The Chinese come out on top
Chinese electric cars have been on the lips of Western automaking rivals for quite some time. The rise of companies like BYD, Zeekr, and NIO has put the auto market on watch in recent years for their low-priced cars loaded with extensive tech and luxury features.
However, one company that stood out as the odd one was consumer electronics giant Xiaomi. The company, known for its smartphones and wearables, launched its first car in March 2024—a $30,000 supercar-styled electric sports sedan called the SU7. Throughout 2024, the SU7 became one of China’s hot-selling vehicles, delivering more than 135,000 units last year, including one used by Ford CEO Jim Farley, who admitted he “couldn’t give it up” during an October 2024 podcast appearance.
The success of the SU7 has led the tech giant to go all-in on a high-performance version called the Ultra. Last October, the company published a video showing a stripped-down, race-ready SU7 Ultra prototype lapping the Nürburgring in just 6 minutes and 46.8 seconds, faster than more expensive EVs like the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and even the multi-million dollar Rimac Nevera.
This Xiaomi beats Porsches and Rimacs
Although Xiaomi recorded 3,680 pre-orders in just 10 minutes when the website opened on October 29 last year, unfortunately, the SU7 Ultra that consumers got was far less racecar-like than the prototype that lapped the Ring. It featured Alcantara-trimmed seats and far less aggressive aerodynamics, including a prominent rear wing, a functional front splitter, and enlarged air intakes for the car’s upgraded cooling package.
However, in a new video released by Xiaomi on its social media channels, the consumer-grade, production version of the SU7 Ultra shattered Nurburgring lap records by securing the title of fastest production EV to lap the Green Hell, posting a verified lap time of 7:04.957.
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Although the production SU7 Ultra’s lap time is approximately 18 seconds slower than the stripped-down, race-ready prototype, it still outperformed some more prestigious and expensive rivals. The $74,000 SU7 Ultra’s flying lap not only surpassed the $231,100 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, which recorded a time of 7:07.55, but it also beat the multi-million dollar Rimac Nevera, which previously held the production car lap record with a time of 7:05.298.
According to Xiaomi, the SU7 Ultra is powered by a trio of electric motors producing 1,526 horsepower. The automaker claims that the SU7 Ultra can go from 0 to 60 in just 1.98 seconds and has a top speed of 217 miles per hour. In the video of the record lap, the SU7 is shown reaching 345 km/h, or 214 mph, on the long straight before the final corner of the Nordschleife.
In a translated post on Weibo, Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun noted that the car used in the video was piloted by Vincent Radermecker and used the optional “professional track package.” According to the Xiaomi website, the optional package includes a smattering of racing-grade goodies from a lion’s den of aftermarket suppliers, including Bilstein EVO R coilover shock absorbers specially developed for the Ultra, ENDLESS high-performance brake pads, Pirelli P ZERO fifth-generation high-performance tires, an additional set of Pirelli P ZERO TROFEO RS semi-slick tires, as well as 21-inch U-shaped forged wheel hubs, carbon fiber rear wheel arches, and a carbon fiber roof.
In his post on Chinese social media, the Xiaomi figurehead noted that this won’t be the last time the SU7 Ultra will post a Ring time. “I believe that this record will be broken in the near future,” Jun said, translated from Chinese. “We will stay in the Nürburgring for a long time, and make progress together with the world’s top peers in the pinnacle of the global automotive industry!”
Final thoughts
Although Xiaomi’s time is a far cry from the Mercedes-AMG One’s record for the fastest production vehicle of 6 minutes and 29 seconds, it really shows that a country that has been written off as making low-quality, disposable things in general has the capability to disrupt, and as what we seen so far, they are doing more than just knocking down doors and walls; they’re building a new house on the old lot. It will be very interesting to see if a rebuttal in the form of a potentially faster car will emerge from any of the Western “old guard.” Tesla, Porsche, Rimac, the ball is in your court.
