China’s largest ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing has announced in a press release that its one-stop automobile solutions platform Xiaoju Automobile Solutions has entered into a partnership with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Xpeng Motors in the areas of car rental, ride-hailing car leasing, charging, and auto services businesses.
Customers will be able to access and lease an Xpeng G3 model, Xiaopeng’s first released EV, on the Didi app for a day or for a month. Although prices were not revealed, Didi mentioned that a charging fee of RMB 200 (USD 28.7) is included in the leasing package, which ensures a mileage of about 1000 kilometers.
Reportedly, a trial car rental service was first launched in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and all 10 available vehicles were rented out within three minutes, according to local media Tencent News.
According to the same report, Didi will also launch a follow-up promotional event starting tomorrow, allowing Didi customers to rent an Xpeng G3 model for RMB 3,000 per month. Users that are satisfied with the rental experience can also opt to buy the vehicle, which has a retail price starting from USD 23,000, while the rental fee can be deducted from the purchasing payment.
Additionally, as part of the partnership, Xiaoju auto shops in major cities will connect into Xpeng’s city service network to provide after-sales services, including basic maintenance and repair for Xpeng vehicles.
On EV charging services, both Xiaoju and Xpeng have started to link up their EV charging networks, and announced plans to build more joint EV charging points to enhance users’ charging experience with Xpeng models.
Didi claims that it is the world’s largest EV operating platform as of June 2019, with nearly 1 million EVs on its platform, accounting for 40% of EV mileage in China.
This is not Didi’s first collaboration in the car rental and EV sector. The Chinese ride-hailing giant has already established a strategic partnership with China’s finance giant Ping An Group in August 2019 for car rental, auto insurance, car maintenance, and EV charging services.
Didi has also formed strategic alliances with leading fuel retailing and convenience businesses operator BP, the State Grid of China, and China Southern Grid, to develop on-demand EV charging infrastructure and automobile services across the country.
