Amidst a sea of shock and awe electric cars from China, the XPeng G6 truly is a breath of fresh air. That’s because XPeng didn’t see the need in creating something either overtly retro, nor one that is aggressive simply because it is the trendy thing to do.

If anything, the G6 actually looks fairly unremarkable – but done in an obvious and very deliberate way. It lacks the visual flare and pizzazz that something like a Zeekr X would have, but oozes with a certain charm and class that only stripped down, smooth and simple designs could have.

And this seems to be the general ethos of the car. It isn’t sporty or loud (in a show-offy sense) in any way, with the G6 not overly keen on trying to convince you that it is something it isn’t. Rather, it wants you to experience what it can do as a comfortable and well-equipped daily cruiser.

About That Look

There’s nothing wrong with car designers wanting to design subtle vehicles for the modern age. I think we are fast approaching a point of visual fatigue, where too many automakers have jumped on either the ultra-sporty or the modern-classic bandwagon – the new entrants are especially guilty of this.

The G6 bucks this trend, choosing to carve its own path instead. It has sleek, simple lines, with generally very smooth surfacing throughout the vehicle. The front end has a singular lightbar that spans the width of the vehicle, with the ‘X’ badge neatly integrated in the middle of this design feature.

The edges of said lightbar also joins up with the wing and bonnet, which are additional thoughtful design touches that you’d really only find on premium cars. The main headlight clusters are located lower down the front fascia, and they work nicely with the lines on the lower part of the front bumper.

You’ll notice the same attention-to-detail round the rear of the vehicle, with a similarly-styled rear lightbar spanning the width of the G6 too. Like the front, the bulk of the luminary works are done by the main clusters underneath the lightbar.

Comfort-First

As it isn’t a true Coupe SUV (there’s just some clever design touches to sell you that illusion), there’s sufficient headroom for rear seat occupants. Leg and knee room is extremely generous too, with plush seats helping to add to that sense of luxury.

The dashboard design is just as minimalist, with everything controllable via a 14.96-inch infotainment touchscreen. Buttons are in seriously short supply in the cabin, but sensible placement of hotkey shortcuts mean you really wouldn’t miss them too much.

It is also the very first Chinese car I’ve used with a UI that is truly on-par with the Europeans. Every single sub-menu had cohesive fonts, and they are all visually appealing and extremely simple to navigate. It helps that the panels (including the instrument cluster) are incredibly high-res, and very logically laid out.

Another plus is the G6’s front seats, which feel more like comfortable arm chairs that seats fitted to a car. On the whole, the car is truly impressive on the inside, with perhaps only one real let-down – the inability to set consumption for Trips A and B. And perhaps also the inability to display said trips on your driving display (it can only show distance travelled from last charge).

Proudly a Cruiser

The supplied tester happens to be the Long-Range variant of the G6. It comes with a 87.5 kWh battery pack, which sends its electrons to its rear-mounted, 282 bhp electric motor. XPeng claims it’d do a homologated 570 kilometres, though I personally feel like that is a very conservative estimate.

I was able to achieve an average efficiency figure, driving normally, that’d equate to around 680 kilometres on a single charge. This can partially be attributed to a chassis tuned for comfort, with steering sensations that are dulled down, and a throttle response that isn’t as aggressive as most of its rivals.

You’ll have to utilise quite a significant chunk of the initial pedal travel for any actual movement to occur. Once you are past about the 25% mark, the throttle then appears to ramp up, almost exponentially. Well, as exponentially as 282 bhp gets you anyways. This also makes it incredibly easy to modulate the G6 in full one-pedal mode.

Simply lift to the point around the quarter mark, and let the car scrub speed in a controlled, gradual fashion. Doing so allows the shocks to settle in a calm fashion, further adding to its ride-comfort-centric nature of the suspension.

A Diamond in the Rough

The G6 is proof that XPeng is taking car building very seriously. It is a fantastic introduction to the Guangzhou-based automaker, and a look at what’s to come. At sub $300,000 (prices accurate at the time of publishing) it is truly a lot of car for the money, and a quality automobile that is almost hidden in plain sight.

Ultimately, what XPeng needs to do locally, before the G6 can truly shake off a Diamond in the Rough image, is to allow more people to understand what the brand is all about. Because once they do, they’ll realise just how great a value some new Chinese brands can be, and how taking a leap of faith with a new brand can be the best car buying decision you’ll make for the next 10 years!

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