Xpeng G6 review

It feels glassy, with big windows and a glazed roof. Rear and three-quarter visibility is hampered by bulky seats and the tapering roof, so you rely on the surround cameras and the digital rear-view mirror when manoeuvring. Unfortunately the screen of the latter was so reflective in our test car that all we were seeing was shadows.

Still, all this light emphasises the roominess. There's bags of legroom in the back, and the compact battery package gives enough foot space too, which is absolutely not a given in EVs. There should probably be an intercom to speak with those in the back seats. The rear bench reclines a few degrees too.

The boot has a big floor area, but it's a bit shallow versus rivals, especially because the roller blind – a flimsy contraption – lies lower than it needs to. And there's no frunk. Boot space is 571 litres, some way behind the cavernous 854 litres in a Model Y, but a fair bit more than the 520 litres you’d get in a BYD Sealion 7.

The front seats are comfy enough, but the Performance version could really do with a bespoke seat with more support. The base doesn't tilt either in any G6, and the general feel of what was supposed to be Nappa leather seemed a bit cheap to us. Shame.

Talk to me about screens…

Annoyingly even the aim of the side mirrors is buried deep in a submenu of the 15.6in central screen, but Xpeng has at least added in manual direction control for the air vents in the facelift. Even in the screen, there's no stereo volume adjustment the passenger can reach. You really are paying a huge price for the visual simplicity, although you do get some shortcuts along the bottom of the display. Discovering that it has actual electric window switches is like finding an oasis in the desert, and unlike in a Tesla you do get a small screen behind the wheel that shows your speed.

The steering wheel has rollers and buttons. But their operation is unintuitive and shows you're really not supposed to go against what the car thinks is best. The roller on the left-hand spoke normally adjusts cabin temperature, and whenever you touch it, it turns on the air conditioning, even if you've previously turned the AC off because you just want fan-assisted ambient air rather than chilled. And you might operate it by accident because at certain times it becomes the cruise control speed setting. Aaaargh.

The virtual voice assistant is a cheery animated robot on screen. But it doesn't assist much. "Navigate to Barnet Wood Road" is not an ambiguous destination instruction, is it? And neither is “Play BBC Radio Two”. Despite our clearest RP enunciation, it failed repeatedly to understand.

We also found the 18-speaker stereo to be a little bit tinny in its sound quality. Still, the navigation is quick acting, the centre console has plenty of storage, the massage seats are impressively aggressive, and you get built-in apps such as Spotify that use your existing subscriptions. There are two fan-cooled wireless charging pads too, now with a softer base apparently.