Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors has received the official production license from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for its new own-built, wholly-owned factory, the Zhaoqing Xpeng Motors Intelligent Industrial Park in Guangdong Province.
The approval will accelerate the production of the super-long range sports sedan Xpeng P7, the company’s second production model, ensuring customer deliveries scheduled for 2Q 2020.
“The Zhaoqing manufacturing plant is an essential component of our vision to build a smart mobility ecosystem, from in-house R&D to smart manufacturing to customer services. Obtaining the production approval for the plant will hasten our progress in producing and delivering best-in-class products and services for our customers,” said He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors.
“Our success in completing the Zhaoqing plant and rolling out our new P7 smart sedan despite the COVID-19 related challenges is further validation of the strength and robustness of our organization,” He said. The company has secured a sufficient stock of essential parts to ensure smooth manufacturing despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located in Guangdong Province, the home-base of Xpeng Motors, the new Zhaoqing plant has a planned total area of 3,000 acres (2 million square meters), with vehicle production facilities covering some 1,500 acres (1 million square meters). Around 900 acres (600,000 square meters) of it has already been completed in the first phase.
After the foundation-laying in December 2017, the factory construction was completed in September 2019. Since then rigorous pre-production testing and small-scale trial production runs have verified the entire manufacturing process.
The Zhaoqing plant contains five workshops to cover the essential smart manufacturing functions, including stamping, welding, painting, assembly and battery pack production, as well as one battery assembly line, and is capable of manufacturing four different models. Serviced by 264 intelligent industrial robots, the Zhaoqing plant also incorporates dynamic test tracks covering 18 different types of test roads, and testing facilities for NVH, braking, vehicle seals and automatic parking systems.
The Zhaoqing plant is built in accordance with Industry 4.0 standards, with advanced MES manufacturing execution systems, Internet-of-Things technology, real-time production monitoring systems and a transparent manufacturing cycle, delivering the promise of a digital smart factory.
Xpeng has accumulated extensive experience through the production of the G3 smart SUV at the Zhengzhou plant, a partnership with Haima Automobile. By bringing manufacturing in-house, Xpeng is enhancing the autonomy, robustness, flexibility, cost-efficiency and intelligence of its vehicle production.
“The combination of end-to-end closed-loop R&D, smart manufacturing and quality customer services is our key differentiator. Today marks another milestone in Xpeng’s 6-year history, setting a solid foundation in pursuing our vision as a leader in the intelligent EV market,” Chairman He concluded.
