Smartphone maker Xiaomi wants to become one of the largest EV builders in the world

We were able to show you the Xiaomi SU7 back in November and in that sense it no longer has any secrets. The SU7 will be launched in China next year. According to its makers, the car has an extremely innovative and intuitive infotainment system, which is of course not surprising for a product from a smartphone manufacturer. According to reports from Reuters, the SU7 would also charge exceptionally quickly at low temperatures. Its range is also impressive: the ‘entry-level version’ already has a range of 668 kilometers, the top version 800 kilometers. This is probably according to the Chinese measurement cycle, which tends to look at the world positively. A car with such a ‘Chinese’ range should also be able to go far in the WLTP cycle.

Xiaomi’s ambitions are not gentle. “Xiaomi’s goal is to create a dream car that is as good as Porsche and Tesla,” said co-founder Lei Jun. The cars will be assembled by state carmaker BAIC Group at a factory in Beijing with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.

Xiaomi’s move to electric cars involves billions in investments. Lei hopes that his company can shake up the transport sector as it did the smartphone market about ten years ago. Xiaomi is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world today.

However, the Xiaomi SU7 comes at an unfortunate time, because the Chinese car market is currently struggling with a capacity surplus and declining demand. This has led to a real price war, while EV sales have also improved in Europe. Lei does not want to be deterred by that. “By working hard over the next fifteen to twenty years, we will become one of the largest automakers in the world and strive to take the Chinese auto industry as a whole to the next level,” he said at the launch of the first Xiaomi on four wheels.