Xiaomi officially unveils its YU7 SUV and is gunning straight for the Tesla Model Y in China
At last! After plenty of teaser tidbits earlier this week, Chinese smartphone giant and young EV automaker Xiaomi has given us (nearly) all the details of its new YU7 SUV, inside and out, including its official launch plans. Originally described as a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y, Xiaomi did not shy away from several direct comparisons during the YU7’s debut event.
Considering this is our third post about the Xiaomi YU7 SUV in as many days, we will skip the BEV’s history to today and focus on what we’ve learned this week, leading up to the public unveiling held in China this evening.
In a recent Weibo post, Xiaomi confirmed plans to unveil the YU7 during a product launch event in Beijing on May 22, marking a “new beginning for Xiaomi’s 15th anniversary.” On Wednesday, Xiaomi posted a brief video offering a glimpse of the YU7’s interior, including a slim display that runs across the entire dashboard below the windshield, which it calls “HyperVision.”
Following Xiaomi’s social media posts, we expected the tech company YU7 to confirm some of the specs from a 2024 regulatory filing we reported on in December 2024. Following today’s event, Xiaomi has confirmed many of the new SUV’s specs and shared how its trims will break down by performance. All are considered to be competitive with the Tesla Model Y (arguably better).
Xiaomi SUV to launch in July and best Tesla in many ways
Following the debut event, Xiaomi shared a detailed post on Weibo, which included all the images seen above as well as the following caption (translated from Chinese):
Xiaomi YU7, a luxury high-performance SUV. A design that stands the test of time. From proportions to details, it continues the family design, with 40+ wind resistance optimizations; High-tech luxury cockpit. Xiaomi Sky Screen panoramic display, dual-zone surround luxury cockpit, with a sense of technology and luxury; Powerful control experience. Maximum horsepower 690 PS, fastest 0-100 (km/h) acceleration 3.23s, maximum speed 253 km/h, equipped with V6s Plus Xiaomi super motor, luxury chassis configuration, and long battery life; Comprehensive upgrade of technical architecture. Armor cage steel-aluminum hybrid body, electronic and electrical architecture, and Xiaomi assisted driving have been fully upgraded.
When we first caught wind of Xiaomi’s second BEV model, the Chinese automaker was already promoting it as a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y. We usually shrug off those comparisons unless they come directly from the automaker (which it rarely does). In this case, Xiaomi has been pulling no punches in publicly targeting the world’s best-selling BEV model.
For example, the YU7 SUV seats five and measures 4,999 mm in length, 1,996 mm in width, and 1,600 mm in height with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm (directly matching the 2024 regulatory filing mentioned above). For comparison, the refreshed Model Y, launched in China in January, measures 4,797 mm in length, 1,920 mm in width, and 1,624 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,890 mm.
When that facelifted Tesla model came out, the American automaker posted an image with the caption “Updated Model Y, compare away,” to which Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun shared a screenshot of the post with the simple caption, “Ok.”
Perhaps Jun took that as a challenge?
During the YU7’s unveiling, the Xiaomi founder continuously “compared away,” explaining how its SUV is superior to the Model Y in all key performance specifications. Like its SU7 sibling, the YU7 SUV will come available in three variants – Standard, Pro, and Max:
| YU7 Variant | Powertrain | Battery Chem./ Size | Range (CLTC) | Power | Acceleration 0-100 km/h |
| Standard | Single RWD | LFP / 96.3 kWh | 835 km (519 miles) |
320 Ps (~316 hp) |
5.88 sec |
| Pro | Dual AWD | LFP / 96.3 kWh | 770 km (479 miles) |
496 Ps (~489 hp) |
4.27 sec |
| Max | Dual AWD | Lithium Ternary / 101.7 kWh | 760 km (472 miles) |
690 Ps (~681 hp) |
3.23 sec |
While the two variants of the Tesla Model Y sold in China are closely comparable to the YU7 Standard and Pro SUVs in terms of acceleration, Xiaomi blows them away in terms of range. The single-motor RWD and Long Range AWD variants of the Tesla Model Y offer a CLTC range of 593 km (369 miles) and 719 km (447 miles), respectively.
Lei Jun said that range is the number one factor consumers should consider when purchasing an EV, and the Xiaomi YU7 leads all mid- to large-SUVs in the market. Other features on the YU7 include a NVIDIA Thor smart driving chip, active air suspension, and an 800V platform that can gather up to 620 km (385 miles) of range in a 15-minute charge.
The Xiaomi founder said the YU7 SUV will hit the Chinese market in July 2025. We are still awaiting official pricing, but we’d imagine it will once again be “competitive” with Tesla.
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![Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/07/54629423281_6315c46dff_k.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!
In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.
Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.
Stay tuned for more!
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The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.
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Tesla has launched its new Oasis Supercharger, the long-promised EV charging station of the future, with a solar farm and off-grid batteries.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to the Supercharger stations, and CEO Elon Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
All of these pieces have been in place for years, and Tesla has now discontinued the Powerpack in favor of the Megapack. The Supercharger network is also transitioning to V4 stations.
Yet, solar and battery deployment haven’t accelerated much in the decade since Musk made that comment, but it is finally happening.
Last year, Tesla announced a new project called ‘Oasis’, which consists of a new model Supercharger station with a solar farm and battery storage enabling off-grid operations in Lost Hills, California.
Tesla has now unveiled the project and turned on most of the Supercharger stalls:
The project consists of 168 chargers, with half of them currently operational, making it one of the largest Supercharger stations in the world. However, that’s not even the most notable aspect of it.
The station is equipped with 11 MW of ground-mounted solar panels and canopies, spanning 30 acres of land, and 10 Tesla Megapacks with a total energy storage capacity of 39 MWh.
It can be operated off-grid, which is the case right now, according to Tesla.
With off-grid operations, Tesla was about to bring 84 stalls online just in time for the Fourth of July travel weekend. The rest of the stalls and a lounge are going to open later this year.
Electrek’s Take
This is awesome. A bit late, but awesome. This is what charging stations should be like: fully powered by renewable energy.
Unfortunately, it will be much harder to open those stations in the future due to legislation that Trump and the Republican Party have just passed, which removes incentives for solar and energy storage, adds taxes on them, and removes incentives to build batteries – all things that have helped Tesla considerably over the last few years.
The US is likely going to have a few tough years for EV adoption and renewable energy deployment.
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