The launch of the Xiaomi SU7 has intensified competition in the new energy vehicle sector. Judging by the expressions of industry leaders like Wei Jianjun of Great Wall Motors, Li Bin of NIO, He Xiaopeng of XPeng Motors, and Li Xiang of Li Auto at the launch event, the manufacturer's suggested retail price range of 215.900 to 299.900 RMB, while not particularly affordable, still holds competitive potential.
As a result, Xiaomi Motors announced that 50.000 units were pre-ordered within 27 minutes on the night of the launch.
Interestingly, although Xiaomi Motors stated that the deposit is refundable within seven days without any reason, many netizens soon reported that the 5.000 RMB deposit could not be refunded, leading to complaints on various social media platforms. At the same time, many scalpers started reselling the Founder's Edition orders at a markup of 20.000 RMB, causing widespread dissatisfaction. This suggests that there might be some artificial inflation in the impressive pre-order figures of the Xiaomi SU7.
From a product perspective, is the Xiaomi SU7 truly impeccable? A closer look at the specifications reveals several issues:
1. The 800V architecture that supports high-voltage fast charging is exclusive to the top model, while other versions use lithium iron phosphate batteries.
2. The warranty for the electric system is 8 years or 160.000 kilometers, unlike the lifetime warranty for the first owner offered by many new energy vehicles.
3. Air suspension is only available on the top model, and the warranty period for this feature is currently unspecified.
4. None of the models feature seat massage functions, and electric suction doors are exclusive to the top model.
5. The in-car network data package is only free for one year.
More interestingly, a well-known automotive media outlet quickly conducted an acceleration test on the Xiaomi SU7. In a 3°C environment, the actual 0-100 km/h acceleration time was 3.24 seconds. This is impressive, but the official 0-100 km/h acceleration time for the four-wheel-drive version of the Xiaomi SU7 is 2.78 seconds, indicating a significant discrepancy.
In comparison, the Tesla Model 3 All-Wheel Drive's actual 0-100 km/h acceleration time in the same conditions was 4.62 seconds, close to its official figure of 4.4 seconds. The NIO ET5's actual 0-100 km/h acceleration time was 3.83 seconds, compared to its official figure of 4 seconds.
Clearly, while the Xiaomi SU7 has strong performance, rational consumers might need to consider many details carefully and even wait to see how the first batch of owners fare before making a decision. After all, in the context of the ongoing price wars, who can guarantee that upcoming new models won't be even better?
