Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype set a new lap record at the famous Nürburgring race track in Germany. The car finished the lap in just 6 minutes and 22.091 seconds. This makes it the fastest electric car based on a production model to ever complete the track and the third fastest overall in history. Only two cars Porsche 919 Evo and Volkswagen ID.R, were quicker, and those cars are special racing machines not made for public roads.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said the SU7 was a “dream car” project. He explained that the company wants to become a top electric car brand in the world within the next 15 to 20 years. For a company that started working on electric vehicles just a few years ago, this new record is a big deal.
The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is built for speed and power. It has two motors that deliver around 1,000 horsepower. It uses carbon ceramic brakes, special parts that help the car stop quickly even when going very fast.
It also has active aerodynamics, which means it can change its shape while driving to go faster or stay stable on the road. The battery used in the car was made together with CATL, one of the biggest battery companies in the world.
The company beat its own previous record by more than 24 seconds, which is a huge improvement in racing. The SU7 Ultra was even faster than cars like the Porsche 911 GT2 and the Mercedes-AMG One. These cars are very expensive and were built over many years with billions of dollars in funding.
One commenter on Reddit wrote, “Mercedes spent billions and many years to develop the AMG One only to get humbled by a phone company.” Another person commented, “Ok Xiaomi, you’ve made your point. No need to keep embarrassing the Western automakers who have been doing this for 100 years.”
The production version of the SU7 also performed very well, finishing the same track in 7 minutes and 4.957 seconds. That’s three seconds faster than the Porsche Taycan. This means that the SU7 is not just fast on the race track but also practical for everyday use.
Even Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, was surprised by the SU7’s performance. He reportedly drove the car for three months and said he didn’t want to give it up. He told his team he was shocked by how good the SU7 was, especially since Xiaomi is so new in the car business.
