Xpeng Motors (XPEV) began trading on the NYSE on Wed 26 Aug 20

Xpeng Motors stock shot up 42% to 21.30 in Thursday's debut under the ticker XPEV. Shares hit 25 intraday.

• Xpeng is the third Chinese electric vehicle startup to go public in New York after Nio's (NIO) $1 billion IPO two years ago and Li Auto's (LI) recent $1.1 billion IPO.
• Electric car stocks have benefited both from Tesla's surge this year and as governments and automakers promote emissionless technology.

Earlier, the Guangzhou-based company sold 99.7 million American depositary shares at 15 a share, raising nearly $1.5 billion. Xpeng originally planned to sell 85 million shares at $11-$13 each.

An IPO filing describes the company as producing two premium electric vehicles, the G3 SUV and the four-door P7 sports sedan. P7, which launched at the end of June, is a rival to the Tesla Model 3 in China. A third model is expected in 2021.

Xpeng also offers an optional autonomous driving system. It targets the mid- to high-end China electric car market, as do Chinese rivals Li Auto and Nio.

Founded in 2015, Xpeng is unprofitable and revenue dived 19% in the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit sales.