Xpeng Mona M03: CHEAPEST EV with Self-Driving Tech??

[@stefan2796]

Xpeng's design department is a beacon of hope in a very dark world.

[@Bud_Terence]

Trunk opening and space💯 . That's the way to do it, and not those small mailbox openings.

[@ChinaDriven]

It's certainly impressive. And I do prefer a liftback on a sedan. It just makes more sense practically!

[@mkmd8959]

The design really refreshing, usually unattainable at this price range......

[@ChinaDriven]

Absolutely

[@e-trippingwithadamgebbett8024]

Bring it to the UK. It will sell.

[@hishamarafa6780]

Thanks for the informative review. Please mention ground clearance and maximum speed of cars you review. I like your Chinese😜

[@ChinaDriven]

@@hishamarafa6780 unfortunately we don’t have all the specs before launch. So top speed for example was released when we filmed this. But top speed has been announced since 155kph. No specs on ground clearance

[@Scarbir]

It's the 2024 Daihatsu Applause. Not the prettiest, but that SPACE!

[@andikahaikal]

Have u tried the 'peach' exercise in the car? Hillarious, 1st of its kind ever!😅 When is the launch date? They say there's max version where all bells & whistles are, is that true?

[@rcast3763]

Looks good for the money! FWD?

[@waynerm002]

I like that the rear seat is higher than what I’ve seen in other EVs, or a lot os space under your legs but, that also stops the seat-back from folding flat. More new EVs need to start making the seats higher.

[@sebastienlucas6415]

great vdo, where the footage has been shot ? the place look beautiful

[@ChinaDriven]

This is Ningbo at an exhibition centre. near a lake. haha

[@kurttidmore4576]

Looks like the car I need, but what do the acronyms? NOA?

[@ChinaDriven]

@@kurttidmore4576 NOA is Navigate On Autopilot.

[@jansenwilder1335]

I wish this had the G6 dashboard.. now it looks like model 3 single screen 😅

[@AJames-jr8kw]

Initially felt same then I saw a review that said for 599 Chinese yuan ($84) you can option a second screen that goes behind the the steering wheel. It just gets better and better.

[@ianpolo5673]

This Mona M3 versus Aion ES (S plus) are very close rival. But my take will be Mona M3. I am glad in terms of materials, Chinese makers aren't like the Japanese or the Koreans using lots of hard plastic for their interior and obvious cost-cutting measures.

[@joelsnake8]

It's surprising the Xpeng isn't selling this car in Europe when they are selling other models which are more expensive than the Mone M03. In my opinion they should try to bring the best-value models first to appeal to consumers.

[@ChinaDriven]

@@joelsnake8 This has only just come to market in China. Even if it’s plan to go to Europe they will first deal with the backlog of pre-orders in China.

[@exwestfale8303]

Is there a frunk?

[@ChinaDriven]

No. But you don't need one. The trunk is huge and frunks are over rated...

[@tomaschan6880]

What color is your car? Is it Grey or Blue?

[@ChinaDriven]

@@tomaschan6880 a blueish grey

[@JianYZhong]

Thanks, interesting vehicle. I look forward to your post launch review. I am afraid some of your comments went over my head, maybe you can try to “dumb it down” a little but without annoying your more knowledgeable audience …?

[@ChinaDriven]

which part didn't you understand? If you understand Chinese you can watch on bilibili with chinese subtitles. www.bilibili.com/video/BV1BbpkeYEGk

[@JianYZhong]

@@ChinaDriven Thanks for reading my comment and replying! There were two parts I didn't understand. One was about the suspension but that's OK. I get the general idea that an "inferior suspension" can be just as good (or acceptable). The other was your speculation about something relating to ... the software/chip?? Maybe you can elaborate on this in your next review of the XPeng Mona. Also, in your next review, could you assess how efficient the car is in "real world" driving conditions? A lot of reviews (understandably) go on about how fast the EV sprints, but I think in practice most of us are just interested in how efficient it is. A reason I am interested in the Mona is that it potentially could be one of the most efficient EVs in the market, but just speculating. Look forward to getting your judgement on this!

[@ChinaDriven]

Without long-term use it's hard to assess how efficient an EV might be. I always quote the CLTC ranges. Now CLTC is not very realistic in itself. But you can use it to see which is more efficient than another as its the same baseline for them all! The suspension set-up known as "torsion beam" is a non-independent suspension meaning the wheels in the rear do not move in a lateral motion (think up and down movement) independently. A Multi-link is independent and thus the wheels can move up and down independently. The easiest way to think about where you might notice a difference is if only one rear wheel was driving over a speed bump while the other was on flat surface.

[@JianYZhong]

@@ChinaDriven Thanks for explaining the "torsion beam" vs "multi-link" distinction. So I should divide CLTC range by the battery capacity? I guess that's a good way to objectively compare the energy efficiency of different vehicles. Thanks, I hadn't thought of doing that. Most reviewers just quote the range and battery capacity separately; it seems a good idea to combine the two as a ratio.

[@ChinaDriven]

@@JianYZhong It’s not quite that simple. Because if a battery is 50kWh it doesn’t mean that’s the total usable amount. Normally the total usable amount is lower. If the EV efficiency is given to us I try to include it. But obviously only those with great EV efficiency like to share that information.

[@Scarbir]

How can your talk about the rear suspension be the same as Wheelsboy?! Huh!

[@ChinaDriven]

I haven’t see Ethan’s video so I don’t know what you are talking about. Maybe we said something similar because it’s true? Edit: OK I just watched it. Yes I guess we have similar experiences with other cars with "better suspensions"

[@eden5260]

In china the price online is 135k Not sure why every single video Has this question mark informatio. 100-150 is a huge difference

[@ChinaDriven]

I can answer that for you. There's no official pricing yet. So the range given to media was 100-150,000rmb. The announcement will be on the 27th. This was also recorded on the 9th August. Since then 135K has been floated around online. Could see it lowered for a dramatic unveiling, could stay the same.

[@AJames-jr8kw]

119,800 CNY for base version.

[@ChinaDriven]

@@AJames-jr8kw yup the prices have now been announced. The most expensive version with the highest level of ADAS won’t go on sale until Q1 2025

[@eden5260]

@@AJames-jr8kw that's the price of an atto 3 /yuan plus . If this car is that much better as it claims it's a crazy price

[@AJames-jr8kw]

@@ChinaDriven How did a guy who wanted to be a vet end up a car reviewer in China?

[@fabianbecker6612]

Charge time 30-80% 😅 wtf normal should be specified as 10-80%

[@ChinaDriven]

@@fabianbecker6612 Normal for LFP. Originally the quoted times for NCM was always 20-80%. But after recent improvements we are now seeing 10-80% charge times for NCM.

[@fabianbecker6612]

@@ChinaDriven It shouldn't matter, for comparison purposes you should always specify 10-80%. This is how manufacturers like to trick you to make their charging times look better

[@ChinaDriven]

@@fabianbecker6612 for LFP battery chemistry it is 30-80% as this is the “fast charging” range where they can hold their higher charge rates. For NCM battery chemistries it is 10-80% for the same reason. 1) OEMs provide charging data. LFP 30-80% NCM 10-80% 2) IF you were to show LFP 10-30% you would see it is slower than NCM. It’s a limitation of the battery chemistry same as LFP having lower energy density. But LFP have advantages also. Able to be charged to 100% and held safely compared to NCM. And don’t have the thermal runaway and battery fires associated with NCM chemistries. So in short it’s comparing oranges to apples to compare fast charge times of NCM and LFP. Compare LFP to LFP (all 30-80%) and NCM to NCM (10-80%)

[@ChinaDriven]

@@fabianbecker6612 it’s not a trick. It’s always been this way. Depending where you are based in the world you may not have LFP batteries in your local market EVs.

[@Neutrinum]

Self-Driving useless tech but no HUD or proper Speedo...🤦‍♂😂 We don't need dangerous self driving nonsense cause it will never work 100% properly

[@nicholasglade4572]

Lol, peolple said the same that cars would never work and wanted to stay with horses.

[@AJames-jr8kw]

For $84 (599 CNY) you can option a second screen behind the steering wheel. I imagine it would be like the G6 instrument panel.

[@ChinaDriven]

Correct. What many fail to understand is even at media events not everything is told to us. So we are still in the dark about somethings until the official launches. Nowadays they all like to keep some information back so it drags people to watch, but also give the audience the old "one more thing"

[@TimBorg]

I am only interested in Hatchback cars ...