Lei Jun Teased Xiaomi SU7 Price Ahead of Official Launch. As the Chinese electronics manufacturer prepares to take orders this week, Xiaomi’s CEO stated on Monday that his company’s first electric vehicle should be the “best looking, easiest to drive, and smartest car” at a price below CNY 500,000.
The automobile called the SU7, short for Speed Ultra, will go on sale on Thursday night after the company releases its official pricing range and takes reservations. The company has officially verified the upper end of its price range for the first time with remarks made by CEO Lei Jun on his official Weibo account.
Since Xiaomi introduced the automobile in December and declared its goal to rank among the top five automakers in the world, there has been a growing amount of anticipation for the vehicle. Lei has bragged about how its technology can accelerate vehicles more quickly than both Porsche’s EVs and Tesla vehicles.
Prospective buyers and auto bloggers flocked to Xiaomi outlets in China on Monday as the vehicle was unveiled, eager to get a close-up look at the “ocean blue” model. The business has posted the “Xiaomi Car” app to Chinese app stores.
There will be two variants of the SU7:
- one that can travel up to 668 km (415 miles) on a single charge,
- and another that can travel up to 800 km.
In contrast, the maximum range of Tesla’s Model S is 650 kilometers.
Aiming to diversify into electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of a stagnating smartphone market, China’s fifth-largest smartphone manufacturer originally announced this intention in 2021. Other Chinese IT firms, such as search engine Baidu and telecom behemoth Huawei HWT, have collaborated with automakers to create EVs.
Also Read: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says AI hallucinations are solvable
One of the few new entrants into China’s EV industry to receive approval from authorities—who have been hesitant to add to the glut of supply—is Xiaomi, which has promised to invest $10 billion in automobiles over the course of ten years.
A division of the state-owned manufacturer BAIC Group is producing its automobiles at a Beijing plant that can create 200,000 of them annually.