From InsideEVs.

We’ll level with you all here – the Xiaomi YU7 reveal and test drive was overwhelming. Honestly, most Chinese cars are, for a few reasons. While in the U.S., it’s not uncommon for brands to announce somewhat minor changes to products that are kind of conventional at every turn, in China, seemingly every brand has an overwhelming amount of innovation.

The Xiaomi YU7 is one such car. Practically every interaction we’ve experienced with the Ferrari-shaped crossover would be a novel, world-changing event in markets outside of China.

Xiaomi is a very young company, starting in 2010 and launching its first phone in 2011. From there, Xiaomi expanded outward into the mid-tier and budget handset market, offering iPhone-like features, competitive technical specifications, and its own self-developed user experience for prices that were a lot more reasonable to consumers’ pocketbooks.
From the Mi 1 in 2011, Xiaomi expanded outward to phones above and below the Mi 1—all with the same idea—to offer competitive specs, solid build quality, its own UI, all for something more reasonably priced than established brands like Apple, LG or Samsung.

Eventually, this ethos was expanded outward toward other tech devices, from tablets, smart watches, and televisions, but even now washing machines, vacuum cleaners and air conditioning units.

And now, cars.

When taken in the context of how Xiaomi’s phone business achieved success, the SU7 (and now YU7) don’t really stray from the formula that made its handsets so popular: strong features in an attractive wrapper, sold for a reasonable price.

You can tell just by looking at the chassis and platform that comprise its cars.

The SU7 and YU7 use the same self-developed Modena platform (an ambitious name if there ever was one), but from what I can see, to my untrained eye, Xiaomi isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel here.

Of course, there are some interesting design decisions and self-developed innovations, like the upside-down mounted battery cells that, in theory, would channel any thermal runaway event downward to the street, rather than upward toward the passengers. Yet, by and large, the Modena architecture looks like it simply takes top-of-the-line, modern design trends in car building, but ruthlessly optimized and streamlined to make it cheaper.

The SU7 and YU7 have megacasting with chassis pieces. Xiaomi calls it Hypercasting, Tesla calls it Gigacasting; it’s all basically the same concept, brand name be damned. The whole rear floor is megacast, while the front also has partially megacast pieces—all right in line with what we’ve seen from Honda, Tesla, Zeekr and possibly Toyota in the near future.

Xiaomi says its rear crash bar and trunk portal can lop off crash damage in an accident, and allow for easier repair than a single-piece big design. The car is also a cell-to-body design, where the top of the battery’s case is actually part of the vehicle’s structure, rather than a box of cells bolted to the bottom of the vehicle. None of this is new tech—these are technologies that practically any manufacturer serious about making electric cars would implement.

But, in theory, Xiaomi’s trying to make them all a little cheaper and easier to make. For starters, Xiaomi is vertically integrated; aside from the battery cells, Brembo brake upgrade and air suspension units, there’s very little on the SU7 and YU7 that isn’t developed by the brand itself.

Tesla Is Cooked. And It’s All Xiaomi’s Fault
https://insideevs.com/reviews/764315/xiaomi-yu7-first-drive-china/

‘The Most Humbling Thing I’ve Ever Seen’: Ford CEO On China’s Car Industry
https://insideevs.com/news/764318/ford-ceo-china-evs-humbled/

Tesla Model Y Dethroned As World’s Best Selling Car
https://insideevs.com/news/764577/tesla-model-y-dethroned-best/

Xiaomi YU7 First Look: Here Are Some Of The Most Clever Accessories And Features
https://insideevs.com/news/764635/xiaomi-yu7-accessories-china-launch/

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00:00 – Introduction
00:42 – XIaomi YU7 Initial Driving Impressions
02:23 – XIaomi YU7 Specs
03:50 – XIaomi YU7 Charging Speed
04:32 – XIaomi YU7 Ride Quality
05:25 – XIaomi YU7 vs Tesla Model Y
05:50 – XIaomi YU7 Price
06:23 – XIaomi YU7 Accessories
06:46 – XIaomi YU7 Infotainment
08:59 – XIaomi YU7 Features

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