Chinese EV company Xpeng undercuts Telsa's price for sedan

July 19 (UPI) -- Chinese electric automaker Xpeng Inc. on Monday announced the price of its new P5 sedan at $24,694, undercutting rival Tesla, whose Model 3 starts at $38,666.

The P5 is the second sedan production model for Xpeng, based out of Guangzhou. Its P7 sedan is selling for $35,430. The P5 is equipped with Lidar, a light detection and ranging technology to improve some of its semi-autonomous driving features.

Lidar uses laser beams to map out its environment and measure the distance of objects to help the vehicle find obstacles in its path. Xpeng is one of several Chinese electric vehicle companies trying to compete with Tesla and other U.S. and European auto giants in the growing electric vehicle market.

"The price targets a wide range of customers and it appears to be attractive to those middle-income earners looking to own a smart EV," Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai, told the South China Morning Post. "The customer base for EVs priced below200,000 yuan is huge in China."

Xpeng is supported by China e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding and smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. Xpeng was able to raise $1.8 billion from its global offering in the Hong Kong market earlier this month.

It also received $1.72 billion from its initial public offering in New York last year.