2026 Xpeng G6: A game changer – for a reason you won’t expect

The pace of change in China is pretty hard to comprehend. Take Shenzhen. In the late 1970s it was a small border town to the north of Hong Kong. Just four decades later it is a mega city of more than 20 million inhabitants and part of the Greater Bay Area that’s the most populous urban area in the world – home to more than 89 million people.

That’s like Ballymena in Northern Ireland becoming the UK’s biggest city within your working lifetime. Mental.

That pace of change is reflected in China’s car industry too, where BYD is taking on (and in some ways beating) Tesla. Closer to home, Jaecoo and Omoda have come from seemingly nowhere to cornering 3% of the UK car market in a blink of an eye.

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Which brings us to the point of this article, Xpeng. Only created in 2014, it describes itself as a technology company, not a car maker. As well as cars, it’s developing AI, robotics and will bring to market next year in China what it describes as a flying car – it’s an electric truck with a drone on the back. The drone decouples from the truck, then you and your passenger are flown in the drone to your preset destination. Impressive stuff.

Unlike more traditional car makers that might introduce new tech two to four years from the first launch of a model, when Xpeng has something new it gets it into its cars as soon as possible.

The G6 only launched in the UK earlier this year as a pretty good alternative to the Tesla Model Y, but already a new version is on the way.

2026 Xpeng G6: what’s new?

The changes aren’t immediately obvious. The updated G6 has a new full-width LED light bar with integrated indicator lights at the front and a ducktail spoiler on the rear of the roof and that’s about your lot.

It’s a similar story on the inside – with some new trims and a digital rear view mirror for the RWD Long Range and AWD versions.

No, the big story is underneath the floor – its batteries. Xpeng has actually reduced the battery size for its Long Range and Performance versions from 87.5kWh to 80kWh but it has switched from lithium-ion batteries to lithium iron phosphate batteries.

These are a bit heavier but they use fewer precious metals, last longer and crucially can charge faster. With peak power reaching 451kw Xpeng says you can charge the new G6 from 10% to 80% in just 12 minutes – adding a mile of range every 1.5 seconds.

You will struggle to find a charger as fast as that in the UK – Nedfast started rolling out 400kw chargers late last year in Birmingham, Bradford and Dover – but on our test of the G6, using a 300kW charger, we went from 50% to 80% in six minutes – less time than it takes to pop to the toilet for a pee.

The battery tech does mean a drop in range and efficiency – the updated Long Range version has an official range of 332 miles and 3.6miles per kWh, compared with 357 miles and 4mi/kWh of the current model. However, on our test drive on mixed German roads and unrestricted autobahns in the Performance model, we saw efficiency that was actually better than the official figures. Still, a Model Y Long Range has a longer range and is more efficient.

2026 Xpeng G6: what stays the same?

What we like about the current model remains true for this updated one. The cabin is a lovely place to be. The materials feel upmarket – no scratchy plastics anywhere, though the door bins would be even better if they were lined in felt rather than hard plastics.

It’s roomy – five tall people will be comfortable – and with 571 litres of boot space, they should have plenty of space for their stuff too. There’s no front boot.

The infotainment is slick, the cameras are really high res, and the auto park function is easy to use and works well.

This was our first time to test drive the twin-motor 480hp AWD Performance model and it was fine without being exhilarating. It’s quick – but a Model Y Performance is quicker, if that’s your thing. On unrestricted autobahns there was some wind noise around the door mirrors at speeds beyond UK limits but that was about it. The digital rear view mirror certainly helps as the view out the back of the current model isn’t great.

2026 Xpeng prices and specs

Prices have yet to be revealed but we’d expect they wouldn’t change significantly from the current model – today the Long Range version costs £45,000. The new model should be on sale in the UK early next year but given Xpeng’s rate of development, who knows… maybe another one will come along 12 months after that too.

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