- Chinese startup Xiaomi aims to topple Porsche's lap times at the 'Ring
- A high performance version of the SUV7, dubbed Ultra, packs 1,527 hp
- Xiaomi said it plans to set an official Nürburgring lap time in October
Smartphone giant Xiaomi this week revealed a prototype for a hardcore version of its first car, the SU7 electric sedan.
The new version is dubbed the SU7 Ultra, and it packs a three-motor powertrain generating a combined output of 1,527 hp, or enough for 0-62 mph acceleration in 1.97 seconds and a top speed of 217 mph, according to the company's claims. Xiaomi aims to start sales in 2025.
Development is ongoing, including at Germany's Nürburgring racetrack, and Xiaomi has confirmed that an official lap time will be set in October.
The lap record for production EVs is the 7:05:298 lap set by the 1,914-hp Rimac Nevera in 2023. Porsche's 1,092-hp Taycan Turbo GT pre-production model came close to that time, setting a 7:07.55 earlier this year, but needed to remove its rear seats to achieve it.
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype
The SU7 Ultra has also received extensive weight-saving modifications, to the tune of around 1,100 pounds thanks mostly to carbon fiber replacing many standard parts. The targeted weight for the production model is less than 4,400 pounds.
High power and low weight aren't the only factors that will help the SU7 Ultra in potentially setting a Nürburgring EV record. The car also has an extreme aerodynamics package that helps deliver over 4,700 pounds of downforce.
The SU7 debuted late last year. The biggest battery currently offered is a 101-kwh unit, though Xiaomi has indicated it plans to offer bigger battery options. These will be approximately 132 and 150 kwh in capacity, and it's possible one of these is also fitted to the SU7 Ultra.
The regular SU7 is currently available in China only, where it is priced from about $30,000, or less than what a Tesla Model 3 retails for in that market. That's for a single-motor rear-wheel-drive model with 295 hp. Upgrading to a dual-motor all-wheel-drive model with 664 hp costs roughly $41,500. Given the sharp pricing, which Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun told CNBC in a March interview meant the company was losing money on each example sold, the whole allocation for 2024 was gone in about 24 hours after the start of sales.
