Xiaomi, a Chinese language model as soon as synonymous with reasonably priced smartphones, is now trying to make a fair larger splash with its first-ever electrical automotive. Unveiled at a Beijing occasion earlier immediately, the Xiaomi SU7 — pronounced “soo-chee” in Chinese language — is a sedan primarily based on the corporate’s very personal Modena Structure with HyperEngine electrical motors of as much as 21,000rpm, in addition to chassis stamped by its die casting machines with a clamping power of 9,100 tons — beating that of Tesla’s apparently. The road will are available two flavors: the dual-motor all-wheel-drive SU7 Max, and the single-motor rear-wheel-drive SU7.
It will be a couple of extra months earlier than Xiaomi broadcasts the costs, but it surely’s already claiming that the SU7 Max has a spread of as much as 800km (497 miles; in response to China Mild-Obligation Car Check Cycle aka CLTC), in addition to a 0-100km/h acceleration of simply 2.78s, each of which apparently beating Tesla’s Mannequin S and Porsche’s Taycan Turbo. That is partly because of battery maker CATL’s beneficiant 101kWh 800V high-voltage platform, which gives a 220km vary with only a 5-minute cost, or 390km in 10 minutes, or 510km in quarter-hour. The bottom mannequin, nonetheless, solely helps 400V charging for its smaller 73.6kWh battery, which has a spread of as much as 668km or 415 miles.
Xiaomi employed skills from the auto trade to understand this undertaking. Most notably, CEO Lei Jun claimed that Tianyuan Li, previously of BMW’s iX collection and iVision ideas, provided himself to Xiaomi’s auto design crew. Li was additionally joined by James Qiu, who had beforehand labored on Mercedes-Benz’s Imaginative and prescient EQXX design. They later recruited Chris Bangle, a BMW veteran, to be their design advisor.
The SU7 is about the identical measurement because the BMW 5 collection, coming in at 1,440mm tall, 1,963mm large and 4,997mm lengthy. You get three colour choices: the signature “aqua blue,” grey or olive inexperienced. In his occasion, Lei highlighted the seemingly beneficiant leg room in addition to trunk areas — 517L within the again and 105L within the entrance.
On the launch occasion, Lei highlighted particulars just like the “water droplet” head lamps, every of which resembled the Chinese language character for “rice” (which is the “mi” in “Xiaomi”), in addition to the halo rear brake gentle consisting of 360 LEDs. The exec additionally identified that his crew went with the half-hidden door handles, as a result of the extra flush handles are apparently more durable to make use of in chilly climate.
Simply as Xiaomi teased earlier, the SU7 gives a HyperOS in-car leisure system, which is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8295 processor and takes simply 1.49 seconds as well. You’ll be able to entry your media, modify your seats and even management your Xiaomi home equipment by way of the 16.1-inch 3K central display screen, in addition to non-compulsory Xiaomi Pad tablets which might be mounted on magnetic ports (as much as 22.5W output) behind the 2 entrance head rests. The UI on the central display screen permits for as much as three cut up home windows for multitasking, and you’ll even forged your Xiaomi cellphone’s display screen to it for a seamless expertise. As for music and video leisure, it’s going to be complemented by the 23 inner Dolby Atmos audio system.
Lei additionally talked about opening up the Xiaomi CarIOT ecosystem to 3rd events, with one instance being a sensible booster automotive seat which may remind you if its seat belt is not mounted. The exec added that even iPhone customers can faucet into among the Xiaomi automotive options, with help for wi-fi CarPlay and AirPlay connectivity, in addition to iPad-mounting for rear passengers.
Very similar to Volkswagen, Xiaomi already is aware of that automotive homeowners nonetheless favor to have some bodily buttons, so it is saved a couple of for local weather management, in addition to two further buttons — one for toggling the spoiler (Lei mentioned that is largely for exhibiting off), and one for adjusting the physique peak (to keep away from scratching the underside, if wanted). It’s also possible to get an non-compulsory row of buttons mounted beneath the central show.
The SU7 can have autonomous driving capabilities, too, because of its Xiaomi Pilot platform powered by as much as two NVIDIA Drive Orin processors (the bottom mannequin solely has one) and an array of sensors. These embody a top-mounted Lidar, with a visible vary of as much as 200m and pixel accuracy of all the way down to 0.1m — the latter that means higher detection for thinner and smaller obstacles. In a collection of video demos, Xiaomi confirmed how the SU7 may navigate by a busy stay road with combined obstacles, in addition to performing valet parking by itself, and even parking itself in a robotic automotive park with tight areas. Being a Beijing-based firm, Xiaomi claims that the SU7’s sensors can deal with snowy and wet climates, too.
Lei added that his firm goals to finish autonomous driving exams in 100 cities throughout China by the top of 2024, although it is unclear how quickly the native authorities will open up autonomous driving nationwide.
Along with future software program updates, Xiaomi additionally teased its upcoming HyperEngine V8s with a record-breaking 27,200rpm, all tucked inside a stronger silicon metal housing to maintain the motor in test. That is apparently already mass-production-ready, with plans to equip this in automobiles by 2025. The corporate then teased additional with a next-gen electrical motor tech primarily based on carbon fiber, which is able to apparently be able to a whopping 35,000rpm, however this may not be prepared any time quickly, apparently.
Xiaomi has but to share costs for the SU7 line, although Lei already hinted that they are going to be costly — which is subjective, after all. We will discover out in a couple of months’ time, and hopefully by then we’ll learn about availability outdoors China as properly, however we would not depend on a US launch any time quickly, if ever. In the meantime, you will get the Xiaomi 14, 14 Professional smartphones and the Xiaomi Watch S3 eSIM of their restricted version colours — both aqua blue or olive inexperienced — to match the upcoming SU7.