Xiaomi Releases Speed Ultra 7, Its First Electric Vehicle

On Thursday, smartphone maker Xiaomi launched the Speed Ultra 7 (SU7), marking its entry into China’s competitive electric vehicle (EV) market.

The Beijing-headquartered tech company touted its newest offering as the best-looking and smartest EV below 500,000.00 yuan ($69,328.00). Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun earlier said he had always dreamed of building a dream car that surpasses Porsche and Tesla.

Hence, Lei Jun highlighted that the SU7 boasts a minimum driving range of 700 kilometers (434.96 miles). This single-charge mileage is 15.51% higher than the Tesla Model 3’s 606 kilometers (376.55 miles).

Furthermore, the base SU7 will sell for 215,900.00 yuan ($30,408.00), 12.20% cheaper than the Model 3’s 245,900.00 yuan ($34,633.00) price tag. However, Lei Jun admitted that the introductory price meant that Xiaomi would sell its electric sedan at a loss.

Industry specialists cited that engaging in the cutthroat price war is unavoidable for players wanting to enter the world’s largest EV market. In last year’s fourth quarter, BYD used aggressive price cuts to surpass Tesla and become the world’s bestselling EV brand.

Lei Jun added that the SU7 tops the Model 3 in over 90.00% of its specifications, falling short on only two metrics. Lastly, he revealed that Xiaomi received 50,000 orders for its flagship EV in the first 27 minutes after sales opened.

Speed Ultra 7 Delivers Two Xiaomi ADAS Options

Xiaomi Head of Design Li Tianyuan stated that the Speed Ultra 7 uses two patented advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) features. Moreover, he reiterated the firm expanded its smart driving R&D team to include 1,500 engineers, proving its commitment to innovation.

First, Tianyuan introduced the Xiaomi Pilot Pro, a camera-based autonomous driving system that uses a network of 120-degree fisheye lenses. It uses advanced machine learning powered by an Nvidia Drive Orin chip, which possesses 254 tops of computing power.

Owners can upgrade to the Xiaomi Pilot Max to add a second Orin chip to double the computing power to 508 tops. In addition, the Speed Ultra 7 will gain lidar capabilities to improve its ability to gauge distance from surrounding objects.