New competition for electric car manufacturers

First Norway, then all of Europe: The electric car start-up Xpeng is testing out the European market with the first 100 cars in Norway. Other countries are to follow.

Chinese start-up Xpeng is launching in Europe, but with a test phase: for this it is only offering a small number of electric cars in Norway. So far, 100 vehicles have already been delivered to 28 Norwegian cities. The G3 electric car is available there for a list price of 358,000 Norwegian kroner, or about 34,000 euros. "The customer deliveries this week in Norway are an important milestone in Xpeng's ambition to establish itself as a truly international smart electric car brand," said CEO He Xiaopeng.

It was only in September that rival Shanghai-based electric car maker Aiways expanded into Europe. Xpeng is also looking to penetrate other European markets, with policy support and infrastructure for e-mobility within countries playing a particular role, he said.

Xpeng was founded in 2015 and has sold over 21,000 cars in the domestic market this year through November, an 87 percent increase. As of this year, Xpeng is listed on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE, which brought the startup $1.7 billion in capital.