This is the Xiaomi SU7, one of the most-buzzed-about new Chinese cars of 2024. The SU7 is a pretty sedan with a sporty sedan. I met this Meteor Blue example at a parking lot near a Xiaomi service center in south Beijing.
Xiaomi is originally a consumer goods manufacturer, one of China’s largest. The company makes everything from smartphones to washing machines. In 2021, Xiaomi decided to make cars and founded a new subsidiary called Xiaomi Automobile (小米汽车), headquartered in Beijing. When a company like Xiaomi wants something, it will get it quickly. In only 3 years Xiaomi Automobile built an entire factory and a dealer network, and developed its first car; the Xiaomi SU7.
The SU7 launched on the Chinese EV market in early 2024. It is a classic 3-box sedan. Most other new Chinese electric ‘sedans’ are 5-door liftbacks. The SU7 is a great-looking machine, low and wide, with short overhangs and wide hips. The chief designer of the SU7 is Li Tianyuan, who previously worked for BMW, where he was responsible for the BMW iX.
The interior is beautiful, with a minimalist design and light color schemes. It has a large 3-spoke steering wheel with a thick rim, a giant 16.1-inch main screen, a 7.1-inch driver’s display, and a HUD. The armrest area is wide and rather high. In the middle are buttons that arrange the fan speed the volume, and the drive mode, among other functions. Xiaomi says it added these buttons after consumer research. The SU7 is equipped with two 50W wireless smartphone chargers.
Xiaomi also sells an optional additional pod with more buttons that fits under the screen. Xiaomi is the only Chinese automaker to offer such a solution.
Xiaomi wants to create an ecosystem that connects and integrates all of its products. To do that, it has created a new operating system called Hyper OS. This system is used for Xiaomi phones, computers, and for the infotainment system in the SU7. The devices are constantly connected and synced via Xiaomi’s own Cloud. This means you can listen to music on your phone, jump in the car, and continue to listen to the same song via the car’s audio system.
The car-phone connection isn’t just technical but also visual, buyers can get Xiaomi phones in the same color as the SU7 sedan. The example shows a Lava Orange Xiaomi 14 smartphone and a Lava Orange Xiaomi SU7 Max.
The SU7 sedan was eagerly awaited by Chinese car buyers and the brand caused a storm on the market. In less than a year, the Xiaomi brand reached 28th place in the sales charts in China, with just one model! That is the fastest-growing Chinese car brand ever. In September, Xiaomi sold 13.559 SU7’s, which is more than the entire Ford brand sold in the same month.
The Xiaomu SU7 is available in 3 variants:
- RWD Standard Long Range. Price: 215.900 yuan ($30K).
- RWD Long Range. Price: 245.900 yuan ($34.5K).
- AWD Ultra Long Range Max. Price 299.900 yuan ($42K).
The SU7 is based on Xiaomi’s Modena platform. Size: 4997/1963/1440, with a 3000 mm wheelbase. The curb weight of the Max model is 2205 kilos.
The car that I met is the range-topping SU7 Max. It has a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain. The output is 495 kW (673 hp) and 838 Nm. The top speed is 265 km/h and it does o-100 in only 2.78 seconds, making it one of the fastest Chinese electric sedans on the market today. Electricity is stored in a 101 kWh CATL ternary lithium battery. The consumption is 13.7 kWh per 100 kilometers and the range is 800 kilometers. The SU7 has an 800V architecture and charges 30-80% in 19 minutes.
The badge on the left needs a bit of explanation. It says 北京小米, Beijing Xiaomi. That was a short joint venture between Beijing Auto Industry Corporation (BAIC, Beijing for short) and Xiaomi Auto. In China, every car maker needs a permit from the central government to produce cars. These permits are hard to get. New car makers get around this by piggybacking on the permit of an existing car maker, in this case, BAIC. For this pleasure, Xiaomi paid BAIC a fee for each car produced. However, the factory and all the other assets were owned by Xiaomi. By now, Xiaomi has its own production permit so newer cars don’t have the 北京 badging anymore.
The L2 ADAS is developed in-house by Xiaomi, it has 27 sensors including one lidar above the windshield. The lidar has a maximum forward detection distance of 200 meters.
The Xiaomi SU7 offers astonishing value for money, even by Chinese standards: 495 kW, 101 kWh, and almost 5 meters of car for only $42K. No wonder it sells so well. Xiaomi is working on an SUV based on the same platform, this car will debut in early 2025. We can’t wait.