The first car model from smartphone giant Xiaomi is not only creating buzz in the Chinese market but globally as well. The Xiaomi SU7 features a striking design, cutting-edge technology, and powerful performance that can go toe-to-toe with the best from Tesla and Porsche, at a fraction of the cost.
However, soon after its grand launch, the Xiaomi electric car has hit a few road bumps, with extended waiting periods, allegations of undelivered refund commitments, and some unsettling images of test drive crashes.
A series of images and videos of customers losing control of Xiaomi SU7 test drive cars and crashing them have been doing the rounds on Chinese social media, as reported by Singtao and Car News China.
With the top-end variant of the Xiaomi SU7 offering a peak output of 663 horsepower and instant torque, it’s perhaps not surprising that some test drivers might have been caught off-guard by the car’s rapid acceleration.
Some netizens have even questioned whether the traction control systems of the newly launched Xiaomi SU7 test drive cars were fully optimized.
According to Xiaomi, the company received a grand total of 88,898 orders for the SU7 within just 24 hours of its launch. Test drives were organized in China from last weekend across 59 dealerships, garnering significant interest among prospective buyers. The refundable deposit amount required to book the car was set at 5,000 yuan ($850).
In its home market of China, the Xiaomi SU7 has a starting price of just 215,900 yuan, which translates to $29,900 (approximately 740 million VND).
This makes it an extremely enticing proposition for consumers, undercutting the Tesla Model 3 in China by over 30,000 yuan (around 105 million VND). More impressively, despite its lower sticker price, the SU7 boasts a minimum driving range of 700 km, surpassing the Tesla’s 606 km in China. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has proudly claimed that their sedan outperforms the Model 3 in 90% of benchmark tests.
Measuring 4,997 mm in length, 1,963 mm in width, and 1,455 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm, the SU7 will be offered in three variants. The entry-level trim, priced at $29,900, is a standard RWD version. It rides on a 400V platform, has a 73.6 kWh battery pack, and is powered by a 295-horsepower electric motor with 400 Nm of torque. It delivers a CLTC-rated driving range of 700 km and can charge up to 350 km in just 15 minutes.
The mid-tier variant is the SU7 Pro, which features a similar 400V architecture but has a larger 94.3 kWh battery. It retains the same 295-horsepower RWD powertrain as the base model. With a CLTC-rated driving range of 830 km, it starts at $34,000 (850 million VND).
At the top of the range is the SU7 Max, which features an 800V architecture and a 101 kWh battery pack paired with dual electric motors that produce a combined output of 663 horsepower and 838 Nm of torque. This performance-oriented model can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 2.78 seconds and has a top speed of 265 km/h. It has a maximum CLTC-rated driving range of 800 km and carries a starting price tag of $41,500 (1.03 billion VND).
Trang Nguyen (forum.autodaily.vn)
Driver shares secrets to electric vehicles running over 200,000 km without battery degradation
Recently, the research team at Recurrent Auto conducted a survey on 6,300 Tesla Model 3 vehicles in the US and found that the battery of the Tesla Model 3 still retains about 90% capacity after 5 years of usage.
Xiaomi Set to Launch Electric Car, Competing with Tesla and Hyundai
It is highly probable that the Xiaomi SU7 electric car model will be a competitor to the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 in the Chinese market.
Xiaomi’s first electric car revealed: Borrowing design elements from popular car models
Xiaomi recently filed an application with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China to obtain a sales license for its first electric vehicle, the SU7. Now, official images of this model have been unveiled.
