls somewhere within the infotainment, instead of on a dedicated column stalk or dash-mounted rotary dial - this is an absolutely daft decision and one, regrettably, the bods at Xpeng have made with the G6.
Interestingly, and more encouragingly, the left-hand rotary roller on the steering wheel actually increases or lowers the cabin temperature in the Xpeng, unless you have the car's active cruise control operating, in which case the switch defaults to adjusting the vehicle's speed. It's the first time we've ever experienced wheel-mounted climate controls and, we have to say, we quite like the idea. But it is this sort of wilfully different (some might say 'perverse') approach to cabin ergonomics that defines all Chinese cars, not just the G6. No matter which make and model you're in, there's always some weird foible or quirk on them that you have to learn and then memorise, if you want to use in-car functions effectively while you're on the move.
Practicality
No complaints about the Xpeng G6 in this regard, even though it bafflingly doesn't have a glovebox. Stowage in the cabin includes one of those big under-dash areas hiding the USB sockets, as well as a large cubby beneath the lidded central armrest and sizeable door pockets. But the better news is ample passenger space in the second row thanks to the Xpeng's 2,890mm wheelbase, with excellent leg- and headroom on offer plus a completely flat floorwell all throughout the zone. There's also a capacious 571-litre boot in the G6 with all seats in use, this item including under-floor storage that'd be a good place to stash the car's charging cables.
Performance
As with many EVs of this type, Xpeng offers you three main flavours of the G6. The first is the RWD Standard Range, with a solitary rear-mounted motor, 68.5kWh battery pack and outputs of 252hp/440Nm. The 0-62mph run takes a little beyond 6.9 seconds and the official WLTP driving range is 292 miles.
Stepping up from there, the next variant is the RWD Long Range. It, too, has just the one motor on the trailing axle, but while its peak torque remains the same, power increases to 296hp. This is to compensate for its enlarged 80.8kWh battery pack, bringing increased weight, which is why the 0-62mph time is only marginally improved to 6.7 seconds. The range, however, is a useful 326 miles for this G6.
Topping the tree is the car we're testing here. It has the same battery pack as the RWD Long Range (incidentally, both Xpeng batteries are lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, chemistry), but it adds a secondary 140kW/220Nm motor on the leading axle for all-wheel drive. Going under the moniker of AWD Performance, the peak outputs are 487hp/660Nm, dramatically cutting the 0-62mph time to 4.1 seconds. The one-shot driving capability only takes a modest hit from the RWD Long Range, dropping ten miles back to 316 outright.
And, in isolation, it feels like the one we'd recommend you'd get, if only because it's not a huge amount more than the two RWD models (see Value, below). The G6 AWD Performance certainly feels every bit as strong as the on-paper numbers suggest, delivering its ample power and torque in a smooth, progressive fashion that makes it feel gut-punchingly quick, yet beautifully never head-snappingly violent in the way it lunges for the horizon. It's just a thoroughly well-calibrated throttle, and ditto the brakes, which work effectively and unobtrusively at blending regeneration and friction deceleration in a seamless fashion.
It's not just potent straight-line performance on the road where the Xpeng G6 impresses, but also in terms of its electrical efficiency and its charging speeds. Across a 250-mile plus week in our care, it displayed anything between 3.1 and 3.5 miles/kWh, a pretty commendable return for a near-500hp, 2.2-tonne, dual-motor SUV like this, while its peak charging speed is a phenomenal 451kW DC - theoretically allowing for a 10-80 per cent top-up cycle to be all done and dusted in just 12 minutes. We didn't manage to find a DC public point that could deliver anything like that power on our travels with the Xpeng, but it always ran at 100-150kW nonetheless, so you don't spend ages at rapid units needlessly frittering away precious minutes of your life while the G6 replenishes its battery.
Ride & Handling
The undoubted star showing of the Xpeng G6 AWD Performance is its truly superb rolling refinement and ride comfort. True, there are moments where the 20-inch wheels at all corners of the car make their presence known, specifically as they traverse the deeper indentations and craters that litter our roads' crumbling surfaces in 2026 with something of an audible, hard-edged thump, but these are rare and mostly restricted to lower-speed incidences. Once it is up to a higher speed and relying on its damping to provide a featureless secondary ride quality, the G6 proves to be the Chinese car with possibly the best suspension we've encountered yet.
It's also pretty good to hustle, too. This is thanks to steering that feels reasonably naturalistic in feel off the dead-centre, with weighting and consistency that speaks volumes of solid engineering where someone has put in some thought about how nicely the end product might drive. Sure, the G6 isn't brilliant and pin-sharp in the corners, in the way that something like, say, a BMW iX3 or a
Porsche Macan Electric might be, but it's capable, composed and classy when you start pushing it down the road at a fair old lick. And, needless to say, the Xpeng is considerably cheaper than either of those two Germans. Which brings us onto...
Value
There's a really straightforward pricing structure for the Xpeng G6. It starts at an incredibly competitive £39,990 for the RWD Standard Range, and then you simply add five grand a time to step up. So yes, the RWD Long Range is £44,990, and this AWD Performance is £49,990.
To get that level of power and pace, plus the interior roominess and quality finishing, for less than £50,000 seems a good deal to us in this day and age of crazy car prices, while the standard equipment list is also, predictably, generous on the Xpeng. Items such as adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera system with park assist, an 18-speaker Xopera sound system, 20-inch wheels, a panoramic glass roof, Nappa leather upholstery (on Long Range and AWD models), electrically adjustable, heated and ventilated front seats (and they're massaging too, on the higher two models), a heated steering wheel and rear seats, dual 50-watt wireless smartphone-charging pads, and ambient interior lighting are all part of the factory kitlist, among much, much more.
Verdict
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and while the Xpeng G6 might seem eerily familiar if you're clued up on your Tesla Model Y knowledge, the Chinese car is nevertheless a highly talented alternative to the American EV disruptor. Sure, there are some minor ergonomic grievances with the interior layout of the button-free G6, while the driving experience is discreetly polished and praiseworthy, rather than something to get giddily excited about.
But as a quiet, comfortable and accomplished electric SUV with acceptable range and real-world economy, ridiculously quick recharging times, and a healthy dollop of on-road grunt, this AWD Performance is well worth checking out. Easily the most convincing all-rounder served up by any Chinese car company yet, this one.
