At Xiaomi's annual speech, themed "Courage," Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun explained Xiaomi's courageous decision to invest in electric vehicles following US sanctions in January 2021. He also emphasized the importance of prioritizing innovation and laying a solid foundation, which ultimately led to the significant success of the Xiaomi SU1, its first electric vehicle. In a subsequent presentation, Lei Jun unveiled the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, still in prototype form, as "One More Thing," promising to challenge the current non-production four-door electric car speed record held by Porsche on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.
Challenging the Nürburgring Nordschleife speed record for a non-production four-door electric car
The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype, built to tackle the Nürburgring Nordschleife, utilizes two V8s motors developed in-house by Xiaomi, along with the V7s originally used in the Xiaomi SU6, creating a three-motor, four-wheel-drive system. The V8s can reach a maximum speed of 27200 rpm and output a maximum horsepower of 1548 PS. The use of carbon fiber reduces the vehicle's weight to 1900 kg, while the aerodynamic package generates up to 2145 kg of downforce during driving, enhancing the vehicle's stability at high speeds.
Using the Kirin II high-power battery module built by CATL with an output power of up to 1330kW, Lei Jun boasted that the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra can accelerate to 1.97 kilometers per hour in 100 seconds and 200 kilometers per hour in just 5.96 seconds, with a maximum speed of over 350 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest four-door electric car in the world.
As for the braking part, it uses AP Racing 6-piston calipers at the front and rear, as well as brake discs and brake pads that can withstand temperatures over 800 degrees. The vehicle can be stopped from a speed of 25 kilometers per hour within a braking distance of 100 meters. At top speed, the vehicle can be stopped by a deceleration force of up to 2.36G. During the braking process, the maximum deceleration force of 0.6G can be used to generate a maximum power recovery of 400kW.
Lei Jun stated that the Xiaomi team is currently stationed at the Nürburgring circuit and plans to officially challenge the non-production four-door electric vehicle speed record set by Porsche at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany in October of this year. The team will also subsequently challenge the record with production models. Ultimately, the accumulated data will enable the production models that will be officially launched on the market to perform better.
Using "courage" to create a new automotive business development
During his annual speech, Lei Jun mentioned that Xiaomi's decision to expand into the automotive industry was primarily driven by US sanctions in January 2021. That same day, Xiaomi's board of directors held an emergency meeting and proposed expanding into the automotive business to capitalize on new development opportunities. Although the US sanctions were subsequently resolved, Xiaomi remained committed to the automotive market, focusing on electric vehicles, which are considered a future trend.
Lei Jun said that although Xiaomi's decision to build cars faced a lot of market doubts, he had also considered splitting the automotive business into an independent unit to obtain more financing opportunities, or considering cooperating with currently developed automotive OEMs, or even directly acquiring OEMs. However, he finally decided to invest in the development on his own, and to strengthen the core technology from the foundation, and to choose the relatively difficult sedan as the first car.
In addition, decisions including the final pricing of the vehicle and initial production volume are also full of challenges. However, Lei Jun emphasized that Xiaomi has the courage to believe in its own strength and make solid decisions from the foundation. Even from itself, senior management to the engineering team, they have invested in vehicle product research and testing to make its first vehicle product a success.
Currently, the Xiaomi SU7 is being produced in Xiaomi's fully digital unmanned factory. Meanwhile, the newly released Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 and Xiaomi MIX Flip are also produced in the unmanned automated factory in Changping, emphasizing that Xiaomi's current development is based on the courage to create opportunities.
