CarBrandLogos archive · XPeng · 2020

XPengP7

The sleek saloon that made a startup look like a proper car company.

Photo: Poprace · CC0

The story

A defining chapter in XPeng history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the XPeng P7, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

XPeng's first model was a sensible crossover. Its second, launched in June 2020, was not. The P7 is a low four-door fastback saloon with a very long wheelbase for its class, a drag-optimised body and a cabin trimmed well above what the company's prices had previously suggested — a deliberate move to be seen alongside Tesla's Model 3 rather than beneath it.

Xpeng P7 002 · Jengtingchen · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The engineering argument was range and autonomy. Long-range single-motor versions offered some of the best certified range available in China at the time, and the P7 was the launch platform for XPILOT, the company's driver-assistance stack, which it developed internally with its own perception software and later extended to city streets rather than just motorways. XPeng also used the car to push over-the-air feature delivery aggressively.

Xpeng P7 on display at Mix C Zhengzhou · Windmemories · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

It worked. The P7 became XPeng's volume model and the car that convinced investors and rivals that the company had genuine engineering depth, not just a supply chain. A high-performance P7 followed, then the P7+ and a substantially new P7 generation, keeping the nameplate at the top of the range.

XPeng P7 Wing · Tim Wu · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance