If you know Xiaomi only for its mobile phones, you’re really missing the big picture. This company has long since become a provider of any advanced electronic device you can think of, and it has no intention of staying in the home electronics sector alone. For about a year, the company has been releasing statements saying that it is about to take over the world with its advanced electric cars. So far, it has done this with limited success, selling 112,000 units of its first model, the SU7.
Now, it is releasing another statement, accompanied by images of the second model it intends to present. The YU7 is a sporty-looking crossover that will join the sedan model. The exterior design resembles the sedan with its rounded lines, but at 4.99 meters long, 1.99 meters wide, 1.6 meters tall, and with a 300 cm wheelbase, it is expected to be more spacious than the sedan.
Like its passenger car, unless Xiaomi manages to establish its own production plant, it’s unlikely that the car will actually be manufactured by Xiaomi, as it is not an automaker and lacks the infrastructure to produce vehicles. The actual manufacturing will be done by the Chinese company SAIC, the parent company of MG and Maxus, with CATL supplying the batteries. This is not the first collaboration between the three, and we might see more such partnerships in the future, as several players join forces to create a car, each bringing its own expertise to the product.
From the few details revealed about the car, it will be equipped with two electric motors producing a total of 681 horsepower, and the maximum speed will reach about 250 km/h.
According to Hamilton, Xiaomi's importer to Israel, the company plans to begin operating in Israel independently, without reliance on or partnership with an existing importer, and this will happen in 2025. No reference was made regarding the intention to import the new crossover to Israel.