Xiaomi’s CEO on Monday said his goal for the company’s first electric vehicle was to be the “most beautiful, easiest to drive and smartest car”, priced below CNY 500,000 (roughly Rs 57,93,508), as the Chinese electronics maker gears up for orders this week.
The company will announce its official price range and take orders for the car, dubbed the SU7, with SU standing for Speed Ultra, on Thursday night. CEO Lei Jun’s comments, posted on his official Weibo account, are the first time the company has confirmed the upper end of its price range.
Anticipation for the car has been building since Xiaomi unveiled the vehicle in December and announced it was aiming to become one of the world’s top five automakers. Lei has touted it as a technology capable of delivering better acceleration than Tesla cars and Porsche’s EVs.
Xiaomi stores in China also began displaying the car on Monday, with potential customers and auto bloggers queuing up to get a closer look at the “ocean blue” version. The company also uploaded its “Xiaomi Car” app to Chinese app stores.
The SU7 comes in two versions – one with a range of up to 668 km (415 miles) on a single charge, and another with a range of up to 800 km (500 miles). For comparison, Tesla’s Model S has a range of up to 650 km (400 miles).
China’s fifth-largest smartphone maker is trying to diversify into electric cars as smartphone demand stagnates, a plan first announced in 2021. Other Chinese tech companies partnering with automakers to develop electric cars include telecom giant Huawei HWT and search engine company Baidu.
Xiaomi has pledged to invest $10 billion (roughly Rs 83,500 crore) in cars over the next decade and is one of the few new entrants in the Chinese electric vehicle market to have received approval from authorities. However, authorities have been reluctant to contribute to the surplus supply.
The cars are produced by a unit of state-owned automaker BAIC Group at a plant in Beijing, with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
