Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, revealed in an interview with CCTV that Xiaomi has invested more than 10 billion yuan in the research and development of electric vehicles in less than three years. This marks Xiaomi's determination and ambition to enter the field of automotive manufacturing, and despite the huge challenges, Lei Jun stressed that the overall difficulty is manageable.
Lei Jun pointed out that Xiaomi has a natural advantage in the automotive field, because smart electric vehicles are essentially the integration of the automotive and consumer electronics industries. Three years ago, Xiaomi thought that building a car was a rather difficult task, but after user research, the company determined the principle of "keeping the right thing surprisingly", that is, using mature technologies to ensure the quality of the first car on the basis of fully respecting the laws of the automotive industry, and then innovating on this basis.
According to Baineng Yunxin Electronic Components**, the second strategy formulated by Xiaomi is "ten times the investment", compared with the engineers and R&D funds invested by general car companies, Xiaomi has invested more than ten times the resources. Lei Jun said that with such confidence, Xiaomi has adopted an attitude of "ambition to win" to enter the field of automobile manufacturing. Despite some expectations for the first product, Lei Jun also admits that the car is a complex field, and the company is particularly concerned that the new car will not be welcomed by the market after it is launched, or if it is popular, the supply will exceed the demand and the waiting time will be too long.
Currently, many Chinese technology companies are involved in the automotive industry, and Xiaomi's rival Huawei has also invested in this area. Huawei has said it will continue to increase its investment in the automotive industry, with a R&D team of more than 5,000 people, especially in the field of autonomous driving, with more than 2,000 engineers.
Xiaomi's car plan has entered the countdown, and there are spy photos of the static experience of the Xiaomi Su7 in advance. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's declaration information, the Su7 series models will be equipped with an electric rear wing and a special camera on the B-pillar to provide a large field of view, and are expected to adopt an intelligent driving solution that combines vision and lidar.
In terms of battery, according to the current information, the SU7 will be equipped with a lithium iron phosphate battery from Xiangyang Fodi Battery, with a motor power of 220kW and a maximum speed of 210 km h. The SU7MAX will be powered by CATL's ternary lithium-ion battery, equipped with dual front and rear motors, with a power of 220kW and 275kW respectively, and a top speed of 265 km/h.
It was previously reported that Xiaomi Auto's factory in Yizhuang, Beijing, has begun small-batch trial production, and plans to carry out mass production in December, which is expected to be officially launched in the first half of 2024. Xiaomi Group remains optimistic about the market performance of its first car, but is aware of the complexity of the automotive market and will continue to work hard to meet the challenges ahead.