Hyundai caught testing one of China’s hottest selling EVs

Is Hyundai taking a page from China for its upcoming electric vehicles? The new EV taking China by storm was caught with testing plates near Hyundai’s global R&D hub.

Is Hyundai testing China’s tech for its upcoming EVs?

If you haven’t heard of the Xiaomi SU7 yet, it likely won’t be long before you come across it on X, Instagram, or some other social media.

Known as the “Apple of China” for its smartphones and other tech, Xiaomi launched its first EV last year, the SU7.

On Wednesday, the company announced it delivered its 200,000th SU7 in less than a year, fittingly in a vibrant Brilliant Magenta color.

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The SU7 is quickly climbing up the sales charts, even outpacing the Tesla Model 3 in China, with over 22,000 units delivered in January alone. In comparison, Tesla sold around 8,000 Model 3s in the first month of 2025 in China.

Xiaomi now expects to sell 350,000 EVs this year. If it can, it would be more than Volkswagen, Audi, BMW Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche combined, according to Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper.

It looks like Hyundai is looking to get a step ahead. A Xiaomi SU7 was recently spotted by an AutoSpy user with a Hwaseong testing plate near Hyundai’s Namyang R&D Center, its global R&D hub.

Like Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, powering the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6, the SU7 has 800V fast charging capabilities. Powered by a 101 kWh battery pack, the range-topping Max trim has a massive 810 km (503 miles) CLTC range rating.

The high-performance SU7 Ultra, launched last month, packs up to 1,526 horsepower from three electric motors, good for a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) sprint in just 1.98 seconds.

Xiaomi’s electric sedan starts at 215,900 yuan, or just under $30,000, while the flagship Ultra trim costs 529,900 yuan ($73,000). Within two hours of launching, the flagship variant secured over 10,000 orders, topping Xiaomi’s annual goal.

In less than two weeks, Hyundai will launch its new Pleos brand, which will introduce new tech and software for upcoming Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis vehicles. Could we see some of China’s tech trickle in?

Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, AutoSpy