Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone company, has unveiled its first electric vehicle, the SU7, a sleek sedan.
It’s another entrance into an increasingly congested EV industry, set to launch in China next year. It’s also another effort in this software-obsessed world to connect the technology found in people’s phones to what happens inside their cars.
Xiaomi may have a chance. That’s because the automobile will be powered by Xiaomi’s “HyperOS,” a new architecture that the firm has been working on for over six years and is designed to be dynamic enough to power anything from phones to smart home devices to autos. The idea is to provide a more seamless experience in which your applications and preferences are available no matter where you are.
This is, by no means, a novel concept. It’s the same argument Faraday Future’s founder used to promote his previous electric car project in China, which was part of his tech conglomerate at the time.
That endeavor failed, but there have been several more efforts in the years after to get us closer to a future in which in-car software is similar to the phones in our pockets. Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto, which duplicate a phone’s software on the in-car screen, are both pretty literal implementations of this. Google has also collaborated with a number of manufacturers to produce a version of Android that can run a whole car’s infotainment system. Apple is trying something similar, but it is considerably later and just recently revealed its first two clients.
Attempts to bring everything in-house, on the other hand, tend to get difficult. Apple has been working on its own automobile project for years but has often pivoted and altered emphasis. Volkswagen attempted to establish its own in-car software powerhouse but failed miserably. Tesla has created a powerful in-car software experience for its cars, but it has avoided CarPlay and Android Auto in order to retain control over its displays.
So Xiaomi stands apart. Because of the development of a dominant electric vehicle supply chain in China as well as the fast improvement (and falling prices) of electric vehicle technology, deep-pocketed businesses like Xiaomi may now seek to construct a car that is ready-made for its software. It is not entirely alone, since Huawei is also funding its own electric vehicle company in China. However, Xiaomi is the most comprehensive attempt to date.
On paper, the specifications seem to be remarkable. On China’s optimistic test cycle, the business claims a range of 800 kilometers, or just short of 500 miles, on a full charge. That is for the higher-end variant, which is designed on a 101 kWh CATL battery pack. A basic model with just 73.6 kWh of capacity is said to go closer to 668 km (415 miles) per charge. They will charge quickly (220 km in five minutes) and accelerate quickly (0–100 km/h in 2.78 seconds). Pricing will be announced later.
Despite this, Xiaomi’s primary difficulty will be the same as that of every new automobile manufacturer: Regardless of the underlying technology, designing and building dependable and safe automobiles at scale is a very challenging challenge. With that in mind, improving the in-car experience seems like a lay-up.
