For a brand that is now well known in the smartphone world, you would expect Xiaomi to make bold moves. One that will define a category for years to come. That’s how they’ve gotten to where they are with phones (they’re the third-largest smartphone maker globally). Yet, as this trip to the past provides an inspiration, the tech company intends to chart a new path for itself. Whose vision is not only of a decade, but also beyond that. The bold move to create an electric car, the SU7, is very reminiscent of how they took the phone world by storm a decade ago. At stake is not only a seat at the table with the world’s largest automakers, but also the future of smartphones.
Except this time, the difference is that, instead of curating a collection of components from vendors, Xiaomi is spending big on research and development to build more in-house. This will reduce dependence on sourcing components, and reduce supply chain idiosyncrasies. This is the foundation of the five core technologies that define most EVs and especially the Xiaomi SU7 as a whole – e-motor, battery, hypercasting, autonomous driving and a smart cabin. Building the hardware in close coordination with the way Xiaomi wants to build the software platform should come to fruition once the SU7 goes on sale – and that’s not exactly clear at the moment.
Xiaomi is investing heavily in the EV sector, which means the SU7 is not a one-off achievement, nor will it be sacrificed on the altar of accountants, as has been the case with so many concept cars in human history. To be precise, 10 billion CNY or Chinese Yuan. Xiaomi has confirmed to HT that there is no external funding. Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, has set a goal for a 15 to 20-year endeavor – Xiaomi wants to become one of the top five global automakers.
In the immediate future, Xiaomi’s challenge will be the notion of pricing, which is unknown as of now, as no specific details have been confirmed yet. There will be inevitable comparisons on pricing, and that’s assuming the more tech-packed SU7 will be on the pricier side of the scale, pitted against Tesla’s comparatively less tech-laden Model 3, for example. Speculation about the SU7’s price also stems from the car showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) showcase in Barcelona.
HT reported that there are 8 cameras all around the car which is a key part of the expected autonomous driving tech, and the brakes being used by Xiaomi are made by Italian automotive braking system giant Brembo. These are typically high-performance brake systems, found in very powerful luxury cars and sports cars.
Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India, compares the phone sector with its latest and most feature-rich phone, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, “Tesla is a benchmark, whether we like it or not. I think it’s on par in terms of phones, where globally the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will be compared to the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max. The plan will remain in place. “The end idea is to achieve excellence in terms of technology, excellence in terms of product and gradually make our mark there,” he told HT.
There are three electric motors that Xiaomi plans to offer with the SU7. Launch spec will be Xiaomi HyperEngine V6/V6s motors, capable of 21,000 rpm or revolutions per minute – it will be offered as 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive options with different peak power output ratings. Expected to be in mass production sometime next year are HyperEngine V8s, rated at 27,200 rpm. There is an even more powerful hyperengine in the pre-research stage, which could deliver 35,000 rpm and would have a carbon-sleeve. What this means for performance as well as efficiency, and when it will be ready for the production model, remains to be seen.
With such a significant investment, comes a detailed action plan. “When we announced this project in 2021, the biggest investment is manpower investment. Looking at this part, we have some of the best minds in the company, including Chairman Lei Jun, who actually took the time to say ‘I will focus on the car and drive that car forward.’ Of course, every year, whatever profit was being generated from the existing businesses was used to finance this project,” Sharma tells us on how Xiaomi made such a huge investment to pursue the car business. Have planned.
Xiaomi’s battery architecture means it’s only 120mm thick (that’s almost the height of a fourteen iPhone 15 Pro Max), a 91% reduction in the wire harness used and taking up about 3% less space than most other EVs. Is transformed. Interestingly enough, Xiaomi calls it a 72-in-1 unit, a reference to the integrated die-casting rear floor. This reduces the number of welded joints to 840, making it 17% lighter for this component alone (weight savings are usually good news for EV batteries) and also reduces road noise in the cabin.
If you’re wondering why Xiaomi hasn’t announced pricing and availability specifications for the SU7 or SU7 Max, it’s because there is still a phase of testing going on before the project gets the green light. The test is specific, too. “The biggest test for any electronics is its thermal aspect. Once you get into very hot or very cold temperatures, the battery efficiency decreases massively. For the last four or five months, the entire testing has been taking place in extreme cold weather,” Sharma tells us. The idea is to drain the battery to the point where any change in performance or unreliability or breaking point becomes apparent.
In sync with phone and other things
For Xiaomi, software means more than just a platform for a car. HyperOS, as it’s called, is developed to be ubiquitous. Xiaomi’s Android phones, tablets, and a broader smart home ecosystem all plug into it. The latest smartphones, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 are the first phones to hit stores with HyperOS preloaded, while some existing phones as well as the Xiaomi Pad 6 are also receiving the software update.
This is what defines its ‘Smart Cabin’, as Xiaomi calls it. Sharma believes that HyperOS and the company’s Human x Car x Home approach is important because it taps into the three places where humans spend the most of their time every day – at home, at work, and on the commute. As Sharma says, it’s about a “philosophy that covers these three aspects”, with the car being in the middle of this transition.
Some people’s attitude towards cars may need to change. “Obviously, a car needs to be more than just a vehicle to take you from point A to point B. How does it connect with your life? With those data points, we are able to basically understand how a person lives. The aim is to make it easier and more intuitive,” says Sharma.
This is a fairly basic example – your Xiaomi phone will know when you’re leaving the office (there could be multiple metrics for this, like location, tracked steps or leaving the office Wi-Fi at a particular time of the day) and The car starts automatically to begin balancing the cabin to a comfortable temperature before you reach your parking spot. At the same time, Sharma believes that this is just the beginning, and there are possibilities that are impossible to imagine at this time.
“The way the entire interconnected ecosystem and AI aspect should work in three to five years may include functionalities and capabilities that we cannot even imagine today. But our aim remains the same,” he says. And that is that humans are the most important part of this process. For us in India, any hopes of buying the SU7 will have to wait, as production will be focused on the domestic market, China, for now. But with global aspirations very clear, it may not be a long wait. However the company denies any timeline.
For Xiaomi, making cars is also about flex, a sign that they are positioning themselves to become a technology powerhouse on a global scale. Sharma believes that the development of the car is exciting, but the company’s plans are not limited to just this. There is still more to come across various categories. As he defines it, it is an overall change in the philosophy of Xiaomi.
