Xpeng is releasing a mass-market EV with basic driver assistance for less than $20,000

BEIJING – Chinese electric car company Xpeng announced Tuesday that mass-market brand Mona will start selling some models for less than $17,000.

The base version of the Mona M03 electric coupe will be priced at 119,800 yuan ($16,812), with a driving range of 515 kilometers (320 miles) and some parking assistance functions.

A version of the Mona M03 with the more advanced “Max” driver assistance features and a driving range of 580 kilometers will sell for 155,800 yuan.

For comparison: Teslas cheapest car – the Model 3 – costs 231,900 yuan in China, after a price cut in April.

Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng did not specify a launch date for the standard version of the car in his presentation on Tuesday. The company told investors during an earnings call last week that mass deliveries would begin shortly after Tuesday’s announcement.

Presale of the Mona M03 started on August 8.

The standard driver assistance Mona M03 supports parking, including parallel parking. The company says it uses a range of automatic sensors, cameras, and light detection and distance sensors.

The Max version of the driver assistance includes features such as automatically reversing a car to a designated position on a dead-end street at the touch of a button. Xpeng also plans to support remote control for entering and exiting a narrow parking space.

That Max version will be delivered after the New Year holidays in 2025, CEO He said. The Chinese holiday runs from late January to early February next year.

Xpeng’s driver assistance technology is widely regarded as one of the best available in China today. TeslaGoogle’s version, marketed as “full self-driving,” is not fully accessible in China, although it is widely expected to be released in the coming months.

The Xpeng CEO presentation on Tuesday also commemorated the 10th anniversary of Xpeng’s founding. Lei Jun, the founder of Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi, was among those present

CEO He said that the brand name Mona stands for ‘Made of new AI’. He emphasized that Xpeng would focus on developing artificial intelligence for cars in the next decade.

The company also said Tuesday that it plans to unveil its second-generation humanoid robot in October. It also unveiled its own chip, but did not specify which nanometer process – or level of manufacturing technology – is used in its production.

Premium Chinese electric car startup Nio said yes at the end of July finished designing an automotive-grade five-nanometer chip, the NX9031. The company had teased the chip in December and plans to use it in its high-end ET9 sedan, due for delivery in 2025.

Xpeng built Mona using technology it acquired from taxi company Didi in August 2023.

Wu Zhefeng, a Mona project manager, told reporters on Monday that the basic version of the driver assistance technology in the M03 comes from Didi, while the more advanced version is made by Xpeng.

Because the battery is the most expensive part of an electric car, he said Xpeng was able to reduce costs for Mona, partly thanks to efforts to increase energy efficiency. The coupe used BYD‘s popular “knife battery,” Wu said.

He said the brand is targeting young people, two or three years after graduation.

According to Wu, almost half of comparable cars available in China in this price range are used for road trips. While electric car companies such as BYD have worked with Didi to promote their cars to drivers on the ride-hailing platform, he said Mona would continue to focus on consumer drivers.

BYD, which has quickly become a giant in China’s electric car industry, sells cars in a variety of prices and models, including many hybrid versions. Consumers in China are increasingly favoring hybrid cars over battery-only cars as concerns remain about how far they can travel on a single charge.

Geely is an electric car company owned by Geely Zeekr announced earlier this month that it would launch its first hybrid car next year.

Other Chinese companies have launched cars this year that compete directly with Tesla.

Niowhich has focused on premium electric cars, announced a cheaper brand Onvo in May. The first car, the L60 SUV, will be delivered in September. The L60 starts at 219,900 yuan (US$30,439) versus the Model Y’s 249,900 yuan (US$34,617), according to prices shared in May.

Chinese smartphone company XiaomiMeanwhile, it released its first electric car, the SU7 sedan, in March for 215,900 yuan.

– CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.