The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng Motors announced this week they have secured the approvals required from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to test their new P7 electric sports sedan on US roads.
Xpeng’s P7 EV is seen to be a competitor to Tesla’s Model S sedan, which according to the automaker will have a range of about 706km on a single charge. That range was certified by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, so it is unclear how that relates to the North American EPA standard.
Despite the approvals, Xpeng has no immediate plans to bring the vehicle to North America. The testing will be used to add to the company’s research and testing in China, according to He Xiaopeng, co-founder and chief executive of the company.
The P7 premiered at the Shanghai Auto Show in April last year, and will carry a retail price between ¥240,000 ($49,600 CAD) and ¥370,000 ($76,500 CAD). The company announced in November it had already amassed more than 15,000 pre-orders.
h/t [Abacus]
