Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, announced this Monday (25) on his Weibo account the price range of the SU7 (Speed Ultra 7), its first electric vehicle. As reported by Reuters, the EV will be the “prettier, easier to drive, smarter car” priced below 500,000 yuan (approximately US$70,000 or R$350,000).
What do you need to know:
- This is the first time that the company has confirmed the limit of its price range;
- Comment comes as Xiaomi prepares to start taking orders, which is happening this week;
- Seventy-six stores in 29 Chinese cities have already started displaying the car this Monday (25);
- The official announcement of the price of the SU7, however, should only take place on Thursday (28);
- Xiaomi unveiled the vehicle in December and said it aims to become one of the world’s top five automakers.
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The SU7 will come in two versions — one with a range of up to 668 km on a single charge and another with a range of up to 800 km. The manufacturer guarantees that, with a “super electric motor”, the EV has superior acceleration to Tesla and Porsche cars — it must compete specifically with the Porsche Taycan, IM L6 and Tesla Model S. Tesla’s Model S, for example, has a range of up to 650 km.
The EV is Xiaomi’s first attempt to enter the world’s largest automotive market amid a brutal price war. The strategy, signaled for the first time in 2021, also comes to overcome the current stagnation in demand for smartphones — a market in which the company is the 5th largest manufacturer in China.
The Chinese giant promised to invest US$10 billion in automobiles over a decade. It is one of the few companies to win approval from authorities to enter China’s electric vehicle market, which is reluctant to add to excess supply.
