Driving Xiaomi's Electric Car: Are we Cooked?

All right. So, there are a lot of hot takes in the tech world, and I see a lot of them in the comment section and in articles all the time. And one of the most common ones is, yo, have you seen

these Chinese electric cars? If they

ever came to the US, they would cook everything that we have here. They are

too good. They have too much tech and they are too cheap to not dominate everything. And so, I figured I should

everything. And so, I figured I should get my hands on one and actually figure out if that's true or not. And uh yeah, you could say there's a little something to it.

There are so many crazy things I've learned about this car while I've been testing it, but let's just start with the basics. This car here I've been

the basics. This car here I've been driving for the last 2 weeks is called the Xiaomi SU7.

Yeah, that Xiaomi. So, the Xiaomi that makes basically everything in China.

Tablets, headphones, robot vacuums, printers, appliances, and smartphones.

And they even refer to the trims of this car as the SU7, SU7 Pro, SU7 Max, and SU7 Ultra. So, this here is the SU7 Max.

SU7 Ultra. So, this here is the SU7 Max.

And this retails for about $299,000 Chinese yuan, which actually converts to about $42,000 US, which is going to be a

lot more impressive in about 5 minutes.

So, base specs. This is a fully electric four-door sedan. 101 kWh battery, dual

four-door sedan. 101 kWh battery, dual motor, all-wheel drive, 673 horsepower, and 320 mi of range. Already, those are specs on paper on the level of like a

Tesla Model 3 Performance, which today costs like $55,000.

Now, looking around the outside of this car, it looks like a pretty reasonable car. I think a lot of people would

car. I think a lot of people would agree. But that's the thing. This is

agree. But that's the thing. This is

Xiaomi we're talking about making this car and they're not a car company which means they don't have any previous designs that they have to pay homage to or any traditional lines and shapes that

they have to keep around which means a little bit less prestige. Yes, but also a little bit more freedom because I see them taking stuff from all over the rest of the car industry in this car. Like

these headlights for example, that is very much a McLaren looking headlight and they have Lotus lines on the hood here. And then as you get back even more

here. And then as you get back even more kind of looks like a Porsche Tyan from the side profile if I'm not crazy. It

has these thin bezels like the Polestar and then a thicker tail light across the back which kind of looks maybe like a Lincoln or some others. And then there's a fully active wing on the back that kind of looks like a Mercedes AMG GT.

All of these are more expensive cars from more premium brands. And so they kind of meld them all together into one car with this kind of unique purple color that honestly I think looks pretty

good. And we're not even on the inside

good. And we're not even on the inside yet.

So the inside here is where they really start to stack the wins. This is a nice car. Not just in like a nice with an

car. Not just in like a nice with an asterisk type of way, like, "Oh, this is nice for a $45,000 car," or, "Oh, this is nice for a car I've never heard of."

No, this this is a nice car. It's got

this pretty clean design all around the interior. Again, bringing in inspiration

interior. Again, bringing in inspiration and premium features from a bunch of different places. Like, these are

different places. Like, these are comfortable, heated, and ventilated leather seats. This heated steering

leather seats. This heated steering wheel looks and feels a lot like a Porsche steering wheel to me with the shape and the simplicity and just a few buttons with stalks at the bottom.

There's a big, bright, and automatically aligning HUD in front of me, right in front of the road at all times. And

that's right above a small display behind the steering wheel. And then a 16-in primary display in the center. And

then there's storage everywhere. There's

here in the middle between the front seats, where they've also cleverly stored a flashlight powered by the car's battery, kind of like Riven. And believe

it or not, a tasteful amount of real hardware controls here. There's a power onoff button right here. There's

temperature controls up and down, fan speed up and down at my fingertips. You

can also put the wing up or down at the back of the car. And there's a lift height because there is, of course, an adjustable air suspension. Up at the top, there's a pair of air cooled 50 watt wireless chargers because, you

know, if you got a Xiaomi car, you might as well have a Xiaomi phone with 50 watt wireless charging to match. So, those go up there. There's also a huge tinted

up there. There's also a huge tinted glass panoramic sunroof over my head.

Very nice feature. The headliner is all Alcantara everywhere. And there are 25

Alcantara everywhere. And there are 25 speakers in this car that sound really good. and ambient lighting everywhere

good. and ambient lighting everywhere that pulses to the bass of your music in the colors of the album art of the song that's playing because it's connected to the car and it just knows that type of

thing. And that's not even mentioning

thing. And that's not even mentioning the backseat experience of this car, which is also really nice. Those screens

for the rear passengers are Xiaomi tablets cuz of course they are. I

haven't even driven it yet and it's already feeling like a 60 $65,000 car.

But there are not one but two really cool features I've never seen in any other car that are in this one. So

number one is the software. The software

is so good. This feels like a preview kind of like what Apple might have done if they'd made an Apple car. I say that because it's super smooth just like a

smartphone, but also it's a car made by someone who makes a phone. And so the car plugs right into the Xiaomi ecosystem in so many ways. There's the

wireless charger, but also wireless screen mirroring. It connects to various

screen mirroring. It connects to various other Xiaomi smart home accessories like security cameras. You can sign into them

security cameras. You can sign into them with the car with your account. So

everything from text messages to map directions are all syncing from your phone. And hey, if all else fails,

phone. And hey, if all else fails, thankfully as a backup, this car also happens to have wireless Apple CarPlay.

And it's nice. I think it is the biggest, nicest window of wireless CarPlay I have ever seen in a car. I

think probably my favorite example of the software being incredible in this car is uh you see the speaker in the headrest behind me. When I'm driving and my phone is paired to the speakers in this car and I'm navigating, you know

that part where like you're driving and the music's getting pretty good and right as the bass is about to drop, the navigation voice comes on and interrupts it. That never happens in this car

it. That never happens in this car because it separates out the voice from the navigation and puts it just in that speaker behind me while all the rest of

the music in the sound in the car stays exactly the same. So, as a driver, I hear the voice saying, "Turn left, turn right, but everything else, including the music for all the passengers, stays

sick." That is my favorite software

sick." That is my favorite software feature I've seen in a car in a while.

So, the software being awesome is the one thing, but the second awesome thing is the modules because this is a a modular interior because hidden around

this car are a bunch of various mounting points for modular accessories. There's

one over here in the corner and another over here in the center all the way around the back of this center display.

And so on these mounting points, you can attach various accessories that Xiaomi makes like this extra speedometer and trip display or this magnetic car mount

in the corner of the car or this super useful USB hub that gets full power and can pass it along through a cable to passengers in the back seat or wherever they want. There's also high quality

they want. There's also high quality microphones that pair to the car for a karaoke experience or even long range walkie-talkies for some reason if you need to maybe shoot a video with the car and communicate with the camera car.

What other car does this? I've never

seen the ability to customize exactly how much hardware or how little hardware you have in the interior layout like Xiaomi does. I mean, they're not a car

Xiaomi does. I mean, they're not a car company clearly, but they've come up with some really innovative things to make the car uniquely your own. You can

make it maximalist, you can make it minimalist, you can do as much or as little as you want. And that'll of course fluctuate the price you pay, but hey, that's up to you. I think that's pretty sick. All of that is without even

pretty sick. All of that is without even mentioning all the little stuff like the active noise cancellation in here, the quality of the speakers, the surround sound, all the other things that the software does really, really well. And I

haven't even gotten to driving it yet.

So, this is obviously a standard issue four-door electric car, right? But the

superpower of electric cars is that they can have multiple personalities. That's

what makes these interesting. So, in its default mode, which is comfort mode, it's pretty nice, actually. It rides

super soft. It's chill. The air

suspension is actually pretty incredible. I feel like this is on the

incredible. I feel like this is on the same level of absorbing all these bumps and all these potholes and the things on the road as the Lucids that I've driven.

Like this is really quite good and it never gets too unsettled. The

accelerator pedal, it's it's responsive enough. It's not like super twitchy and

enough. It's not like super twitchy and aggressive. It's obviously the comfort

aggressive. It's obviously the comfort mode, so you feel like you have all the power you need, but it rolls it on nicely and eases off when you remove your foot from the pedal. And what a lot of other EVs don't have is this really

high degree of customization over exactly how that feels. Like there is a full-on power delivery slider. You can

move it to be a fully rearwheel drive vehicle all the way to a fully frontwheel drive vehicle. And then the liftoff regen is nice and secure and assuring. This is a you never have to

assuring. This is a you never have to take the car out of this mode if you never wanted to. This is a very reasonable thing to expect from a four-door electric car. But there's also

a drive mode knob down here. And if I just turn it one notch to the right, everything turns red. The graphics in front of me change. I get my estimated

range and my speed and how much power I'm using. And then I rotate it again

I'm using. And then I rotate it again and it's sport plus mode and there's a geforce meter now. And now all of a sudden the accelerator pedal is way more responsive and twitchy and everything

firms up. The steering is definitely

firms up. The steering is definitely heavier. So, this feels much more like a

heavier. So, this feels much more like a fun type of drive and it's not quite on the maxed out level. Like, I know people want to compare this to Porsche Tyan.

This is not Porsche Tyan levels of sporty, but it's it's like one notch below that, which is still really good.

It's got all the EV party tricks. 0 to

60 in under 3 seconds, launch control, and even a little boost button where if you press the drive mode button, you get this crazy graphic on the screen. And

then that's add that's add that's all of your power which is sick. So obviously

it does great in a straight line with 600 plus horsepower but it kind of handles on the same level of Model 3 performance or BMW i4. This is a really

capable car. It's kind of like a wolf in

capable car. It's kind of like a wolf in sheep's clothes type of car where you see it on the road and it doesn't necessarily look like something that has Porsche 911 Turbo S horsepower but it

does. And so yeah, kind of it just gives

does. And so yeah, kind of it just gives you this confidence of being able to place the car wherever you want on the road. And that is the superpower of

road. And that is the superpower of electric cars. Plus, it's got these

electric cars. Plus, it's got these these active bolsters. The seats are hugging me when I go around turns. So

when I turn right, the left bolster kind of like hugs like catches me a little bit. This is something those very

bit. This is something those very expensive G Wagons have done and popularized for a while now. It's a

little weird, not going to lie, but just makes you think it's doing something.

It's also become much more apparent as I'm driving this car how wellb built it really is. It does not feel anything

really is. It does not feel anything like the $42,000 price tag might suggest. Like obviously the materials

suggest. Like obviously the materials are one thing and you've got these leathers all around and the stitching and these different contrasted materials, but also just in general like

it's quiet in here. I don't hear motor noise. I don't hear wind very much. I

noise. I don't hear wind very much. I

don't hear other cars or noises around me outside the car. like I can verify that there are there are noises out there that I'm not hearing. It's

it's sick. And then there's the active noise cancellation on top of that. So,

it just feels like a really serene, calm experience just because it's so well built. And you might have also noticed

built. And you might have also noticed the LAR box right above me on the top of this car here because the other button on the steering wheel is Xiaomi's full self-driving which doesn't work on every

road here in the US but in China you have Pilot Pro and Pilot Max and those will take care of almost all of the driving on almost all of the roads the same way something like a Tesla Model 3 might here in the US. So I've turned it

on on this road. This is a a smaller single lane road and is totally fine.

And there's all sorts of things like obstacles that it has to avoid and it handles that. It's never really done

handles that. It's never really done anything to give me pause or seem kind of weird. And it's not even designed for

of weird. And it's not even designed for these roads or this market. So, I

imagine in China it's even better than this. I'm honestly trying to think of

this. I'm honestly trying to think of like a negative now that I've been living with this car and I've been driving it for weeks. I've driven and reviewed many many other cars for the past couple years and usually the the

downsides are so obvious like, oh, the tech is usually pretty bad, like the software is bad.

Well, this is Xiaomi. Like, they make smartphones. They make all this tech

smartphones. They make all this tech already. The software is great. The

already. The software is great. The

self-driving works. The cameras are great. The displays are great. All the

great. The displays are great. All the

tech is there. And then all the EV fundamentals are also still there. It

has the 300 plus miles of range. It has

the quick charging. And it has the split personalities. It has the super chill

personalities. It has the super chill calm cruiser mode and the 600 horsepower brutal launch control 0 to 60 in 2 and 1/2 seconds sporty mode.

And then on top of all that, it's built super well. Like it has all the sound

super well. Like it has all the sound isolation and all of the hardware features and creature comforts and physical buttons and all the modules and all this. And it's like this feels

all this. And it's like this feels nothing like a $42,000 car, which I guess conveniently brings me back to the

title of this video.

So, are we cooked? Not yet. Clearly,

this car is not available here in the US. Uh, but you can see how we could be

US. Uh, but you can see how we could be soon. I I genuinely I'm not exaggerating

soon. I I genuinely I'm not exaggerating when I say this. This is a $42,000 car that feels like a $75,000 car if it were made here in the US. And

that's the thing that's most impressive about the Xiaomi SC7, and that's just this one. So, really, now that I've

this one. So, really, now that I've gotten to live with this and drive this here in the US among all the other cars I test, here's my take. It's not that there's any sort of crazy bleeding edge

tech in this car that's impossible to replicate. Obviously, the software is

replicate. Obviously, the software is really good and the modularity and some of the features are kind of sick and we haven't seen them before, but like if you took this car apart, you wouldn't find anything inside any like bleeding

edge battery tech or anything that's impossible to replicate. This is a car made of normal car parts, but it's the putting them all together in one car that's so impressive. It's not often you

see a car with great software, great features, great build quality, great versatility, great range, and a great drive and all stacked together. Like,

that's pretty elite. There is basically no question in my mind that if a car like this was available in the US for $42,000 that it would crush, of course.

Uh the fact that it isn't is of course inherently political and there's all the tariffs and import fees and all that that's super variable and we may never get a car like this available in the US

for $42,000. But Europe will allegedly

for $42,000. But Europe will allegedly in 2027 and I would say that the competition over there is at least in a little bit of trouble when that happens.

The idea that the competition is getting stronger and that cars like this actually exist some other places in the world is really exciting and heightens the ceiling for all EVs. It raises the

ceiling up for all cars to get better and more impressive and more complete like this one. So, lesson learned. It's

going to be fascinating to keep an eye on this stuff in the future. If you want a more raw like daily living with this vehicle type of video, check out the Autofocus channel where I shot a video

on the Xiaomi phone of the Xiaomi car.

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Peace.