Xpeng Motors pilots battery leasing service to lower EV-buying threshold

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese EV startup Xpeng Motor launched on September 1 its battery leasing service, which allows consumers to spread the battery pack cost in 84 monthly installments within 7 years.

(Xpeng P7, photo source: Xpeng Motors)

The newly-launched service will be available to the Xpeng G3's 520 i series and the P7's AWD high performance and RWD super-long range versions. Currently, the service is set to be deployed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Wuxi, Ningbo, Foshan, Dongguan, Wuhan and Chengdu under a pilot project.

According to Xpeng's plan, a consumer who uses the battery leasing service can buy an EV without the battery pack at a price much lower than the original value and pay the battery usage fee in 84 installments on a monthly basis. After 7 years, the consumer can entirely have the ownership of the battery pack.

(Xpeng G3, photo source: Xpeng Motors)

The newly-launched service will significantly lower the initial car-buying cost for consumers. Take the Xpeng G3 52i “Zhixiang” standard-range version as an example, a user can pay only 122,800 yuan ($17,966) to get the vehicle excluding the battery pack and spend 780 yuan ($114) per month on using the battery pack. Besides, Xpeng Motors also grants a 30% down payment ratio for consumers to get the battery-free car body, thus people need pay as low as 36,840 yuan ($5,390) before they drive a car home.

For those who are undemanding over battery range, Xpeng Motor designs a special plan that requires lower fee in battery leasing. Let’s take the G3 52i “Zhixiang” version once again. Under the special plan, a consumer needs to pay only 580 yuan ($85) per month to use the battery pack.

The vehicles under the special plan feature battery range shorter than that of the standard range, while other services and rights like the complete vehicle warranty, the basic data volume and the home charging pile remained unchanged. If consumers want longer range in the future, they can get their vehicles upgraded to the standard range by paying extra money.