Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Inc is the latest manufacturer hoping to save money and speed development and production by shifting to a digital vehicle architecture – an approach that bears a striking resemblance to Tesla Inc’s.
Unveiled this week ahead of the Shanghai Auto Show, Xpeng’s Smart Electric Platform Architecture 2.0 has essentially the same foundation that Tesla has developed over the past two years with its Model Y: large single-piece front and rear underbody castings, joined in the center by a massive battery pack that helps to reinforce the vehicle body structure.
The first Xpeng model to use the SEPA 2.0 platform, a compact SUV called G6, was unveiled at this week’s Shanghai show and is also startlingly close in dimensions and shape to the Model Y.
