A video today showed that an Xpeng G3 in Guangzhou caught fire on the street and was surrounded by smoke. Firefighters arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire.
In response, Alibaba-backed EV maker Xpeng Motors issued a statement in Weibo to respond urgently, stating that after the accident, the firefighters put out the fire in time, and the occupants were safe and no one was injured.
Xpeng also said that after investigation, it was found that there were obvious and serious bumps on the bottom of the battery box, which caused severe damage to the battery. It was initially judged to be the cause of the accident.
As of the first half of 2020, Xpeng has sold a total of 4,698 vehicles. The company now has two cars on sale, the G3 SUV and the P7 sedan.
At the end of June, Xpeng launched large-scale delivery of the Xpeng P7 at the Xpeng Smart Connected Technology Industrial Park in Zhaoqing, China.
The company said earlier this month that 1,641 Xpeng P7s were delivered in July.
Xpeng has filed for a US IPO and is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "XPEV" as soon as August.
Once Xpeng goes public, it will be the third Chinese EV startup to go public in the US, following the likes of Nio and Li Auto.
The following is the translated full text of Xpeng's statement on Weibo:
At around 11:3 am on August 11, 2020, a G3 in Pazhou Science and Technology Building, Haizhu District, Guangzhou had a smoke and fire accident.
After the accident, the staff rushed to the scene as soon as possible, the firefighters put out the fire in time, the occupants were safe, no one was injured, and the vehicle was quickly and safely transferred.
A preliminary site survey by company personnel showed that the appearance of the vehicle was intact.
After going to the store to lift and survey, it was found that there were obvious and serious bumps on the bottom of the battery box, which caused serious damage to the battery. The preliminary judgment is the cause of the accident.
The company will conduct further detailed investigation and analysis of the accident.
