Xiaomi unveils first EV and vows to be a high 5 automaker

“There’s a lot of people out there who think that the top 10 car companies are going to be Tesla followed by nine Chinese car companies,” the Tesla CEO stated finally month’s New York Occasions Dealbook conference. “I think they might not be wrong.” 

After all, he was speaking about China’s carmakers. What a few Chinese language smartphone maker? 

On Thursday in Beijing, smartphone large Xiaomi unveiled its first electrical automobile—and stated it goals to develop into, as CEO Lei Jun stated, “one of the world’s top 5 automakers” over the subsequent 10 to fifteen years.

Welcome aboard, Xiaomi SU7!⚡️ pic.twitter.com/bpJJmC8EB8

— Lei Jun (@leijun) December 27, 2023

“They have a significant opportunity to break through as the automobile becomes a smart device,” Invoice Russo, CEO of Shanghai-based advisory agency Automobility, told Reuters.

The automobile, known as the SU7, or Velocity Extremely, will share an working system with the corporate’s telephones and different gadgets. Russo famous that Xiaomi has “hundreds of millions of ‘Mi Fans,’ or members of its smart device ecosystem.”

Xiaomi, based in 2010, is among the many world’s high 5 international smartphone manufacturers, alongside Apple, Samsung, and China’s Oppo and Vivo. It additionally makes different shopper electronics and family home equipment. 

Apple, too, has long been rumored to be engaged on an EV that will combine with its iOS.

Xiaomi’s new five-seat sedan could have a spread of as much as 500 miles on a single cost, a high pace of about 165 miles per hour, and a “super electric motor” that may enable it to speed up sooner than Tesla or Porsche EVs, the corporate’s CEO stated. 

However Xiaomi faces an uphill battle. Formidable rivals already rule the highway in China, chief amongst them BYD—backed by Berkshire Hathaway and commanding a 3rd of the nation’s EV market—and Tesla (with 9%). These two market leaders and others have engaged in fierce price wars this yr in China. Within the second quarter, one Tesla rival, Nio, misplaced $835 million, or $35,000 for every automotive it bought, reported the New York Occasions.

The SU7, relying on its configuration—single or twin motor—might be powered by batteries from both Modern Amperex Know-how or BYD, according to Bloomberg. 

As Fortune reported earlier this month, Xiaomi is spending far above the business common to interrupt into China’s EV market. The corporate is spending 10 instances the quantity on labor and funding automakers typically dedicate to a brand new mannequin, Lei advised Chinese language state broadcaster CCTV.

He didn’t reveal the worth of the SU7, which is able to probably go on sale in China in a number of months, however he stated it will “indeed be a bit high.”