Xpeng To Soon Deliver 1st 100 G3 Electric Crossovers In Norway

This weekend, we saw on Twitter that the first batch of Xpeng G3 electric crossovers for Europe has arrived in Norway. I reached out to Xpeng to see if they had more information to share, and they said that the first deliveries are coming in mid December, and that this first batch is a batch of 100 vehicles.

In case you haven’t been following along before now, let’s look briefly at some more context regarding Norway and the Xpeng G3.

As we reported a few days ago, 80% of new auto sales in Norway in November were plugin vehicles, and 56% of the new sales were full electrics. This is by far the most mature market in the world for electric vehicles, so it’s a natural place for Xpeng to begin its foreign sales.

The G3 is a competitively low priced electric crossover for what you get — in terms of both features and range.

Pricing in Norway starts at 358,000 NOK ($41,000 USD). That would be the version with a 50.5 kWh battery pack, providing 401 kilometers (250 miles) of range according to the NEDC rating system, or perhaps somewhere around 300 km (186 miles) in the real world.

A G3 with a larger, 66.5 kWh battery pack with 520 kilometers of range according to the NEDC system (somewhere between 230 miles and 300 miles in the real world).

The infotainment system, called “Xmart OS In-car Intelligence System,” includes:

• 15.6-inch Central Touchscreen Display
• 12.3-inch HD Liquid Crystal Intelligent Instrument Panel
• 128GB of Storage
• Wi-Fi & 4G Network
• In-car Bluetooth
• In-car App Store
• Online Content Services
• In-car KTV
• Driving Recorder
• Dual-microphone Noise Reduction
• Mobile App Remote Control
• USB Port (3 Charging+ 1 data interface)
• Automatic Seat Adjustment (height/weight analysis)
• AI Voice Assistant
• Smart Advice Service
• Smart Deodorization
• Over-the-air (OTA) Software Upgrades
• Guard Mode
• Welcome Mode
• Rest Mode
• Meditation Mode

Xpeng took the Tesla patents that Tesla opened up years ago and built a similarly designed vehicle that is, for the most part, different from the vast majority of EVs while being quite reminiscent of a Tesla. Some say it’s too much so, but after years of people saying that automakers should follow Tesla’s lead more, I find it to be an intelligent and practical approach forward. Also, I do think Xpeng has definitely its own unique style — similar to Tesla’s but different.

As far as acceleration, the G3 is not a super quick SUV. Its 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) time is 8.6 seconds. Its semi-autonomous tech includes the following features in the “Smart” or “Premium” trims:

• Enhanced AutoParking Assist (multiple parking scenarios, multiple parking space)
• Integrated Cruise Assist (ICA)
• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Assisted Lange Change
• Adaptive Turning Cruise
• Driving Assistance Simulation Display
• 360° Video System
• Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
• Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
• Cut in Warning (CIW)
• Forward Distance Monitoring (FDM)
• Blind Spot Detection (BSD)
• Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
• Lane Change Assist (LCA)
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
• Door Open Warning (DOW)

Popular YouTuber Bjørn Nyland has at least a couple of videos demonstrating some of these features well, most notably Xpeng’s super self-parking solution:

Bjørn also published a fresh video a week ago introducing the Norwegian version of the Xpeng G3:

A few notes I took from that video include:

• The G3 uses a key fob. (I know this is a normal thing, but having a Tesla Model 3 without a key fob, it’s a bit of a throwback to the past for me.)
• The G3 has an automatic liftgate that you can open and close with the key fob. (Cool! Wish I had that.)
• The liftgate is also intelligent. You can set its normal opening level to whatever height you want — particularly useful for shorter people or people with potential obstructions in their garages or common parking areas.
• The interior does look more similar to a Tesla than any other vehicle I’ve seen, which I consider to be a big plus. The screen behind the steering wheel is basically a straight copy of what’s in a Tesla Model S or Model X. The center touchscreen is vertical like in those models as well, which I do not prefer, since I enjoy the horizontal orientation in our Tesla Model 3, which allows for more enjoyable Netflix or YouTube viewing.
• A couple of super nifty features that you don’t have in a Tesla include the ability to take a picture or a video of what your vehicle cameras see, just like you’re using it like a smart phone. You can even change around the point of view — which camera to use.
• The navigation system includes chargers (including the ability to customize which charging networks you want to include and what types of chargers and power of chargers you’d like to include), live traffic visualizations and info, and — something many Tesla owners will be drooling over — the ability to input waypoints (different stops along the way on a trip)! Many Tesla owners have been asking for the ability to input waypoints for years, and it seems Tesla is finally working to include that ability, but no customer cars have it at the moment.
• The seatbelt is actually a bit intelligent as well. It hugs you tighter on relatively sharp turns. It also does this if you get close to the edge of the lane on the highway — a neat safety feature, but something that you can also deactivate if it annoys you.
• About 13½ minutes, Bjørn again demonstrates the G3’s smart parking system, much more briefly than in the videos above, but emphasizing yet again how superb it is.
• The European version of the app is currently fairly basic, but Xpeng is in the process of adding more features for Europe, as it has in China.
• Bjørn ends the demonstration by showing that the voice command system is excellent, able to understand the commands well and also able to implement a decent variety of commands.

What does all of this mean for Xpeng’s chances of success in Norway, and more broadly in Europe and perhaps North America? We don’t know yet. Though, we should see in the coming year how much this dream of Chinese EV startups expanding into Europe works.

You can learn more about the G3 or Xpeng on CleanTechnica, or can of course head over to Xpeng’s website.