Turing AI and “bulletproof” EV batteries arrive with 2025 Xpeng G6 SUV
The Xpeng G6 all-electric SUV has received a raft of 81 updates for the 2025 model year – and chief among these is a new, “bulletproof,” ultra-fast 5C charging “A.I. battery” that can go from 10 to 80% charge in just twelve minutes.
Sized and priced to put the best-selling Tesla Model Y firmly in its crosshairs, the Xpeng G6 SUV has been substantially upgraded for 2025 with three trim levels starting at “just” 176,800 yuan ($27,620, as I type this). Meaning that, despite the improved range, ADAS offerings, and charging speed, the 2025 model’s starting price is nearly 11% lower than last year’s already popular model.
For that money, G6 buyers will get the Xpeng-developed Turing AI intelligent driving system – an advanced ADAS system powered by the company’s 40-core “Turing chip” processor that promises to deliver the power of three high-performance chips in one.
The Turing chip is the basis for Xpeng’s Canghai neural network, which the company claims will eventually support full-scale L4 autonomous driving with enhanced safety features that have 33x the bandwidth, and 12x faster camera image processing than its main competitors, creating a foundation for full-scenario AI-enabled driving experiences that probably won’t smash your car into a Wile E. Coyote-style mural.
Turing AI launch
The newsworthy specs don’t stop there, however. The new 2025 Xpeng G6 also offers the company’s new “bulletproof” 5C AI batteries.
For those of you not in the know, the “5C” there refers to “five cycles,” and basically means that the battery can go from 10 to 80% full five times in an hour. 60 minutes in an hour, 12 minutes to go from 10-80%, that’s 1/5th of an hour, so it’s 5 cycles … or: 5C. A 6C battery would do the trick in 10 minutes, a 4C in 15, etc.
As for what makes the Xpeng AI batteries “bulletproof,” the company claims the battery is wrapped in a sort of armor that can withstand more than 1,000 degrees C of heat, up to 80 tons of collision force in a side-impact scenario, and more than 2000 joules of impact from the bottom.
2025 Xpeng G6 available models
- 625 Long-range Max Technology Edition: 176,800 yuan (~ $24,400)
- 625 Long-range Max Ultimate Edition: 186,800 yuan (~ $25,800)
- 725 Ultra-long-range Max Ultimate Edition: 198,800 yuan (~ $27,500)
The 625 models get 625 km of range on the CLTC (China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle), which translates to about 275 miles of EPA range. The 725 model adds another 100 km (60 miles) of range. The AI batteries in all three models go from 3C to 5C charging speed and ship with the Turing AI self-driving system as standard equipment.
Other upgrades for 2025 include a 9-inch streaming rearview mirror, updates to the soft-touch rubber and plastic materials in the cabin, and Xpeng’s new “cloud-sense” seats that support heat, ventilation, and (up front) even massage.
Two new body colors have also been added to the G6′ pallette: Starry Purple and Cloud Beige (shown, below), bring the total of available colors to six.
Xpeng went to Weibo to announce that it took the redesigned 2025 G6 just seven minutes to log 5,000 firm orders, on its first day of availability.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t always agree with Ford CEO Chris Jim Farley, but he’s absolutely right about Chinese EVs setting the standard for range, performance, and technology. It seems like every new EV that emerges from China’s tech-forward car brands makes EVs from Ford and Tesla look the level-three generic offerings from whatever the automotive equivalent of Dollar Tree is.
The only problem with that analogy is that the American offerings often cost consumers twice as much. And, before you jump into the comments and write about government subsidies and federalized healthcare costs and other supposed Chinese advantages – remember that we could do those things, too, if we wanted.
What would our excuse be then?
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xpeng, via CarNewsChina; CNEVPost.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Toyota the EV battery supplier? Honda will use them to power up its 400,000 hybrids in the US
Toyota is now a battery supplier? That’s the plan. Honda will use Toyota’s batteries to power up its around 400,000 hybrids sold in the US.
Toyota will supply batteries for Honda hybrids in the US
Toyota’s $14 billion battery plant in North Carolina is ready for business. The facility will begin shipping out batteries next month, and it looks like Toyota already has its first customer.
According to a new Nikkei report, starting in fiscal 2025, Toyota will supply batteries for the roughly 400,000 Honda hybrids sold in the US.
Honda currently uses batteries from China and Japan for vehicles sold in the US, but the company is (like most) preparing for changes under Trump.
Honda’s electrified vehicles, including EVs and hybrids, accounted for over a quarter of US sales last year. The company sold over 308,500 hybrids and 40,400 electric vehicles in the US in 2024. The batteries will likely be used in the CR-V and other Honda hybrid vehicles.
Earlier this month, an extra 10% tariff on imports from China took effect. And that’s on top of the 10% imposed in February.
With more expected, including a 25% increase in vehicles imported from Japan, automakers are tightening up their supply chains.
A 25% tariff on Japanese vehicles, up from 2.5% currently, is estimated to cost the six major Japanese automakers about $20 billion in the US.
Tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada could cost Honda roughly $4.7 billion alone. Teaming up with Toyota to use its batteries for its hybrids is part of Japan’s broader global plans to ween off dependence on China and others for batteries and other emerging tech.
The new US plant, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMC), is over seven million square feet, or about the size of 121 football fields.
As Toyota’s first in-house battery factory outside of Japan, the plant could be a game changer as Trump’s tariffs take effect. Securing Honda as a buyer will already help Toyota cut costs as it ramps up output.
Toyota plans to ramp up electrified vehicle (EV, PHEV, and hybrid) sales in North America from around 40% last year to 80% by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
Trump’s tariffs are already causing havoc, with nearly every automaker warning that they put the US further behind. Overseas automakers are not the only ones feeling the heat, either.
The “Big Three,” GM, Ford, and Jeep maker Stellantis all build vehicles in Canada and Mexico. GM cut output at its plant in Mexico in January, where the electric Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Honda Prologue are made. Stellantis halted operations at its Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada last month, where it was expected to launch the Jeep Compass EV production. What’s next?
For Toyota, it looks like its $14 billion bet to build batteries in the US is already paying off. Now, we just need it to introduce more EVs.
After unveiling three new electric SUVs in Europe last week, including the updated bZ4X, Toyota hinted more is on the way for the US. Check back soon for updates.
What do you think? Do you want to see more Toyota EVs in the US, like the new C-HR+? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
If Musk wants to sell Tesla cars to conservatives, Tesla needs stores and service in red states
Elon Musk wants to sell Tesla cars to conservatives, but if that’s the strategy, the automaker should start with having stores and service centers in red states and rural areas.
It’s no secret that Elon Musk’s approval ratings with progressives have been plummeting over the last few years and even more so in the previous few months.
Since he has control over Tesla and he is the only official spokesperson since he let go of the PR department in 2020, the CEO is dragging the automaker along for the ride.
This is a problem for Tesla as Democrats are much more likely to buy electric vehicles than Republicans:
Tesla’s sales have been crumbling over the last few months, and after the stock crashed 15% last Monday, President Trump held a controversial commercial for Tesla with Musk on the steps of the White House on Tuesday.
A day later, it was reported that Musk plans to give Trump another $100 million in political donations.
It was an apparent attempt to try to promote Tesla to Trump’s fans: conservatives.
Based on a Tesla inventory check and new order delivery timeline, we reported that the Trump ad appeared to have little to no impact on the demand for Tesla vehicles.
It could be that people see through Musk and Trump’s quid pro quo and, therefore, don’t value Trump’s “Tessler” endorsement seriously. Still, there’s also a more practical reason why Trump’s fans and conservatives generally don’t buy more Tesla vehicles: the locations of Tesla’s stores and service centers (hat tip to Ben).
Even if some Trump fans were interested in buying a Tesla after the White House commercial last week, they might have been turned off by the idea of having to drive several hours to a store or service center.
Tesla does not have stores or service centers in Alabama, Arkansas, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, or Wyoming.
In some cases, it’s not entirely Tesla’s fault, as some of these states have laws against Tesla’s direct sale models. They force automakers to go through third-party franchise dealerships. This is an abuse of old state laws aimed at protecting dealers against unfair competition from the automakers they represent.
Car dealer lobbies use their influence on state legislatures to use these laws to block Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and other automakers who never had franchise dealerships from operating their own stores and service centers.
But on top of not having locations in several red states, Tesla also primarily has locations in urban areas, whereas conservatives disproportionally live in rural areas.
The automaker has several dead zones and doesn’t operate locations in smaller cities and towns where there are several Ford, GM, Toyota, and other car dealers:
While it certainly does happen, it’s hard to convince someone to buy a car if they have to drive several hours to pick it up and have it serviced.
Electrek’s Take
In short, it’s not only harder to convince conservatives, on average, to buy an electric vehicle, but Tesla is also not correctly set up to sell and service cars in conservative regions of the US.
Though, I think that’s a small part of the problem.
Cars are not supposed to be political.
Even if Tesla successfully converted a significant percentage of conservatives to electric vehicles, it wouldn’t stop the company’s brand destruction.
Tesla’s reputation amongst Democrats and independents has sharply decreased over the last few years, and especially over the last few months, and that’s thanks to Elon Musk alienating them.
It’s tough to be a successful consumer product company when you have alienated 50% or so of your market.
Tesla is basically becoming the MyPillow of Trump’s second term.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway