Internal letter from XPeng CEO details 2025 goals, warns of an impending EV ‘price war’
As we bid adieu to 2024, XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng is setting the stage for a big 2025. The EV executive posted an internal letter to XPeng staff outlining the company’s key goals for the upcoming year, imploring all to prepare for fiercer competition in the EV segment and even predicted a price war on the immediate horizon.
During the last hours of 2024, XPeng Motors ($XPEV) operates as one of the EV leaders in China. We at Electrek have covered much of the automaker’s rise to prominence, especially as it has expanded the availability of its EV lineup to global markets like Europe.
XPeng’s portfolio currently consists of seven all-electric models, including the new MONA M03 launched in 2024. Additionally, the company has established its own network of EV chargers and proprietary autonomous driving technology. It also has a business arm dedicated to aerial eVTOL travel, including a flying car prototype.
In 2025, XPeng Motors looks to continue to build on the momentum it has garnered in recent years. However, the company’s founder and CEO relayed that there is still room for improvement for the automaker to remain competitive and, in many ways, lead the industry in China.
XPeng starts 2025 to become #1 overseas
Many businesses may be slowing down and shuttering for a few days to ring in 2025, but XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng remains dialed in. The CEO recently shared an internal letter with the XPeng staff, obtained by the Chinese media outlet CnEVPost.
In the letter, Xiaopeng outlined the company goals for the coming year as well as long term targets to continue global growth in hopes of becoming a household name in EVs. To get there, the XPeng founder said the company must be resilient as he predicts China’s EV industry will enter an elimination phase between 2025 and 2027. As such, he’s warned his staff to prepare for fiercer competition next year, going as far as stating a bold prediction. Per the internal letter:
The market will definitely see fiercer competition in 2025, and I can even make a bold prediction that price war will ignite from January.
Innovation and efficiency will be core tenets of XPeng’s strategy in the future to remain a leader in EVs in 2025 and beyond. Xiaopeng told staff that vehicle companies that lack innovative technology and core competencies, such as comprehensive R&D and marketing capabilities, will miss their opportunity for sustained growth. This could lead to a fading into irrelevance, as warned by Xiaopeng, over the next three years since the Chinese EV market is so saturated.
New Energy Vehicle (NEV) adoption continues to soar overseas, but an influx of similar EV styles and configurations will trigger even more competition and the vital need to stand out. Here are some additional goals for 2025 outlined by the XPeng CEO in the letter:
- Over the next three years, XPeng needs to improve its “systemization capabilities.
- The company must increase its capabilities’ upper limit through systemic innovation, acquire more comprehensive capabilities in the lower limit, and achieve a balance.
- In the next 10 years, Xiaopeng wants to become a leading global AI car company in products, business, organization, and globalization.
- The company plans to launch a new or facelifted model nearly every quarter in 2025.
- Expand hiring to over 6,000 new employees next year.
- XPeng 2025 will be the year XPeng’s internationalization strategy will be fully accelerated.
- Xpeng has already entered 30 countries and regions but intends to exceed 60 by the end of 2025.
While China is its home and most prominent market, XPeng’s CEO sees bigger plans for the brand on a global level. The 2025 goal to “fully accelerate” internationalization is step one in Xiaopeng’s strategy to achieve half of the company sales coming from overseas while becoming the number 1 Chinese mid-to-high-end NEV brand in sales share within the next ten years.
He Xiaopeng told staff that global expansion requires close collaboration between international and domestic colleagues in all departments to achieve said goals. In the letter, Xiaopoeng called XPeng’s strengths in unique products and adjacent technologies “ammunitions” that, when organized more systematically, will get XPeng through the 2025 elimination round and into China’s qualifying round.
All eyes are on 2025 as XPeng remains one of the key Chinese automakers to watch.
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Believe it or not, you can lease an EV for under $200 a month. New deals on models like the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are hard to pass up this month.
Electric vehicles have been all over the news lately, with the Trump administration threatening to end federal incentives and introducing new tariffs that are expected to lead to higher prices.
On the positive side, new EV models are arriving, giving buyers more options and driving prices down. Many automakers reported record US electric car sales in the first three months of 2024.
GM remained the number two seller of EVs behind Tesla after sales doubled in Q1 2025. With the new Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs rolling out, Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is off to its best sales start since launching, with over 11,600 models sold in the first quarter.
With the 2025 models rolling out and about 15 new EVs arriving this year, many automakers are introducing steep discounts to move vehicles off the lot.
EVs for lease for under $200 a month in April
Although the decade-old Nissan LEAF remains one of the most affordable this April at just $149 per month, there are a few EVs under $200 right now that are worth taking a look at.
The new 2025 Hyundai IONIQ might be the best EV deal this month, with leases as low as $199. Hyundai is currently promoting a 24-month lease deal with $3,999 due at signing.
Hyundai upgraded the electric SUV with a bigger battery for more range (now up to 318 miles), a sleek new look inside and out, and it now comes with an NACS port so you can charge it at Tesla Superchargers.
The offer is for the IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range, which has a driving range of up to 245 miles. For just $229 a month, you can snag the SE RWD model, which has a range of up to 318 miles and a more powerful (225 horsepower) electric motor. It’s also a 24-month lease with $3,999 due at signing.
To sweeten the deal, Hyundai is offering a free ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV charger with the purchase or lease of any 2024 or 2025 IONIQ 5. If you already have one, you can opt for a $400 public charging credit.
After slashing lease prices this month, the 2025 Nissan Ariya is actually cheaper than the LEAF in some regions. In Southern California, the 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD is listed at just $129 per month. The AWD model has a range of up to 272 miles.
The deal is for 36 months, with $4,409 due at signing. In April, Nissan cut Ariya lease prices to around $239 in most other parts of the country.
Kia has a few EVs available to lease for under $200 a month in April. The 2025 Kia Niro EV Wind is listed at just $129 for 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. Kia’s crossover SUV has EPA-estimated range of 253 miles.
The 2024 EV6 may be worth considering at just $179 for 24 months ($3,999 due at signing). In California, the EV6 Light Long Range RWD is only slightly more than the Niro Wind.
In most other parts of the country, you can still find the EV6 for under $200 a month. The Light Long Range RWD trim offers up to 310 miles of EPA-estimated range.
| Lease Price | Term (months) |
Amount Due at Signing | Driving Range | |
| 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range | $199 | 24 | $3,999 | 245 miles |
| 2024 Kia EV6 Light Long Rang RWD | $179 | 24 | $3,999 | 310 miles |
| 2024 Kia Niro EV Wind | $129 | 24 | $3,999 | 253 miles |
| 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD | $129 | 36 | $4,409 | 272 miles |
| 2025 Nissan LEAF S FWD | $149 | 36 | $2,629 | 149 miles |
| 2024 Fiat 500 INSPI(RED) | $199 | 24 | $2,999 | 149 miles |
And don’t forget the 2024 Fiat 500e, which is now listed at just $199 for 24 months with $2,999 due at signing. The electric hatchback offers a range of up to 149 miles.
If you are looking to spend a little more, check out our list of EVs you can lease for under $300 a month.
Ready to snag the savings while they are still here? At under $200 a month, some of these EV lease deals are hard to pass up right now. Check out our links below to find deals in your area.
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![The US’s first solar panels over canals pilot is now online [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/Project-Nexus-solar-canal.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Project Nexus, the first solar panel canopies over irrigation canals in the US, is now online in California, and there are plans to expand the project to other areas.
Project Nexus is a $20 million pilot in central California’s Turlock Irrigation District launched in October 2022. The project team is exploring solar over canal design, deployment, and co-benefits using canal infrastructure and the electrical grid.
India already has solar panels over canals, but Project Nexus is the first of its kind in the US.
The Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district formed in California in 1887. It provides irrigation water to 4,700 growers who farm around 150,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.
Project Nexus will explore whether the solar panels reduce water evaporation as a result of midday shade and wind mitigation, create improvements to water quality through reduced vegetative growth, reduce canal maintenance as a result of reduced vegetative growth, and, of course, generate renewable electricity.
The California Department of Water Resources, utility company Turlock Irrigation District, Marin County, California-based water and energy project developer Solar AquaGrid, and The University of California, Merced, are partnering on the pilot. Project Nexus originated from a 2021 research project led by UC Merced alumna and project scientist Brandi McKuin.
Solar panels were installed at two sites over both wide- and narrow-span sections of Turlock Irrigation District canals in Stanislaus County, in various orientations. The sections range from 20 feet wide to 100 feet wide. University of California, Merced has positioned research equipment at both sites to collect baseline data so the researchers can decide where solar will work and where it won’t.
In February 2023, Project Nexus announced it would also deploy long-term iron flow battery storage in the form of two ESS 75kW turnkey “Energy Warehouse” batteries.
You can learn more about Project Nexus here:
Read more: In a US first, California will pilot solar-panel canopies over canals
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