XPeng has presented its new S4 ultra-fast chargers, which promise to significantly reduce the charging times of its electric cars. These points are DC type (direct current) and offer a maximum power of 480 kW (up to 670 A and more than 700 volts); therefore, few models will be able to take advantage of its capabilities.
One of them will be the recently presented XPeng G9, a 4.89-meter-long SUV that will hit the European market in the short term. As can be seen in the demonstration video published by the Chinese firm, the SUV is capable of recovering approximately 210 km CLTC in just 5 minutes, a truly striking figure.
The initial load power is 150 kW, although in just one minute it reaches 400 kW. The maximum peak of 440 kW is reached after just three and a half minutes. Considering that the XPeng G9 Performance AWD in the video has a range of 650 km CLTC, we understand that the charging session started with 8% SoC (55 km CLTC) and ended with 40% (265 km CLTC). That is, he recovered approximately 30% of his range in just 5 minutes.
The first S4 charger, installed in Guangzhou, has also become the company’s 1,000th point, which has 799 fast stations and 201 slow points distributed in 337 Chinese cities. Initially, the new S4 chargers will be deployed in the 10 Chinese cities with the highest number of G9 orders.
XPeng wants to deploy 2,000 S4 points by 2025
However, this will only be the beginning. In 2023, XPeng will expand S4 chargers to other key cities and along major highways in China. By 2025, the company aims to have 2,000 S4 chargers installed. Everything seems to indicate that, at least for the moment, these points will only be found in China, since they use a GB/T connector (CCS2 is used in Europe).
It is interesting to note that with the launch of the G9 and S4 chargers, XPeng has overtaken most of its competitors from other countries to the right: Volkswagen Group electric cars with 800-volt systems (Audi e-Tron GT, Porsche Taycan) reach 270 kW, the most capable Tesla at 250 kW, and the Hyundai based on the E-GMP platform (Hyundai IONIQ 5, Genesis GV60, KIA EV6…) at 239 kW.
The XPeng G9 has even been able to surpass the sophisticated Lucid Air, whose peak is around 300 kW, approaching the figures of authentic hypercars such as the Rimac Refrigerator, which can charge at a maximum power of 500 kW in direct current.
