01/02/2026

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY FEB 1, 2026

Infotainment system in the new Xpeng G6 is now an inch bigger.

Interior updated and now feels more premium.

tioning vents have been replaced with your traditional, manually operated ones. The seats deserve a special mention as they are both wide and comfortable and are wrapped in Nappa leather. Refinement deserves a mention too because you barely hear any thing of the world outside even at speeds of above 140kph – achieved partially with the use of double-glazed windows that absorbs sounds and vibrations before they intrude into the cabin. I must admit though that I was particularly surprised that the infotainment system allowed the passengers to watch YouTube while the car was on the move. That may not sound that good, but it kept my five-year old enter tained all the way to Ipoh and back. He usually does not get that much screen time, but for the sake of real-world automotive journal ism, I let him try it. CONCLUSION Car makers often claim extraordinary things with their cars, but few are able to back up their claims. The fact that the new Xpeng G6 long range can travel exactly as what the manufacturer says it can do is exemplary. The G6 is quite easily the most comfortable, well-built and high tech EV of its price range today, but it is something that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. It has worked on and fixed the flaws of the previous model, and right now it is quite possibly the best EV you could buy at RM180,000, and is quite surely a better alternative to the more expensive Tesla Model Y. SPECIFICATIONS: Motor: Single, rear-mounted Battery: 80.8kWh LFP Power: 297PS and 440Nm Charging: 451kW DC / 11kW AC PRICE (as tested): RM179,708 We like: Refinement, quality, technology. We don’t like: Panoramic roof doesn’t come with a shade.

The lack of a proper keyless entry system, overly complicated air-conditioning vents and some other weird features made it an odd ball. Not anymore though. The newly refreshed Xpeng G6 fixes all the unnecessary compli cations, offers some key design updates, and simply said, is much better than it has ever been. It is also available in three vari ants, there is the all-wheel-drive performance version, which is priced at RM190,708. And then there is the black ver sion which is basically the per formance version but with every thing blacked out and that costs RM194,708. Capping off the variants is the car you see in the photos here, the long-range version, and it is priced at RM179,708. Which is about RM10,000 cheaper than the pre-facelift model. In terms of design, the new G6 is a clear evolution over its prede cessor. The front is distinguished by a full width light bar called the Starlight Wing with integrated turn signals. To accommodate this, the Xpeng logo had to be repositioned to sit on top of the bonnet. Just like before, the main headlight cluster sits underneath the light bar. Capping off the new design is a ducktail at the back, body col oured wheel arches and new 20 inch wheels. The real update though is underneath the car. Whenever a car maker updates a model, the usual thing to do is to give it an upgrade over the model that it replaces. So, when Xpeng announced that the new G6 long range has a smaller battery, some were left scratching their heads. The pre-facelift model had a bigger 87.5kWh battery. The new one has a smaller 80.8kWh bat tery. So naturally with a smaller battery, range takes a hit. The previous model could travel 570km on the WLTP cycle while the new model does 525km.

But the difference here is that the previous battery was made of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) while the current one is lithium iron phosphate (LFP). So, while you may lose overall range, you also gain because the LFP battery has been described as the “workhorse” of EV batteries. It is more durable, lasts longer, and can be charged up to 100% more frequently than the NMC battery, which prefers to be charged up to 80% most of the time. But interestingly, the new model gains more power. The new G6 long range boasts 296PS while

Gear selector sits on the

steering column.

REAL-WORLD TEST Xpeng says its current G6 long range can travel 525km in the real world. Car makers often like to claim mammoth numbers hoping that no one would ever test them. But the world is changing, and no one ever takes anyone’s word at face value. So I decided to put it to the test by undertaking a real-world test – by driving the new Xpeng G6 long range to Ipoh and back. I began the journey from KL at 96% state of charge (SOC) and reached Ipoh at 62% SOC. I drove at a speed of between 80 to 120kph because of the weekend traffic. I could have made it back to KL without recharging but because I had my five-year-old son in the car with me and did not want to take the risk of waiting in queue for a public charger, I decided to recharge the car back up to 89% before leaving Ipoh. The return leg was not as busy and that allowed me to drive at a higher speed. I reached KL with 48% SOC left. All in all, I spent about RM120 on charging, but I know that I could have made the journey back with out recharging at all. THE INTERIOR The interior of the new G6 has been redesigned. The infotainment screen is an inch larger at over 15 inches now and the ultra-annoying electronically controlled air-condi

Electronic seats at the front.

but that would just blow the pipes eventually. What if you had bigger pipes? That means that more water could pass through them and thus giv ing you better pressure through out your home. That is the same principle here. An 800-volt architecture allows more power to run through the cables of the car and lets you recharge the car quicker. So, the Xpeng G6 can accept up to 451kW of DC charging, which will take you from 10% to 80% in just 12 minutes. It also gives you better AC charg ing, 11kW to be exact, and that will take you from 5% to 100% in a lit tle over nine hours. This is all very important because it directly affects the day to-day practicality of the car. Which is something I experienced first-hand when reviewing it.

the previous model offered just 259PS, though both variants offer the same 440Nm of torque. The new models also offers a slightly higher top speed of 202kph as compared to the 200kph of the previous model. But while the performance margins are not that great, you do get better charging capabilities, which is one of the hallmarks of the Xpeng because it is built on an 800-volt architecture. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? The Xpeng G6 is one of the few cars at this price range that is built on an 800-volt architecture. That may sound like gibberish to you but let’s use general home plumb ing as an example. In a regular home, the smaller the plumbing pipes around the home, the lower the water pres sure. You could add a water pump