What Is The Xiaomi YU7, The Chinese Electric Car Everyone Is So Excited About?

The new Xiaomi YU7 has taken the electric luxury SUV segment in China by storm. Days after launch, Xiaomi claimed it had 289.000 orders. The YU7 looks fantastic, it packs loads of power and tech, and prices start at only $39K. The question I get a lot from people less familiar with the Chinese market but aware of the hype is: What is Xiaomi, and where does it come from?

Xiaomi (小米) – which is pronounced like so – is a consumer electronics and smartphone company founded in 2010 and based in Beijing. The founder and CEO is Lei Jun (雷军), born in 1969 in Wuhan. The success of the car business propelled Lei to the 32nd spot on Forbes’ World Billionaires List, with a net worth of $45.1B.

Xiaomi is the third-largest smartphone maker in the world. It also makes everything from hairdryers to laptops, air conditioning systems, water purifiers, sound systems, robo vacuum cleaners, televisions, and much more. The company is also involved in AI, chip development, and robotics. Xiaomi’s stores in China are fantastic, full of tech, noise, and trendy folks. You can pick up a car and a washing machine at the same time.

Xiaomi Auto

In 2021, Xiaomi founded a new subsidiary called Xiaomi Auto (小米汽车) to get into China’s EV boom. The company went to work, and fast. Within 3 years, it had an R&D center, a design studio, a distribution network, and a factory in the southeast of Beijing.

Construction of the first phase of the factory began in 2021, and it was ready in 2023, with an initial annual capacity of 150K cars. Construction of phase 2 started immediately and will be completed later this year, doubling capacity to 300K. Xiaomi recently purchased land for phase 3, with construction set to start next year. Xiaomi calls it the Hyper Factory.

Launch of the SU7 sedan

The SU7 was Xiaomi’s first car, and the highest-anticipated new car ever in China. Months before launch, social media and automotive news were loaded with SU7 stories, discussing everything from power to colors. When it finally launched in early 2024, Xiaomi received hundreds of thousands of orders.

I have been following the Chinese automotive industry since 2001, and I have never seen a brand rise as fast as Xiaomi. Out of nowhere, and with only one model, Xiaomi reached the 40th place (of 107) in China’s brand ranking in April 2024, after just one month of sales. Growth continued like crazy, peaking at the 19th spot in February 2025. Sales have since gone down a bit, to the 22nd spot in May, with 28,013 units sold. What made Xiaomi such a sudden success?

Part of this has to do with its image. Xiaomi is a popular brand in China. It is seen as trendy, young, and cool. That gives Xiaomi a huge advantage over other new EV makers: massive positive brand recognition right from the start. Xiaomi made another smart connection: matching colors and names. Like a Lava Orange car with a smartphone in the same color, or an SU7 Pro matching a Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro.

More Bang For Your Bucks, Or Revs For Your Renminbis

All cars in China are cheap. But Xiaomi offers an almost unbelievable bang for the buck. Initially, its top-spec car was the SU7 Max with 673 hp for $42K. Then, Xiaomi launched the SU7 Ultra, a tri-motor record-breaking monster with 1,548 hp for only $78K.

Chinese consumers like to be connected with everything, all the time. Xiaomi has the brilliantly-named HyperOS operating system. It runs on Xiaomi’s phones, computers, smart-home systems, household appliances, and the car’s infotainment system. All are seamlessly connected via Xiaomi’s ecosystem. When a user gets into a car, the Xiaomi smartphone immediately connects with the infotainment – they are the same, no need to press any button. If the user downloads an app on the infotainment, it will pop up on the user’s phone, and the other way around.

Finally, Xiaomi offers an endless number of official factory accessories. Chinese consumers love electronic trinkets. Most other brands, like Tesla, don’t bother with this kind of stuff, leaving the market to third-party suppliers. But Xiaomi is a consumer electronics business, so it can make everything in-house. The extras include physical buttons, extra dials, an air freshener, walkie-talkies, and a karaoke set with wireless microphones.

This isn’t to say the company is a completely unmitigated success. Xiaomi had trouble scaling up production capacity, and delivery times went up to over a year. Then came a notable large number of crashes with the SU7, widely shared on social media, which led to rising insurance prices, which led to protests by Xiaomi owners. Next, Xiaomi got involved in an embarrassing scandal; a hood accessory billed as an air vent to improve downforce proved to be just a piece of plastic with two holes in it.

That Was Just The Appetizer, The Xiaomi YU7 Is The Main Dish

The YU7 is Xiaomi’s second car. Xiaomi launched it on June 26 at a high-profile event that lasted almost 3 hours. The YU7 is a sporty 5-seat SUV with a long hood, wide fenders, and 19-inch wheels. The wild design is a mix of original Xiaomi, Ferrari Purosangue, and Aston Martin DB7.

It has a black roof, frameless doors, flush door handles, black wheel arches, two rear spoilers, and sporty five-spoke alloy wheels with yellow Brembo brake calipers.

The rear with a sleek light bar and a diffuser.

The SU7 has the largest clamshell hood in the world, spanning 33.5 square feet (77×62.5 inches).

The drag coefficient is 0.245 Cd, helped by various vents and spoilers. The most interesting one channels air from inlets above the front lights to vents in the hood.

There’s even more interesting stuff on the inside.

The interior is clean, sporty, and luxurious, with Nappa leather seats. It has a large-diameter 3-spoke steering wheel, a 16.1-inch touch screen, and a 43-inch wide ‘Xiaomi HyperVision’ panoramic display. The operating system is HyperOS, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen3 chipset. The system also supports Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife.

In the center tunnel are two heated & cooled cup holders and two 80-watt wireless chargers. That’s a record. Most in-car wireless chargers have 30 to 50W. The YU7 is furthermore equipped with a 25-speaker Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 sound system and a 6.6 kW V2L connection to power external appliances or emergency-charge another EV.

The interior is flexible. Both the front and rear seats recline at 135°, and each seat has a leg rest. However, when the front seats are reclined to the max, no one can sit on the rear seats.

Storage is also something that Xioami is very good at.

Chinese brands compete to see who can cram the most storage space in a car. The YU7 does well on this front, with a 0.48 cubic foot glove box, a 0.16 ft³ refrigerator, and a 0.18 ft³ drawer under the rear bench. The trunk measures 24/62 ft³, and it has a 5 ft³ frunk. Think that’s a big frunk? Wait for my next article…

Ok, Let’s Talk About The Tissue Box

Xiaomi announced a fresh extra for the YU7: a $23 factory-official tissue box, which fits neatly behind the touch screen. Tissue boxes in cars are a big thing in China. Every car has one or more, as consumers care a lot about hygiene. Many after-market companies make tissue box accessories, like box-holders and frames. However, factory-supplied tissue accessories are rare. Leapmotor was first, with a built-in tissue box in the rear compartment.

The Specs Are Also More Than Competitive

The YU7 is based on Xiaomi’s Modena EV platform with an 800V architecture. Xiaomi has launched three variants:

YU7: RWD. Power: 315 hp/389 ft-lbs. The top speed is 149 mph, and 0-62 takes 5.88 seconds. The BYD FinDreams Blade LFP battery has a capacity of 96.3 kWh. The consumption is 13.3 kWh/62 miles, and the range is 519 miles. Charging: 10-80% in 21 minutes.

YU7 Pro: dual-motor AWD. The power goes up considerably to 490 hp and 509 ft-lbs. This brings the 0-62 to 4.27 seconds, but the top speed is 149 mph again. The battery is the same, now with a consumption of 14.4 kWh/62 miles and a 478-mile range. Charging: 10-80% in 21 minutes.

YU7 Max: dual-motor AWD. More power! That’s 681 hp and 638 ft-lbs, for a top speed of 147 mph and a 0-62 in 3.23 seconds. The battery is a 101.7 kWh CATL Qilin NMC. Consumption is 14.8 kW/62 miles, and the range is 472 miles. Charging: 10-80% in only 12 minutes.

Xiaomi has developed the ‘Xiaomi HyperEngine’ electric motors in-house. The motor names are great: V8s, V6s Plus, V6s, and V6. The YU7 has one (RWD) or two (AWD) V6s units.

The YU7 and the YU7 Pro have BYD FinDreams Blade LFP batteries. This is a subsidiary of BYD, selling motors and batteries to other car makers.

The ADAS pissing contest continues. Xiaomi’s L2+ system has 25 sensors: 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, one 4D millimeter wave radar and one lidar. The YU7 has Highway & Urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot).

The 4D radar is an industry-first. Xiaomi says it improves visibility in bad weather. The computing power comes from a 700 TOPS NVIDIA Drive AGX Thor chipset.

It’s Not Expensive, But You’ll Have To Wait

Chinese consumers can order a YU7 at a Xiaomi dealer, an experience store, or online. The base model costs $35K, the Pro sells for $39K, and the Max for $48K. In China, the YU7 competes with cars like the Avatr 11, the IM LS7, the Luxeed R7, and the Tesla Model Y.

Xiaomi offers four interior color combinations and nine exterior colors: Cambrian Gray, Dawn Pink, Dusk Purple, Emerald Green, Lava Orange, Ocean Blue, Pearl White, Shadow Teal, and Titanium. Popularity has a price: when you order one right now, you will get it in 45 to 62 weeks. Next year, Xiaomi will launch its third model, the YU8, a 3-row SUV with an extended-range powertrain, which will undoubtedly shake up the growing EREV luxury SUV segment in China.

So, there you go. All the basics you need to know about the car and the brand.