With the advent of the electric car era, many manufacturers of consumer electronics rushed into the auto industry. However, both approaches and successes turned out to be different. For example, Apple closed its electric car project without even showing the prototype to the world. Sony is preparing the production of cars together with Honda, and the Chinese company Huawei has launched three joint brands at once: AITO was created together with Seres, Avatr — with Changan and CATL corporations, and Luxeed is a joint venture with Chery. Now Xiaomi has something to show.
She announced the creation of the automotive division at the end of 2021, then came the turn of road tests, and now, in exact accordance with the original plan, the first electric car is shown. This is also not a completely independent development — the automotive concern BAIC participates in the project. However, the electric car will carry the original and already well-known Xiaomi brand.
So, we have a sedan called Xiaomi SU7, almost comparable in size to the Tesla Model S: length — 4997 mm, width — 1963 mm, height — 1455 mm (in the basic version). The wheelbase is 3000 mm. In terms of appearance, the first pancake did not come out lumpy: a well-built car with a swift silhouette, wide hip wings and large decorative plates on the stern, forming a kind of diffuser.
There are no full-fledged images of the cabin yet, but everything is already clear from the “spy” photos: the main place is given to a huge monitor in the center of the front panel, which is responsible for controlling the entertainment system and on-board electronics. Multimedia will have a proprietary Hyper OS operating system. There are a minimum of physical controls, most of them are focused on the three-spoke steering wheel. There is only a narrow strip of the digital instrument cluster in front of the driver. Xiaomi makes a special bet on autonomous driving. The SU7 will have an advanced machine vision system that includes lidar on the “crown” of the windshield. The second priority was the integration of the car into the existing ecosystem of Xiaomi devices and services.
Some technical details have already been disclosed. The sedan will be offered in two versions. The basic Xiaomi SU7 Pro has front—wheel drive with a single engine with a capacity of 299 hp. The curb weight of such a car is 1980 kg, the maximum speed is 210 km / h. The second version of the SU7 Max is all—wheel drive: an electric motor with a capacity of 374 hp is installed on the rear axle, the combined output of the two engines is 673 hp. Such an electric car pulls 2205 kg and can develop 265 km / h. A traction battery with a capacity of 101 kWh should be enough for 800 km according to the optimistic Chinese CLTC cycle.
According to the plan, Xiaomi SU7 should enter the Chinese market in 2024. The production will be organized in cooperation with the BAIC concern. Prices will be announced closer to the start of sales.