Xiaomi CEO covers 1310 km in epic road test for launch of new electric SUV

The CEO of Xiaomi, one of the world’s biggest phone makers, has just finished an epic 15-hour long drive test ahead of the release of what it hopes will be a top-selling electric vehicle, the YU7.

The CEO, Lei Jun, was one of the drivers of a convoy of YU7 vehicles that travelled 1,310 km along highways and other roads, testing the range of the EVs and its autonomous driving technology.

They said they average speeds were 100 km/h, just two breaks were taken during the entire 1,310 km journey, and temperatures in China’s winter dropped to minus 10 Centigrade at certain sections of the test.

Xiaomi started deliveries of its four-door electric sedan, the SU7 in April, shortly after the vehicle was unveiled.  Having seen Xiaomi’s first car up and close on recent trips to China, it’s clear that the brand has much bigger ambitions than just being one of the top 3 phone manufacturers in the world.

Within months, by June, the company was hitting production of over 10,000 units and, by July, had delivered over 25,000 SU7s to customers. In November, the 100,000 delivery milestone was reached, which was its original target for the entire year. It finished the year with sales of 143,000 and a 2025 target of more than 300,000.

It is now hinting global expansion and has hired project managers, market researchers and EV after-sales engineers to evaluate markets.

The company’s new SUV model, which was seen testing this week, was announced by Jun himself on 10th December.

The YU7 is expected to have first customer deliveries by June or July this year as the brand ramps up its production capabilities that have exceeded all market expectations so far.

According to government filings, the new model will be just shy of 5 metres in length and has a dual motor powertrain that can deliver 508 kW of peak power.

This will help the car achieve its top speed of 253 km/h, making it one of the fastest SUVs in the world.

Xiaomi already has a global footprint thanks to its electronics store footprint already in dozens of countries, which means the company has s a much better chance than most other Chinese automotive companies as they expand globally.