At today’s event, Xiaomi finally took the wraps off its long-awaited first electric car, the SU7. Positioned as a “high-performance eco-friendly C-class saloon”, the SU7 boasts a sleek design, impressive performance and cutting-edge technology. During the presentation, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun emphasized that the company aims to create a car that will stand the test of time. They believe that the SU7 will look good today, ten years from now, and fifty years from now.
Xiaomi promised in 2021 to invest at least $10 billion in the development of its automotive business over the next ten years, and intends to become the largest manufacturer in the world in one and a half to two decades.
The frontal drag coefficient of Xiaomi SU7 due to the absence of a characteristic protrusion on the roof for placing the lidar reaches 0.195, although it will be present in some modifications. According to the management, this is the best indicator among all production vehicles. The all-wheel-drive saloon will be able to accelerate to 100 km/h in 2.78 seconds and stop at the same speed in 33.3 m. The maximum speed of the saloon will reach 265 km/h. The rear-wheel drive modification will limit the maximum speed to 210 km/h, it will accelerate to 100 km/h in 5.28 seconds, and its braking distance from 100 km/h will increase to 35.5 m. The all-wheel drive car will be able to drive on one charge due to a larger battery 800 km, and rear-wheel drive will be limited to 668 km on the CLTC cycle. At the same time, the power of the power plant in the first will reach 673 hp, and in the second it will be limited to 299 hp.
The subject of Xiaomi’s particular pride is the HyperEngine electric traction motors of its development. The one that will be applied to the SU7 series electric cars is capable of developing a speed of 21,000 rpm, but by 2025 the company will start using electric motors of a new model with a rotation speed of 27,200 rpm. Xiaomi is also working on electric motors with a rotor shell made of carbon fibre, which will raise the rotation speed to 35,000 rpm.
The rear part of the body base of the Xiaomi SU7 electric car is made monolithic using a special 9100 t press, although an alternative way of creating such an assembly unit would require the connection of 72 separate parts with the help of more than 800 welds. The monolithic part not only shortens the time for the manufacture of body panels, but also reduces the mass by 17%, makes it possible to reduce the noise level by 2 dB, and its estimated durability exceeds 2 million km of mileage.
Xiaomi SU7 electric cars can be equipped with traction batteries based on CATL and BYD cells, respectively, depending on the type of drive or the specific configuration of the car, but Lei Jun’s company itself developed the technology of its packaging with integration into the power structure of the body, as it is now established in the industry leaders, although it was not possible and without the help of CATL. Due to such optimization, it was possible to reduce the need for cable wiring by 91%, reduce the volume occupied by the battery by 3%, and also reduce the thickness of the bottom of the machine in combination with the battery to 120 mm.
Using the CATL battery of the Qilin family will allow not only to provide a capacity of 101 kWh for the older versions of Xiaomi SU7 but also to reduce the charging time. At a special charging station, the car will be able to fill up to 220 km of power reserve in 5 minutes, and in 15 minutes it will be possible to accumulate a charge sufficient to move a distance of 510 km according to the conventional CLTC cycle. All-wheel drive modification of Xiaomi SU7 with a maximum capacity battery will be able to cover up to 800 km without recharging in this cycle.
The autopilot hardware base provides for the presence of two NVIDIA DRIVE Orin X processors on board every Xiaomi SU7 saloon. As early as next year, the company expects to become a leader in the level of development of proprietary autopilot systems. The corresponding function will be available by the end of next year in 100 cities in China.
From the point of view of optimizing the interface, Xiaomi did not trust only the touch interface of the central display, which supports 3K resolution and has a size of 16.1 inches diagonally. Physical buttons on the centre console are entrusted with controlling the climate control, the rear active spoiler and the height of the air suspension. The onboard infotainment system is built on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip.
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