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.
Then it stopped moving altogether.
"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.
It was a drive-motor problem.
"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.
Since the incident in June, he has received the same error message twice and says he only feels confident to drive his car short distances on quiet roads.
Part of the attraction to the car was the offer of five years of free servicing, but that has not been available because of a legal dispute between XPeng and its former exclusive Australian distributor, TrueEV.
Mr Gautam spent weeks seeking a refund or replacement vehicle, but he said aside from a few noncommittal emails he has been ignored by both companies.
Left in the lurch
Mr Gautam is one of hundreds of customers and creditors left in the lurch after XPeng terminated its five-year distribution agreement with TrueEV at the start of the year.
TrueEV was placed into receivership in March and the two companies have been locked in a legal battle ever since.
The ABC has been contacted by 14 customers and creditors who say they have been left out of pocket by TrueEV.
Most say they are owed between $1,000 and $9,000, including many who have not receive the $5,000 cashback they were offered.
Some say they cannot get parts, have not received accessories they paid for, or have had to pay for their own servicing and want compensation.
TrueEV initially told the ABC it could answer questions about the situation after the resolution of its federal court case with XPeng, in which TrueEV was challenging the legality of XPeng's decision to cancel its five-year distribution deal.
That case was dismissed today after it was revealed TrueEV could not provide the required court surety.
"We are very disappointed with the outcome of today's judgement," True EV's Jason Clarke said in a statement.
"TrueEV will now review its options, including appeal or bringing a new case to trial.
"We will advise the market in due course."
XPeng recognised that some customers had "experienced frustration" and assured owners they would be looked after.
"Where an eligible cashback or extended warranty commitment made by TrueEV is appropriately documented and verified, XPeng ANZ is working directly with the customer to provide appropriate support," it said in a statement.
Creditors owed a lot more
Ultra Tune Australia was contracted to provide servicing and roadside assistance for XPeng customers who were promised five years of free services.
Ultra Tune national operations and business development manager Nick Tatsis said the company was owed more than $100,000.
"Unfortunately, we haven't been paid, so we've had to cease those operations till we find a solution," he said.
That has meant XPeng owners have had to pay for servicing themselves and try to recoup that money from TrueEV or XPeng.
Mr Tatsis says his company paid for licensing and training for its franchisees about how to work on XPeng electric vehicles.
He said franchisees also set up servicing facilities at a considerable cost.
"It was a very hard call to make, because XPeng customers are our customers and we don't want to let them down," Mr Tatsis said.
"We don't want to say no in any instance, but we're not getting paid for the services and we've had no other choice."
Still waiting to be paid
Melbourne graphic designer Yibo Li was engaged by TrueEV to create marketing content for the XPeng brand in Australia between October last year and February this year.
He created visuals for the website and dealerships point of sale and worked on the $5,000 cashback campaign.
Li said he received $4,500 for his work but was owed a further $21,410.
The ABC has seen invoices sent to TrueEV for the detailing of a three-phase marketing campaign and the emails seeking payment.
"That's a significant amount of money for independent designer or small studio," he said.
Li said alarm bells started to ring in December last year when his invoices were not being paid.
"I actually feel sorry for those customers," he said.
