This EV Might Be the Most High-Tech and Affordable Car Americans Can’t Buy
An impressive entry into the world of EVs.
A serious Tesla killer has launched in China, but it’s not coming from a company you would expect.
Xiaomi, which is better known for its smartphones and quirky tech products, decided to venture into EVs and is making a bold statement with its first-ever car. The SU7 looks like a complete package: huge range, lots of tech, and an unbelievably affordable price.
Let’s begin with the latter — the SU7 starts at $30,000, which is an absurd value for the amount of EV you get. Customers clearly agree; Xiaomi says it received nearly 90,000 preorders in the first 24 hours of orders opening up.
An impressive-looking EV for Xiaomi’s entry into the market.
Price, Power, or Range?
Xiaomi is giving us three options for the SU7: Standard, Pro, and Max. If you’re after performance, the Max trim lives up to its name since it’s built with a 101 kWh battery that allows for a 497-mile range along with 673 horsepower, a top speed of 165 mph, and a 0 to 62 mph in 2.78 seconds. Unlike the other trims, the Max is all-wheel drive and runs off 800V architecture, meaning you can get back 317 miles of range in just 15 minutes of using a DC fast charger.
If you’re looking for the model with the most range, the Pro version runs off a 94.3 kWh battery for a max of 516 miles. It’s a step down from the Max trim since the Pro model uses 400V architecture and doesn’t get as much horsepower, acceleration, or top speed. At the most affordable level, the SU7 comes in a Standard trim that uses a 400V architecture, has a 73.6 kWh battery, and tops out at a 435-mile range.
Hard specs aside, Xiaomi built the SU7 to be competitive on tech, too. Just take a look at all the features shown in this walkaround demo posted on X. Thanks to its many years of experience with smartphones, Xiaomi plans to lean on the interconnectivity between the SU7 and its devices to do things like autonomous driving, smart cabin controls, and more.
Cutthroat Pricing
We can’t get over how competitively priced the SU7 is. The most expensive Max trim starts at $41,500, which means it’s close to the starting price of Tesla’s Model 3 while offering the performance of a Model S. Even better, the most affordable Standard trim starts at around $30,000 and the Pro version starts at around $34,000.
Still, Xiaomi has no plans to bring its SU7 to the U.S. Instead, it’s looking to challenge Tesla’s market share in China. Xiaomi says the first deliveries of the SU7 to Chinese customers will start with the Standard and Pro trims in April, while the Max version will be delivered starting in May. It doesn’t look like the SU7 will be the only option from Xiaomi either, since the company said it committed $10 billion to an EV department in March 2021.
