Chinese EV maker Xpeng Motors, backed by Alibaba and a major rival of Tesla in China, 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.

Xpeng's IPO price range and number of shares to be offered are undetermined, and the amount of funding is not yet known. The $100 million listed in its prospectus is only a placeholder for routine disclosure and does not represent the actual amount raised in this IPO.

Founded in 2015, Xpeng's initial investors are primarily He Xiaopeng, co-founder of UC and former president of Alibaba's Mobile Business Group, who is now chairman and CEO of Xpeng.

Xpeng's core management team comes from diverse backgrounds, including co-founders Xia Heng and He Tao, who are respectively head of development of GAC's new energy control system and head of GAC's smart cars and driverless driving.

Also on the management team is Gu Hongdi, former Chairman of JP Morgan's Asia Pacific Investment Bank and current Vice Chairman and President.

Xpeng recently held a delivery ceremony for the Xpeng P7 in Zhaoqing, marking the start of the large-scale delivery of this long-range smart coupe.

Xpeng P7 has XPILOT 3.0 automatic driving assistance system and intelligent music cabin with the new Xmart OS 2.0 vehicle intelligence system as the core, showing its strength and innovative technology in the field of intelligent cars.

The P7 has a long NEDC combined range of up to 706km and an acceleration time of 4.3s from 0-100km/h.

Xpeng launched large-scale deliveries at the end of June 2020 after the factory launches large-scale production.

The Xpeng G3 SUV is Xpeng's first product, and as of July 31, 2020, Xpeng has delivered 18,741 G3 vehicles to customers.

Production and deliveries of the Xpeng P7 model began in May 2020, and Xpeng has delivered 1,966 P7 vehicles to customers as of July 31, 2020.

Xpeng also plans to launch its third electric vehicle in 2021.

Xpeng's 2018 and 2019 revenues were 9.7 million yuan and 2.321 billion yuan ($329 million), respectively.

Xpeng's revenue for the first half of 2020 was 1.003 billion yuan ($142 million), compared to 1.232 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Xpeng's gross loss for 2018 and 2019 was RMB 2.36 million and RMB 558 million ($79 million), respectively.

Xpeng's gross loss for the first half of 2020 was RMB36.12 million ($5.11 million), compared to a gross loss of RMB470 million for the same period last year.

Xpeng's net loss for 2018 and 2019 was RMB1,398.8 million and RMB3,692.0 million ($522.0 million), respectively.

Xpeng's net loss for the first half of 2020 was 796 million yuan (113 million), compared to a net loss of 1,918 million yuan for the same period last year.

Xpeng has the highest proportion of R&D spending and R&D staff among Chinese EVs and has invested the most in smart self-research.

Xpeng's R&D investment in 2019 amounted to RMB 2.07 billion ($293 million), a significant increase from RMB 1.05 billion in 2018. Xpeng's R&D investment as a percentage of revenue reached 89.18% in 2019.

Xpeng is currently the only OEM doing R&D on the full stack of automated assisted driving (excluding chips and radar) in China and has had a sizable team in place since 2015.

In the era of software-defined cars, He Xiaopeng is also the only entrepreneur among the new carmakers who comes from a dual background as a programmer and product manager.

Xpeng's revenue for the second quarter of 2020 was 590 million yuan, up 43% from 412 million yuan in the previous quarter, and net loss was 146 million yuan, a significant narrowing from both the same period last year and the previous quarter.

Xpeng investors include Alibaba and Xiaomi and is backed by leading international institutional investors including IDG Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, GGV Capital, Primavera Capital, and others.

In August 2018, Xpeng announced the closing of a Series B+ financing round with a signed total of 4 billion yuan, co-led by Primavera Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, and He Xiaopeng, and backed by Hillhouse Capital, K11. Eastern Bell Capital followed with an investment.

In November 2019, Xpeng announced the signing of a Series C round of funding totaling $400 million, with Xiaomi participating in this investment and He Xiaopeng adding again on top of the Series A and B rounds.

On July 20, 2020, Xpeng announced the signing of a Series C+ funding round with participation from Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia Capital China, raising nearly $500 million.

According to Xpeng, the signing of the Series C+ round demonstrates the investors' confidence in Xpeng's strategy, market positioning, and long-term vision as a leader in China's smart electric vehicles.

In early August 2020, it was reported that Xpeng raised more than $400 million in funding led by Alibaba, with investors including Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and the Abu Dhabi Fund, valuing it at $8 billion.

He Xiaopeng's old partner at UC Yu Yongfu is a director of Xpeng, and Morningside Venture Capital partner Liu Qin is an independent director.

Prior to the IPO, He Xiaopeng was the majority shareholder with 31.6 percent, Xia Heng with 4.9 percent, Gu Hongdi with 2.8 percent, and He Tao with 1.6 percent.

Taobao China Holding Limited, a subsidiary of Ali, held 14.4 percent and was the second-largest shareholder; IDG held 6.2 percent, and Morningside held 4.2 percent.

GGV holds 3.8%; Shanghai Cheyou Enterprise Management Partnership holds 3.5% and Primavera entities hold 3.2%.