The U.S.-listed shares of XPeng Inc. XPEV charged up 11.3% in premarket trading Monday, after the China-based electric vehicle (EV) maker unveiled a new production platform that will lead to significant cost savings as it shortens the research and development (R&D) cycle for future models by 20%. ““We envision that this evolutionary intelligent architecture will lead smart EV technology development for the next three years,” said Chief Executive Officer He Xiaopeng. “It will make rapid advancements in technology available for our customers as standard, with faster software upgrades, stunning cost savings and elevated product experience.” Shares of other China-based EV makers also got a lift, with Nio Inc.’s NIO up 3.5% ahead of Monday’s open and Li Auto Inc.’s LI up 4.7%. Shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA, which generated 22.2% of its total 2022 revenue from China, edged up 0.5%. The stocks’ gains come as futures ES00 for the S&P 500 SPX gained less than 0.1%.
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