TMTPost -- Xiaomi Corporation is on track to launch a hypercar variant of its first electric vehicle (EV) model SU7 next year.

Credit：Xiaomi

The production version of SU7 Ultra will hit the market in the first half of 2025, said Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun in a live-stream event last week. The variant features the same chassis structure, triple motors, and battery pack as the prototype, and will be a little bit more expensive than the standard US7, but not particularly so, Lei said. Xiaomi originally planned to roll out SU7 Ultra together with SU7, but later dropped the program of the Ultra variant and then resumed it, according to Lei. “We thought that to do a good job on SU7 is enough since we would not be able to do anything well if our work became too expensive, so we canceled it (SU7 Ultra). But later we felt that we would not showcase Xiaomi’s position if we did not work on Ultra,” Lei said.

Lei’s remark came days after Xiaomi unveiled a prototype of  SU7 Ultra. The variant can go 0-100 kilometer/hour (km/h), or 0-62 mph, in a scorching 1.97 seconds, and features a top speed of over 350  (217.48 mph), along with an acceleration from 0-100 km/h in 1.97 seconds (0-60 mph in around 1.9 seconds), and 1,548 horsepower. The production version will maintain most of the rest of its current tech, including three V8s electric motors and 800V architecture powered by CATL’s fast-charging Qilin II batteries that can recharge from 0-100% in twelve minutes.

Xiaomi said it will be attempting to record an outstanding lap time at Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in October. The prototype of SU7 Ultra will chase world record of lap time for non-production versions at Nürburgring in October, aiming to become the fastest four-door electric car at the world famous track within ten years, Lei said.

Xiaomi officially launched SU7 on March 28, with starting price cheaper than its major competitor: Tesla’s affordable Model 3. CEO Lei presented that day SU7 has a layered pricing since it has three variants. The standard SU7 costs RMB215,900 (US$29,872), and the Pro and Max version are priced at RMB245,900 and RMB299,000, respectively. Lei said the SU7 is RMB30,000 cheaper than Model 3, which starts at RMB245,900 in China.

Xiaomi started presales for SU7 on the day of launch and offered a hand of freebies worth of up to RMB22,000, such as Nappa leather seats and a built-in fridge, to anyone who place the order of the Standard and the Pro version by April 30. The company disclosed at Chinese social media Weibo that it received more than 10,000 preorders in just four minutes since the launch, and preorders topped 50,000 within 27 minutes. These preorders come from customers who had paid a deposit of RMB5,000 that is refundable within seven days since the order is effective.

Xiaomi disclosed at the start of July that it achieved a new milestone of delivery: the delivery of in June for the first time exceeded the 10,000-unit mark in a month. Xiaomi added the shipment in July is expected to be more than 10,000 vehicles too. Xiaomi said its work to accelerate delivery of SU7 is well on the way as the facility has initiated two-shift production in June. Starting from July 1, the delivery of SU7 series will be further accelerated, and the delivery cycle is expected to be shortened by up to 5 weeks after the order is locked in, Xiaomi said. At the same time, the company will carry out a new round of production line optimization and maintenance in the near future to prepare for further improvement of production capacity.

During his annual speech on July 19, Lei said Xiaomi’s 100,000-unit annual delivery target of SU7 is expected to be met in November, a month ahead of schedule. It is expected that Xiaomi will open 220 retail stores for its EV business in 59 cities across China in December, Lei added. Reviewing the history of Xiaomi auto business, Lei said it is the U.S. sanctions on Xiaomi’s mobile phone business in 2021 that forced the company to decide to build cars. The chief executive said he personally led a team to visit many automakers, interviewed more than 200 industry insiders, and held four executive meetings to discuss the feasibility. In the end, his comapny made the decision to foray into the automotive industry.