Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone maker, unveiled its first electric vehicle (EV), the SU7, on December 28, 2023 (1) (2). The SU7, short for Speed Ultra, is a sedan that is expected to go on sale in several months (1). The company plans to release the SU7 in 2024 (3)
The SU7 is equipped with a “super electric motor” and is expected to appeal to customers due to its shared operating system with Xiaomi’s popular phones (1). The car will run Xiaomi’s “HyperOS,” a new architecture the company has been working on to integrate smart home systems and cars (4).
The goal is to provide a more seamless experience for users (4) .The SU7 is designed with impressive specifications. It can accelerate from 0 – 100 km/h in 2.78 seconds (3). The car is powered by Nvidia’s Drive Orin chips and features a Xiaomi Pilot autonomous system (3).
It claims up to 800km of range (497 miles), an 800V platform that can get 390km worth of charge in 10 minutes, and Qualcomm-powered “HyperOS” (3). The car will be produced by a unit of state-owned automaker BAIC Group in a Beijing factory (1)
The SU7 is also equipped with Xiaomi’s developed CTB (Cell-to-Body) technology, which integrates the battery into the vehicle body, improving structure rigidity, eliminating the floor, and reducing height for a more spacious cabin (2).
The car’s powertrain has two options: a higher-end model built atop a 101kWh battery pack from Chinese giant CATL, and a base model with just 73.6kWh of capacity (4). The higher-end model is claimed to have a range of 800 km, or just shy of 500 miles, while the base model will allegedly get closer to 668 km, or 415 miles, on a charge (4)
The CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, has ambitious plans for the company’s automotive venture. He stated that by working hard over the next 15 to 20 years, Xiaomi aims to become one of the world’s top 5 automakers, striving to lift China’s overall automobile industry (1) (2). He also mentioned plans to build “a dream car comparable to Porsche and Tesla”(1) .The price of the SU7 has not been finalized yet (7)