When XPeng Motors announced its new MONA line of AI-centric BEVs, it said it was gunning for the Tesla in China. After officially launching its first MONA model, the M03, in China today, XPeng is coming out with guns blazin’, announcing a starting price of RMB 119,800 ($16,815). That’s over half the price of a Tesla Model 3. As a result, the M03 has garnered huge orders out of the gate.
It’s been a busy but exciting journey for XPeng Motors and its new MONA lineup of BEVs, which was announced back in April. Although MONA was originally described as a new all-electric sub-brand under the XPeng umbrella, it has since evolved into a portfolio of AI-powered models, beginning with the flagship M03.
This initial model officially debuted in early July, promising a price below RMB 200,000 ($27,500). Earlier this month, XPeng founder, chairman, and CEO He Xiaopeng shared that the M03 had begun mass production in China before a scheduled launch event on August 27.
A product poster that surfaced soon thereafter revealed that the MONA M03 would debut at a starting price significantly lower than initially promised – RMB 135,900 ($19,040). Today however, XPeng surprised the public yet again, officially launching pre-orders of the M03 at even even lower starting price.
Source: XPeng/MONA/Weibo
The price is right with the arrival of XPeng’s MONA M03
Following a launch event in China earlier today, the MONA M03 has officially launched and is available for pre-order. According to XPeng, the M03 snagged over 10,000 orders in its first 52 minutes, and we can see why.
Per MONA’s Weibo page, the M03 arrives in three separate trims, priced at RMB 119,800 ($16,815), RMB 129,800 ($18,220), and RMB 155,800 ($21,870), respectively. The three variants – 515, 620, and 580 Max – refer to each M03’s CLTC range (km), and the “Max” signifies the addition of XPeng’s smart driving ADAS capability.
When XPeng first unveiled the MONA M03 in July, He Xiaopeng said it was designed to “honor the Tesla Model 3.” Judging by the pricing mentioned above, the Chinese automaker is more concerned with challenging the status of the Model 3 in China than anything.
For example, the Model 3 is currently available in three trims in China priced at RMB 231,900 ($32,550), RMB 271,900 ($38,160), and RMB 335,900 ($47,150), respectively. So even at its top-tier level, the MONA M03 is now available at more than half the price of its Tesla competitor.
Not to mention, the new XPeng sedan is longer, wider, and taller than the Model 3, with a slightly shorter wheelbase.
Each model is propelled by a single motor that can accelerate 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.8 seconds in the 515 and 7.4 seconds in the 620 and 580 Max variants. The most affordable trim features a 51.8 kWh battery pack, while the other two come with 62.2 kWh packs. During today’s launch, Xiaopeng said the Mona M03 consumes 11.5 kWh of electricity per 100 kilometers.
With pre-orders now open, Xpeng says it will begin Mona M03 deliveries in September. Deliveries of the Max variant are expected to start after China’s Spring Festival holiday in late January to early February 2025.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
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Open to work
Kenworth T880E; via PACCAR.
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
Kenworth T880E; photo by the author.
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
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We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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