The Xiaomi SU7’s Success Surpasses Expectations of Its Founder

The boss of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, held a live broadcast of more than 2 hours on Chinese TikTok on April 18 to discuss with the public. It would have brought together more than 54 million cumulative spectators according to Reuters. Above all, it was an opportunity to learn a little more about the successful launch of the brand's first electric car, the Xiaomi SU7, as well as about future projects.

Launched on March 28, the Xiaomi SU7 electric sedan generated immediate enthusiasm, including internationally. The fallout in China has been impressive, even to the point of surpassing the expectations of the boss of Xiaomi. 3 to 5 times the estimated volumes », Said Lei Jun in his live, according to Reuters. The boss of Xiaomi does not intend to stop there and already has a well-established plan.

Deliveries ahead of schedule

Before the official presentation, the Xiaomi factory had already produced a special series of 5,000 copies called “founders edition”. These models began to be delivered the week following the presentation to the first customers.

For buyers who opted to order an entry-level version of the Xiaomi SU7, the first deliveries were estimated for the end of April. The first copies of the top-of-the-range SU7 Max version were to follow shortly after, only the intermediate finish (SU7 Pro) was planned a little later in May.

Faced with pressing customer demand, Xiaomi has worked hard to be able to deliver to customers as soon as possible. The ramp-up of production at the factory is going well, according to the brand's boss. It was ultimately 12 days ahead of schedule that Xiaomi was able to deliver orders placed from March 28.

The strong demand for the model even forced the brand to urgently summon suppliers last week to review the negotiated volumes.

No off-road model coming from Xiaomi

As soon as the SU7 sedan was released, customers inevitably took advantage of this moment of discussion to ask Lei Jun what the brand will develop next. The boss necessarily remains quite evasive on the question, the plan of the models is still confidential. He did not say no to an SUV model, on the other hand, he indicated that he did not want to make an all-terrain vehicle. He considers that other Chinese brands make very good ones, pointing in particular to Great Wall Motors, whose boss was present with him during his speech.

On the other hand, he confirmed that his priority was to take care of the SU7. Above all, he wants to continue improving the software part of the car. He is aware that the brand's first car will not be perfect, and that if bugs are found, the teams will have to act quickly to correct them.

Lei Jun indicated that he wanted to do over-the-air (OTA) updates “ at least once a month » to improve the model. Among the updates already planned for May, there is notably the wireless CarPlay function which should appear in the models already delivered to customers.

A new engine for the end of the year

Before the SU7 was made official, Xiaomi presented the different electric motors on which the brand was working. The electric sedan was launched with the HyperEngine V6/V6s engine, but two other, even more efficient engines were indicated as being in development.

According to Chinese media Ithome, Lei Jun indicated during the live that the HyperEngine V8s electric motor will be available by the end of the year on Xiaomi cars. This is expected to reach 27,200 rpm, which would make it one of the most efficient motors on the electric car market, surpassing – according to the brand's claims – those fitted to the Tesla Model S Plaid. It must offer a maximum power of 425 kW (or 578 hp) for a torque of 635 Nm. It would offer an efficiency greater than 98%.

Xiaomi won't stop there as the company is researching a motor that can reach 35,000 rpm. This motor would use a laser-wound rotor reinforced with carbon fiber. We will have to wait until this engine is available to better understand its specific functioning, and for the moment, no date has been given.