After appearing in regulatory listings a few months ago, Xiaomi closes 2023 with a bang by officially unveiling the SU7 as its debut entry into the EV market. Aside from the Mineral Grey color we saw a few months back, the SU7 is also coming in Verdant Green and Aqua Blue, with the latter being the most striking color among the three.
Xiaomi’s official entry into the EV race is long-awaited, and the SU7 introduces five key innovations that the Chinese tech giant has been working on for the past few years. Tying in with its HyperOS announcement last month, the SU7 makes use of Xiaomi’s new OS, making the EV integrate well with other Xiaomi products to form a unified ecosystem.
Integrating HyperOS into the SU7 is part of its smart cabin feature. Xiaomi claims that using the EV is as easy as using a smartphone, where users need not worry about learning curves to operate the car properly.
At the heart of the SU7 is Xiaomi’s HyperEngine, which comes in three configurations. At launch, the SU7 will be available with V6/V6s motors that run at up to 21000rpm. The higher-performance V8-equivalent motor is expected to go into production by 2025, while Xiaomi is working on an even more powerful carbon-sleeved rotor HyperEngine that can go as high as 35000rpm–higher than most motors that are in production.
For the battery pack, Xiaomi boasts of its CTB tech, which only has a thickness of 120mm and has a compact design that also reduces the number of wiring harnesses needed. The battery pack itself is a 101kWh CATL cell that Xiaomi claims up to 800km of range on the Max version. The standard version is rated for up to 668km and uses a 73.6kWh BYD cell.Â
Similar to Tesla, Xiaomi utilizes die casting for the SU7’s components and panels. Called Hypercasting, Xiaomi’s casting process is a 72-in-1 integrated die casting that reduces welded joints by as much as 840 and simplifies overall vehicle structure. Despite its simplified design, Xiaomi is confident of the durability of Hypercasting with a claimed 2 million kilometer durability.
When it comes to performance, Xiaomi is using the best components on the SU7 which include Brembo brakes and Bosch brake components. You also get features like adaptive ride control, along with a fast 0-100km/h acceleration of 2.78 seconds on the Max model.
At launch, there will be two models: the standard SU7 has a single motor and is rear-wheel-drive, while the Max version has dual motors and an all-wheel-drive drivetrain. The Max’s dual-motor design gives it double the power over the standard SU7 while increasing range at the same time.