Prabin Gautam has struggled to get support for the issues he's experienced with his 18-month-old XPeng. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)
A Chinese EV company says it will pay customers of its former Australian distributor who are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
XPeng made the statement after the dismissal of a Federal Court case between it and Australian company TrueEV.
Customers have been told to contact XPeng Australia to get access to payments, reimbursements and parts, but creditors are still in the dark.
Prabin Gautam was travelling at 85 kilometres per hour on the Princes Freeway between Melbourne and Geelong when his electric vehicle sounded an alert and suddenly slowed to walking pace.
"I thought, 'What's going on?'" Mr Gautam said.
For about seven minutes he was stuck in his XPeng G6 on the freeway, unable to get out as traffic streamed past.
"I was really freaked out," Mr Gautum said.
"I could not open the window. I could not open the door. I could not do anything and everyone is beeping at me.
After a few minutes he was able to slowly drive his car onto the side of the road.
"My hands were shaking and there were still a lot of errors coming through," Mr Gautam said.
When Mr Gautum eventually got hold of the company that sold him his XPeng, the news was not good.
Prabin Gautam only drives short distances after a frightening experience in it on a Victorian freeway. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)
"They knew about it in other cars by the sound of it," he said.
Mr Gautam bought the car in February 2025 for $64,000 from XPeng Port Melbourne, which was operated by TrueEV.