Mona M03, another ‘Tesla Model 3-killer’ in China at half price

In China, the price war among EV makers is raging further with yet another ‘Tesla 3 killer’ launched; Xpeng’s Mona sedan M03 at half the latter’s price: 119,800 yuan (€15,058) euros up to 155,800 yuan (€19,584). A Tesla Model 3 is offered in China in three variants, from 231,900 (€29,149) to 335,900 yuan (€42,222). So far, the model is only targeted at the Chinese market.

Cynical detail: He Xiaopeng, CEO and co-founder of Xpeng, mentioned that the name Mona ‘M03’ was chosen as a tribute to the Tesla Model 3. Apparently, the Chinese love it, as the 10,000th pre-order for the Mona M03 came precisely 52 minutes after the announcement.

Somewhat bigger

The Mona M03 sedan is somewhat bigger than the Tesla 3. It measures 4,780 mm in length, 1,896 mm in width, and 1,445 mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2,815 mm. The Tesla is 4,720 mm, 1,848 mm, and 1,442 mm, respectively, but has a nearly similar wheelbase of 2,875 mm.

Inside, it’s clear Xpeng has mimicked Tesla’s minimalistic design. There are virtually no physical buttons, except for two scrolling wheels on the steering wheel, just a central 15.6-inch touchscreen. But there is no instrument panel, nor does it have a head-up display.

Pluggable instrument panel as an option

However, a pluggable instrument panel is offered for 599 yuan (€75.3). To compensate for the lack of buttons, the car can be controlled using gestures and voice. Xpeng says this voice control is highly sophisticated, with four ‘voice zones’ in the car and the ability to independently control both the front and back rows, supporting up to 20 seconds of multiple commands.

The Mona M03 was introduced in June and is the first EV from Xpeng Motors and ride-hailing service provider DiDi’s collaboration. DiDi announced it would sell ‘certain business assets related to its Smart EV development project’ to Xpeng for the Mona range.

Various grades of autonomous driving

At that time, Xpeng said the M03 would offer various grades of level 2 autonomous driving, features previously mainly seen in cars costing substantially more. Still, unlike other Xpeng models, the Mona M03 doesn’t have LiDAR but offers pilot-assisted driving on highways in the base version and urban roads in a more powerful 580 Max top version.

The base model has two millimeter-wavelength radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and seven cameras. Xpeng claims the Mona has one of the best-in-class automatic parking systems. It covers 100 percent of high-frequency parking scenarios and has a 95% success rate, including situations where a column partly obscures a space.

The three available versions are numbered 515, 620, and 580 Max, according to the (CLTC) range they offer with the battery pack: 51.8 kWh for the entry variant and 62.2 kWh for the other two variants. The least expensive variant uses a single 140 kW motor, while both versions have a more powerful 160 kW motor. All are front-wheel drive only.