Xiaomi SU7 promo shooting pictures leak as the launch is imminent

Xiaomi SU7 photo shooting pictures were revealed in China. The EV is wearing azure blue and reveals the camera on the B-pillar, possibly for the face unlock. The Chinese outlet that leaked them faces a 3 million yuan (420,000 USD) fine for breaching the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

The sleek sedan features in top trim a 101 kWh battery for the 800 km CLTC range and AWD 495 kW motors. Xiaomi recently denied the rumors it will hold a conference on December 28 to launch the car and start presales. However, they admitted this date was one of their options.

The smartphone giant revealed its intention to join the carmaking bandwagon nearly three years ago in March 2021, intending to invest 10 billion yuan (1.4 billion USD) to bring the first car on the roads in the first half of 2024. And it seems the progress is going well.

“I came into car building to win,” Lei Jun, co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said in a recent interview. “Over 3,400 engineers worked on the SU7, and our R&D investment reached 10 billion yuan,” reiterated Jun.

The SU7 was revealed last month as it applied for a sales license in China. It is a sporty EV that will compete with Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S but with Xiaomi pricetag.

When Xiaomi launched its first smartphone in 2011, it became famous for selling it through a direct sales model for almost the cost price and avoiding resellers.

Xiaomi SU7 is slightly longer than the Porsche Taycan, and the dimensions are 4997/1963/1455 mm (L/W/H), with a wheelbase of 3000 mm. The powertrain has two options:

• RWD with 220 kW motor
• AWD with 495 kW maximum power (220 kW + 275 kW)

There are two options for the battery: 73.6 kWh and 101 kWh, providing 668 km and 800 km CLTC range, respectively. The smaller pack will be an LFP battery from BYD using 400V charging, while the bigger pack will be a ternary NMC chemistry provided by CATL, using 800V charging.

SU7 battery-related specs

• 73.6 kWh
  • 579 kg weight
  • 127 Wh/kg energy density
  • 628 km and 668 km CLTC range (depending on the powertrain option)
• 101 kWh
  • 645.8 kg weight
  • 156 Wh/kg energy density
  • 750 km and 800 km CLTC range (depending on the powertrain)

Those are not yet official information but were revealed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as Xiaomi applied for market homologation of their first EV.

SU7 is warming for its launch as its contract manufacturer, state-owned BAIC Off-road Vehicle Co. factory in Beijing, announced it has already started a trial production, and dozens of test vehicles rolled off the production line with 300 more following in December, preparing for mass production start in early 2024. On December 5, the SU7 was spotted doing various performance tests on the famous Zhejiang International Circuit.

The price hasn’t been revealed yet, but CarNewsChina expected it to start at 190,000 yuan (26,650 USD) with the top trim level being under 300,000 yuan (42,000 USD).