Australasian first: XPeng X9 video review sets NZ charging record

EVs and Beyond has published the first video review of an XPeng X9 anywhere in Australasia, putting the new electric people mover through a full road test ahead of any outlet on either side of the Tasman.

The review carried a record with it. During filming, the X9 became the fastest-charging car yet recorded on New Zealand’s public network, hitting a peak of 337kW at ChargeNet’s Kaiwaka site, where recently installed 400kW hardware is currently limited to 345kW during testing. Even so, the X9 added 97kWh in under 20 minutes, enough for roughly 500km of driving.

“That is enough to pretty much take this or any car close to 500 kilometres in such a short period of time,” says managing editor Richard Edwards in the video. “And this thing still has the potential to charge nearly 200 kilowatts faster.”

The X9 supports charging at up to 535kW, meaning the record is likely to fall again as faster public hardware arrives in New Zealand.

The review is the first video road test of an Australasian-market X9, which arrived in New Zealand last month priced at $104,990 for the front-drive Standard Range and $124,990 for the AWD Performance tested. That positions it around $25,000 below the rival Zeekr 009 on a model-for-model basis.

Beyond the charging record, the review covers the 5.3-metre people mover’s zero gravity second-row seats, internet-connected rear entertainment screen, air suspension and up to 2,500 litres of load space, along with real-world range from its 106kWh battery.

The full review is available now on the EVs and Beyond YouTube channel.