The fact that Xiaomi’s booth was the only one with a dedicated line should attest to the current popularity of its SU7.
It truly is a testament to how cars these days are merely a branch on the tech tree instead of a distinct segment of its own, when the most popular attraction at the recent Auto China 2024 was to be a product from a phone maker.
Yes, it really does say something to that effect when, amid all the cool concepts that have been strutted out for display by the various automakers, for the only stand at this past Beijing Auto Show to even feature a dedicated queuing zone was to be Xiaomi’s. And what is perhaps even more ludicrously impressive was the fact that the line was consistently LONG throughout the day, with this writer being apparently considered extremely lucky by waiting a mere 10 minutes (instead of the apparently typical hour) before entering.
Though this long wait to even get into the Xiaomi stand should not have really come as a surprise to anyone already, especially when considering that its SU7 has been the talk of the town since its launch in March earlier this year. In fact, the Chinese consumer electronics giant has since announced that it has locked in over 88,000 orders in just over a month since its official introduction.
Now one of the main draws to this Xiaomi is of course its bold proclamation of featuring Taycan levels of performance, but at a Model 3 price point. The most powerful dual-motored SU7 Max trim currently touts to output 673 PS and 838 Nm of torque, which in turn apparently translates to a 911 Turbo-rivalling century sprint time of 2.78 seconds and a 265 km/h top speed.
Another main draw to this SU7 meanwhile is arguably its svelte styling, where some have likened it to a shrunken Taycan but with a nose of a McLaren grafted onto it. Having personally gone round the car however, what was to be the standout feature instead with this Xiaomi (for this writer at least) was to be its tech.
Granted, this may not be the most surprising of revelations for a car that came from a consumer electronics giant. But this writer really has never have experienced such an intuitive and interactive voice command feature with a car, while its 16.1-inch central infotainment display was as crisp to the eye and responsive to the touch as any of Xiaomi’s regular tablets as well.
It is perhaps worth highlighting too that in spite of this SU7 looking rather small on the outside, there was actually to be surprisingly more room within than one might initially expect. There is after all sufficient space at least for a six-footer to be reasonably comfortable in its rather well-trimmed rear seats, with Xiaomi further touting that this EV’s 107-litre frunk is also to be bigger than what is found on both the Model S (89 litres) and Taycan (84 litres).
Oh, and there are to be some rather neat touches on the SU7 that not many have pointed out too. These include a metallic founder’s edition plaque discretely hidden beneath the retractable spoiler on the Max trim, as well as the optionally available row of physical controls and twin-dial display that can be magnetically attached to the central screen.
Though in term of add-ons, probably the most intriguing for this Xiaomi EV at least are the dedicated mounting brackets behind its front seat headrests, which have been designed specifically for iPads…
Xiaomi has recently announced that it since delivered the 10,000th SU7 on May 15th, with this milestone reached in only just 43 days since this EV begun rolling out of its Beijing assembly plant on April 3rd. The consumer electronics giant currently intends to produce a whopping 100,000 units of these cars by the end of the year to satisfy its currently locked-on orders, with its eventual grand plans being to churn out a new car every 76 seconds.
Unlike its phones and other consumer electronic products however, there has yet to be any plans for this SU7 to make it out of China just yet. It is nevertheless all but certain though that if it does make it to Malaysia, expect it potentially be as popular as its consumer electronics products over here.
