Shanghai (ZXZC)- According to the data released by China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Xpeng Motors, a China's electric vehicle (EV) startup, achieved a wholesales volume of 39 vehicles in the past January. Although the quantity is quite small, Xpeng Motors has gone much ahead of other vehicle startups that are still in the phase of receiving orders.

Found in the early of 2015, Xpeng Motors was invested jointly by a number of angel investors that includes He Xiaopeng, co-founder of mobile Internet browser UC and Li Xueling, founder of video-based social network YY, etc. In September 2016, the startup released a model of Beta version. Then its first batch of production model IDENTY X successfully rolled off production line in October last year.

To seize the market and get the certificate of NEV production, at the end of September last year, Xpeng Motors signed a cooperative framework manufacturing agreement with Haima Auto's wholly-owned subsidiary who agreed to produce 50,000 vehicles per year for Xpeng Motors. This is also a normal measure that Internet vehicle startups generally choose for their production at present.

Meanwhile, Xpeng Motor has kept building its own vehicle plant. Its Intelligent-connected Science and Technology Park (Zhaoqing Base) in Guangdong Province, with a total investment of RMB 10 billion, officially got underway in December 2017. Once the first phase is completed, it will own a production capacity of 200 thousand vehicles per year. 

In January 2018, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Xpeng Motors showcased its G3 production model to the world for the first time. The new model is expected to go on sale in the spring this year. 

Apart from Xpeng Motors, the other two "first tier" EV startups, NIO and WM Motor will also hand over vehicles in 2018.