The site is located less than 10 kilometers from 's headquarters building and will be used for new energy vehicle research and development projects.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

An affiliate of Xpeng Motors has acquired several commercial land blocks in Guangzhou, where it is headquartered, that are expected to be used for its research and development projects.

Guangzhou Pengyue Automotive Development Co Ltd today acquired three parcels of land on the east side of Keyun Road in Guangzhou's Tianhe District for RMB 1.507 billion ($236 million), according to local real estate news site guandian.cn.

The three plots have a total area of 102,400 square meters, including 68,360 square meters of buildable land, 2,440 square meters of green space and 31,610 square meters of road space.

The starting auction price set by the local government for the three parcels was RMB 1.507 billion.

The plots are required to be used for R&D projects of intelligent connected new energy vehicles with a total investment of no less than RMB 4 billion, of which the scale of fixed asset investment is no less than RMB 3.8 billion.

Pengyue was established on August 10, 2021 with a registered capital of RMB 250 million and is 100 percent owned by Xpeng.

Xpeng's headquarters is located at No. 8 Songgang Street, Changxing Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, less than 10 kilometers from the aforementioned parcels.

The acquisition of these parcels is expected to lay the foundation for Xpeng to further expand its R&D team.

In a conference call following the announcement of its third-quarter report late last month, Xpeng Chairman and CEO He said that the company's R&D team had exceeded 4,000 people by the end of the third quarter, an increase of more than 100 percent from the end of 2020.

Xpeng is also continuing to strengthen its R&D team as the development of more models and major technology innovations accelerate, he said, adding, "I believe you will see us achieve more breakthroughs in the no-man's land of smart electric vehicle technology in the coming years."