Xpeng will reportedly use batteries from BYD in its Mona sub-brand. Aonther report earlier this month said Nio's Onvo sub-brand would use BYD batteries.
(A teaser image of the first Mona model released by Xpeng in March 2024.)
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will reportedly use batteries from BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) in its Mona sub-brand, following in the footsteps of Nio's (NYSE: NIO) Onvo sub-brand.
Battery suppliers for the Mona's first model include BYD, and the model has a range of more than 500 kilometers, local media outlet 21jingji said in a report today, citing people familiar with the matter.
That's comparable to the 580 km range of the entry-level version of the Xpeng G6, which starts at RMB 179,900, the report noted.
On May 7, Reuters reported that Nio had struck a deal with BYD to source batteries for the Onvo sub-brand.
In announcing the acquisition of ride-hailing giant Didi Global's electric vehicle (EV) business on August 28, 2023, Xpeng said it plannd to launch the new brand, codenamed Mona, in 2024.
The company said on May 1, when it announced April deliveries, that it would let the new brand Mona debut in June. That's a slight delay from previously announced plans.
Mona's first model is being built at Xpeng's plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, and pilot cars have rolled off the production line and are about to enter the PT2 phase, according to the report.
PT (Production Trial) is the validation phase of a vehicle model prior to mass production, and is generally divided into PT0, PT1 and PT2. Once PT2 is completed, the Mona model will move into pre-production (PP) and start of production (SOP), the report noted.
Xpeng's Zhaoqing plant, which has an annual capacity of 200,000 units, underwent a production line upgrade in late January to support the launch of the new model.
Unlike Nio, which brought in Ai Tiecheng, a former Disney executive, from the outside as president of Onvo, Xpeng chose in-house executive Jiang Wen to head the Mona program, according to 21jingji.
Mona's first vehicle, an A-class compact electric sedan priced between RMB 100,000 ($13,820) and RMB 150,000, will feature Xpeng's ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and is expected to be unveiled in June and available for sale and delivery in the third quarter, the report noted.
($1 = RMB 7.2342)
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