Xiaomi SU7: Leading the Charge to America?
There’s been much talk lately about Chinese electric cars coming to the American market. I suspect they’ll be here, in much the same way Western manufacturers were allowed into China – through localized joint venture production. The Chinese auto industry is itching to sell beyond the confines of its crowded market to the point that its government should be more than willing to let one of its bigger manufacturers build a factory in some union free place like the Carolinas or Alabama. With a Big Three partner of course.
Many figure big Chinese players like BYD or Greely might be the first to arrive. Greely already has some of its auto business in the American market as Volvo and Lotus. Other companies like BYD also have a foothold in America with the production of electric buses and small delivery trucks. While companies like Geely and BYD get most of the attention in the Western press, it’s Xiaomi that has been quietly capturing the global imagination with its SU7.
Xiaomi is the Apple of China. Its vast array of products include computers, phones, dishwashers, refrigerators, bikes, scooters and now cars. Actually it has a line of cars with the mid-sized SU7 sedan as its flagship. It’s easy to see why the SU7 has stirred up so much commotion. At first glance, it looks like a Porsche on the outside and a Tesla inside. Xiaomi has gone beyond mere copying and made some novel innovations that might win it new customers. In China those customers are already emerged in a Xiaomi ecosystem that allows many of its products to work together in expected and expected ways.
A Full Range Of Models
Like many electric cars, the SU7 comes in multi-tiered variants with single and dual motor powertrains. The SU7 uses a rear engine rear wheel drive configuration as its basis. The SU7 Standard model boasts a single motor with 295 hp. Xiaomi claims a top speed of 130 mph for the 4300+ lb. sedan. Then there’s the step up dual motor AWD SU7 Pro with 664hp. In Pro guise the SU7 can reach 60 mph in just under 3 seconds. It has other tricks like a boost mode that unlocks maximum torque for 20 seconds on its way to a top speed of 164mph. For those looking for the maximum range and comfort, there’s the SU7 Max with its big 101kWh 800V battery. The Max is rated for a near 500 mile range and can be charged (like all SU7) with a Tesla-like quick charger system.
Regardless of what model you opt for, the SU7’s interior is a textbook case of modern simplicity. Like many Asian market items, there are plenty of technical gimmicks. In the case of the SU7, they can be innovative and worthwhile, especially if you have a Xiaomi smartphone or one of the brand’s many other consumer electronic gadgets. Anyone who has used a Chinese phone or tablet lately knows that they have made considerable strides in UI/UX design. Long gone are the days of cheap knockoffs. This has been the case with Chinese phones and tablets for a few years now. Now the Chinese car has followed suit (mostly). These improvements have carried over into the SU7 in the form of screen centric interfaces that come closer than you might think to rivaling some of the best from Audi or BMW.
One of the SU7’s many tricks is a configurable central screen. You can add modules to it like a row of physical buttons for the HVAC and audio or other functions. Less useful are mood lights that can be attached to the edges of the screen that react to sounds in the car. Aside from gadgets the SU7 has an attractive interior with equal bits of leather, cloth and various plastics. It looks slightly upmarket much like a typical Tesla interior.
For all the comparisons to Porsche’s Taycan Turbo, the SU7 is actually attractive in its own right. The front end solves the dilemma of how to make an electric car look aggressively functional without a proper grill to cool an engine that does not exist. Xiaomi solves the problem with large ducts and folds that are almost elegant. The end result is a slick 0.195Cd. Weight Is an issue with most EV’s and the SU7 is no different with overall weight ranging from just over 4,000 lbs. for a single battery SU7 Standard to 4,861lbs. for a fully loaded SU7 Max. All SU7 feature ventilated disc brakes all around with the Max version getting Brembo four-piston calipers up front and the ventilated disc in back.
A Rough Start
It’s true that the SU7 has some early production glitches. SU7 issues have been well documented with customers complaining about everything from loose interior panels to flaws in brake systems design. Preorders sold out and Xiaomi has been trying to meet customer demand while quietly fixing it’s quality control issues. This was no different than Tesla who often let flawed cars out to early adopters with unresolved issues that they planned to remedy with future software updates. Tesla still does this and had quality control issues for years, especially with new models like the CyberTruck.
The Long Game
Unlike Tesla, Xiaomi won’t be able to get away with these issues if it wants to be a global player who is also in the U.S. market. Brand perception would be a big problem in America. I have owned a Xiaomi laptop for close to 5 years. It’s been the best Windows laptop I’ve ever owned – as good if not better than the Macbook Pro it replaced. Xiaomi’s gadgets are well known in China, but are not widely available in America. LG and Samsung make some of the best washer and dryers on the market, but most people would not have known that if it were not for their encounters with LG and Samsung phones and TVs in America. Xiaomi does not need to sell it’s excellent laptops and phones in America under official channels, but the brand awareness would help the case of the SU7.
The SU7 range starts at a U.S. equivalent of $30,000 for the SU7 Standard and tops out at $41,000 for the Max. These prices for a new car are low by U.S. standards, but in some cases cost more than the equivalent Tesla in China. Tesla has been aggressively lowering prices worldwide and especially in China as EV competition heats up. If Xiaomi can get its quality control issues to something better than the average Fiat, then it has a good chance of becoming a strong value player in the American market. It’s looks are upscale while it’s price might be more in line with hybrid versions of midsized sedans like the Accord and Camry.
With a $30,000 base price tag, the SU7 would severely disrupt all of the Big Three’s expensive tepid attempts at EVs. More importantly, it might humble Tesla on its home turf and force a new market for lower priced more accessible EVs.
Coming to America?
There is hope that cars like the SU7 will make it to America. It will take the same political and business savvy that the Chinese used on Western manufacturers to teach them how to build cars 30 or so years ago. With Chinese companies like Xiaomi producing in America with an American partner (Chrysler needs Asian help again), we could get the best of both worlds in much the same way Chrysler used Mitsubishi expertise to sell small cars under the Plymouth and Dodge brands. I would hope that beautiful cars like the SU7 would lead the charge to America.
Autopolis 