Today Xpeng unveiled the Mona M03 or at least the exterior of it. As we predicted the range is now being reported as 620 km which is far more in keeping with the claim of having the lowest drag coefficient among the world’s mass-produced fully electric hatchbacks at Cd 0.194.
At the launch, we learned that the M03 name gives homage to the Tesla Model 3 which has been the benchmark of EVs for the last six years. He Xiaopeng, Xpeng’s CEO, however when explaining the name said that MONA means Made of New AI (as on the M03 teaser poster), and that the last decade was of new energy but the next decade would be of AI.
Mona is not a new brand but a new series under Xpeng and it still carries the Xpeng logo. The M03 is a compact pure electric car measuring in at 4780, 1896, and 1445 mm (l/w/h) and with a wheelbase of 2815 mm. As previously we learned the trunk space is 621 liters and today Xpeng emphasized that this was comparable to a mid-size SUV. Furthermore, the electric hatch opening is standard across the range and the opening angle can be set by users.
Joining He Xiaopeng on stage was JuanMa Lopez, Xpeng’s Vice President of the Styling Design Center. However, seeing as he only joined Xpeng last month it is highly unlikely he had much input into the Mona M03. Chinese media are keen to emphasize he was Head of Exterior Design at Ferrari. His career, though, spans 24 years and many brands, most recently since 2018 BYD and 2020 Changan. Unusually for a designer, he has worked on both interior and exterior designs.
Lopez described the Mona M03 as a “a very beautiful car for young people.” The car adopts the “Smart Design AI quantitative aesthetics” design language. Xpeng call the light design 010. The spilt three-dimensional design is very recognizable and the has 300 LED lamp beads that can illuminate out to 150 meters.
As we have previously reported Xpeng paid particular attention to reducing drag on the car. To do so the Mona M03 underwent 10 wind tunnel tests of more than 100 hours each. During these, 15 key areas were optimized which shaved off Cd 0.085 from the wind resistance leading to a claimed 60 km range boost.
The biggest reduction comes from the standard active air intake (AGS) which Xpeng claims is a first for a production model. At nearly 1-meter long the system alone accounts for 0.023 Cd drag reduction and a 15.6 km increase in range.
Today’s unveil only showed the exterior. Fast Technology report that the Xpeng Mona M03 only has a large floating central infotainment unit and no instrument panel, a two-spoke steering wheel, and the option of a rear entertainment screen.
The car will come XNGP driving assistance and there will also be voice control for the functions of the car.
Few details beyond what we already knew were given for the powertrain and performance. There’s a choice of a 140 or 160 kW electric motor. Top speed is 155 km/h and it uses BYD blade lithium iron phosphate batteries. A 515 and a 620 km range version will be offered.
Mona M03 will be priced under 200,000 yuan (27,400 USD), according to Xpeng. The final price will be announced in August when the car will have an official launch. Xpeng also confirmed that Mona M03 will not have a taxi version.
Editor’s note:
Xpeng’s Mona M03 seems to be the car that keeps on surprising in both good ways and bad. First, it was the low drag coefficient figure, then that it wasn’t unveiled when we expected in June. Next up was that the car was actually a hatchback with 621 liters trunk space. Today the surprise was that Xpeng only unveiled the exterior. Also today’s unveiling gave us very little in the way of information that we didn’t already know, except the ranges. While we know there are five colors for buyers to choose from we’ve still only seen two of them!
Sources: Autohome, Fast Technology
