Earlier, we visited XPENG for the new Mona L03 coupe SUV, that is launched globally in 64 countries. In China, this L03 is priced from $21000 to $24000, and it claims to have brought the premium design, space, and power from the $28000 to $40000 dollar cars to this Mona series. There are different versions, either it’s pure electric, or with range extender. And arguably, XPENG has the best self-driving system among Chinese EVs, because of the VLA 2.0 inside. With all these thing inside the Mona L03, it makes the car very appealing, and affordable to many people out there. In this article, we will go through the design, drive train, power system, and also drove it to try the VLA 2.0.
Design
At first sight, I just love the design. You know, Chinese people love SUV, because it can be a car for everyone in the family. That means it must be good looking enough for a man to like it, drive it everyday, and many colors to attract ladies.
So currently there are quite a few colors, and ladies should love the pink one the most I think. Now it has very smooth lines everywhere, while still keeps the sporty look at the front, and it says the aerodynamic figure is 0.228CD, good for all kinds of weather and road condition. The head lights looks sharp from the front, but still very mellow at the side, so it goes with the overall look very well. And there are panels at the lower position, they would open up to have better aerodynamic in certain situations.
Coming to the side, you will see the whole shape, the character of the car, that it is a very slick coupe SUV. The car measures at 4.65m in length, 2.85m wheelbase. Now many Chinese SUVs are over 5m in length, big and bulky, which may not be good for the global market.
And the door handles are mechanical ones, not pop-up style anymore, that’s by the new law in China. The tires on this car is a 20inch, you can also get a 18in to save some power. There are some hubs to choose from, right now this one looks very good already.
The glass on the door is frameless and very tinted, and it is very thick, I guess the soundproof should be good also.
This is also another angle to see the cool design of it. There is the full-length LED bar that runs across the rear, and there are the LED bars under it for the sign of autonomous driving. There is also the duck tail spoiler, that is also cool. And there are cutouts at the side for aerodynamics.
Overall, the design and the color choices makes this SUV very very good-looking in my opinion. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.
Space & Trunk
Opening the rear trunk, there is a very good space here, I don’t know the number of liter right now, because it might change for different markets. And if the back seats are folded, it becomes a bigger space, that can easily fit a a bed or a surf board here. There is also hidden space under the cover here, for some tools and stuff, but no spare tires. A new design here is the pegboards at both sides, that you can store some stuff on them.
There is also a 102L frunk, there is a sign here that tells you about what are the things that can fit in. And of course, if it is the range extender version, this frunk will be replaced by an engine here.
Interior
Coming into the car, the first thing you will notice is the wheely shaped steering wheel, I have not actually driven any cars with this kind of steering wheel, so if I have the chance to daily one, I will share my thoughts on it. In front of my eyes, there is a very bright HUD, it is definitely more than enough for the day time out there.
The screen in the middle is a 15.6 inch 2.5K display, brightness up to 600nits, and the touch control is very responsive. There is ambient lighting strip all around the car, which feels cool. There is a 50W wireless charging pad, with cooling fan, and cup holders, a space for some other stuff, then two USB ports for charging. Here, a little storage space and fragrances.
Now the seats, I can confirm they are very comfortable, the material feels very premium, they say the soft and premium material covers 72% of the cabin, definitely something you couldn’t get from this price range before. The seats are are also heated, ventilated and with massages. There are supports at the left and right, and there are buttons to adjust the positions and lumbar support.
One thing that makes us happy is the 1/4 threads on many spots, so we can mount a camera or even some other accessories.
And there are eight magnets hidden on this car, for you to attach some stuff to it, maybe a cute little doll.
Coming to the back seat, the seats are also very comfortable. I am 175cm 5’7, I still have a lot of space for my legs, my head, and my toes are also comfortable under the front seat. The roof is double glazed, and UV treated. The center seat can also be folded, to have an arm rest.
Some other things. There are 20 speakers to form a very good sounding system in the cabin; There are tons of cameras on the car that can help with driving, parking, and feed data to VLA 2.0 for smart driving.
Hardware & Software
There are up to 3 Turing chips inside, to achieve up to 2250 TOPS of computing power. This benefits not only the in cabin software experience, but also for the driving. The software inside is called Tianji AIOS 6.0, with Google Assistant support. In the cabin, you can have AI AC, AI noise reduction and some other AI features.
Battery & Charging
There are different versions to choose from, the pure electric version can achieve 440KM WLTP range. And the EREV version can achieve up to 1000KM of range. It claims to achieve 11.5kWh/100KM of very good efficiency. It is a 3C charger, with up to 220KW of charging power, which is quite enough for most people, and fits into the charging facility in many countries.
So, these are pretty much all the details of the design and hardware. With that said, let’s drive it, to really see how the VLA2.0 and drive train works.
Test Drive
The VLA2.0 is undeniably one of the top self-driving system, which can also mean it will make moves that you are not familiar with, that’s because it has confirmed that is something safe to do. Remember in China, there are tons of scooters running on the road, that’s incredibly hard for self-driving.
Now I would say I already had a lot of confidence in the VLA2.0, after the multiple briefing and some other real-world review on the internet. But here when I am personally driving it, or the car drives itself, it feels it knows how to deal with the stuff like an old driver we say. And it also follow the traffic law very well, it will not pass the speed limit under any circumstances.
And remember, the VLA 2.0 comes with the car for free, not a subscription. And since it’s free, more people are using it, it will keep getting better. The drive train and suspension is the kind that I like, which is not too soft nor too hard. Which makes driving is more fun and versatile.
Summary
Let’s sum it up a bit. This XPENG Mona L03 is designed for the global market, which means everything is made to comply with the laws and customers’ preferences, while keeping the architecture unified. Like it has passed the Dual 5-star safety certification in China and Europe, there is multi-language support, it is designed to handle all kinds of extreme weather. It has four-wheel version, 424 seats, tow hitch, etc etc. With the premium design, free VLA 2.0 and good power system. The prices are also very friendly, so I honestly think it is a very good pick overall. Now this car was planned to launch soon in the 64 countries they mentioned, you can get on the website to know more, and maybe test drive it when it comes to your country, you will love it.
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