Chinese carmaker XPeng held its inaugural global brand event in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with the new version of its multi-purpose van (MPV) X9 as the centerpiece of the event.
The new version of the seven-seat MPV was unveiled last week and brings few updates on thje exterior design. In the interior, XPeng claims the refreshed X9 has received “496 technical upgrades and 35% newly developed components.”
The model ditched Nvidia chips and uses now the brand’s in-house developed Turing AI Smart Driving chip joining other Chinese automakers — such as Nio — who also recently launched its own smart driving chip ‘Shenji NX9031’.
After the company decided no to launch the first generation X9 in its European markets, the new version will arrive “select regions” of the old continent in the second half of this year. “Further expansion into additional countries” will follow, according to the Guangzhou-based carmaker.
[Disclosure: XPeng flew EV to Hong Kong to attend the event.]
“On safety, the X9 stands out as the only MPV to receive top scores in all three major
active safety crash tests, with 14 advanced safety features, including automatic emergency braking,” the company said in a statement.
XPeng claims the model has the highest efficiency among all MPVs with 16.2 kWh per 100 km and is capable of adding 1 km of range every second reaching 80% in 12 minutes.
A picture of a extended range version of the X9 was recently seen refueling in Guangzhou, where XPeng is headquartered. However, at the event, the company did not mention the extended range version of the MPV nor confirmed when it expects to be launched.
The 2025 X9 starts at 359,800 yuan ($49,190) in China, maintaining the pricing of the first geberation. The high-end variant stats at just below 420,000 yuan.
XPeng aims to reach 60 markets by year-end, doubling the number of countries it was present in by late last year. On Wednesday, XPeng’s vice-chairman Brian Gu revealed the brand will officially launch in Italy “later this month”
The company debuted in January the right-hand drive version of the X9 MPV at the Singapore Motor Show. Earlier last month, the model was launched in Malaysia, making it the second Southeast Asian country to receive the MPV, after it launched in Thailand in February.
