That little grudge the Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan have had going on for the past few years takes a new twist for 2024. The twist is called the Xiaomi SU7 and it’s the first ever from a company better known for its smartphones, but which has some seriously ambitious plans in the automotive sector. You might recall seeing us cover the SU7 in November when we got our first proper look at the electric sedan along with a few basic tech details thanks to an info drop by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). But today Xiaomi officially unveiled the SU7, revealing everything from its power lineup and driving range to the clamping force of the casting machine used to build it – 9,100 tonnes, since you asked.
We now know, that at 4,997 mm long, and riding on a 3,000 mm wheelbase, the
SU7 is fractionally larger than both of its key rivals and incredibly slippery,
its McLaren-style nose giving a drag co-efficient of only 0.195. The Modena
architecture is compatible with both 400- and 800-volt electrics and there are
multiple drive configurations and power outputs available from motors that are
cheekily (and confusingly) named V6, V6s, and V8s.
Base V6 cars get a single motor and send
295 hp and 400 Nm of torque to their rear wheels
to push you to 100 km/h in 5.28 seconds. The entry-level model is
limited to 400-volt electrics, so doesn’t charge as quickly as its more
expensive brothers, but it does still offer a useful 668 km of
electric range from a 73.6 kWh battery.
Top-dog V8s cars, on the other hand, are
dual-motor affairs that generate 664 hp, can rocket from zero
to 62 mph in 2.78 seconds and top out at a Taycan-beating 265 km/h.
They’re also capable of 800 km of driving range from a full charge
of their 101 kWh batteries, which is more than a Model S can manage. Speedy
800-volt charging tech means you can add 220 km of range in 5
minutes, or 390 km in 10 minutes when hooked up to a suitably rapid
station.
Unsurprisingly, given Xiaomi’s background,
the SU7 majors in tech, both in terms of driver assistance and infotainment,
which is handled by a 16.1-inch central touchscreen. The autonomous package
consists of lidar, cameras, and radar, that offer hands-off freeway driving and
auto-parking initially but could expand the self-driving element to city
streets once tests have been carried out in 2024.
