Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has revealed its first electric hypercar, set on taking down Porsche and Tesla for a Nürburgring lap record.
The revealed model is a prototype of Xiaomi’s SU7 Ultra, designed as a wild track-focused variant of the regular SU7 sedan unveiled late last year. That regular sedan was the brand’s first ever car, and was formally launched in China in March.
Xiaomi has benchmarked the SU7 Ultra against the likes of the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S, and the company has outlined its intention to set the lap record for a four-door car around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
It’ll be powered by three electric motors and stuck to the ground with downforce-generating aerodynamics, and it’s expected to receive a toned-down production variant next year.
The SU7 Ultra is set to utilise Xiaomi’s own electric motors – two “Super Motor V8s” and one “Super Motor V6s”. Confusingly, there are no petrol V8 or V6 engines anywhere in sight.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun says the company developed its motors in-house, and the Super Motor V8s produces power equivalent to an internal combustion V8, which is where its name came from.
The Super Motor V8s generates 425kW of power and 635Nm of torque, while the Super Motor V6s offers 288kW with no quoted torque figure.
All up, the three motors will combine for a total power output of 1138kW while allowing for an all-wheel drive setup with torque-vectoring.
The gives the SU7 a claimed 0-100km/h time of 1.97 seconds, and a 0-200km/h time of 5.96 seconds on the way to a top speed of 350km/h.
Power for the SU7 Ultra will come from the Qilin 2.0 battery pack developed by Chinese battery manufacturer CATL. It’s a racing-oriented battery developed on 897V architecture, offering 1330kW of maximum output and more than 800kW even at 20 per cent charge.
For context, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT utilises 800V technology in its battery pack, while the hotted-up Tesla Model S Plaid is built on 400V architecture.
Additionally, the track-focused SU7 Ultra offers no interior amenities and is constructed with lightweight carbon fibre, giving it a total weight of 1900kg. It has various aerodynamic elements over the standard SU7, notably a fixed rear wing, oversized rear diffuser, wheel arch cut-outs, and a front splitter to generate 2145kg of downforce at top speed.
Stopping power is provided by discs claimed to be able to resist temperatures of more than 800 degrees Celsius. They’ll be paired with six-piston calipers developed by AP Racing, giving it a stopping distance from 100km/h of just 25 metres.
To take the four-door crown at the “Green Hell”, the SU7 Ultra will need to overcome the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s time of 7:07.55 when it heads to the track in October this year.
Another benchmark is that of the Tesla Model S Plaid, which completed a lap of the Nordschleife in 7:25.231 with the optional Track Pack fitted.
Xiaomi reportedly intends to return to the Nürburgring in 2025 to make another lap time attempt with the production version of the SU7 Ultra.
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