These are the first pictures of Xiaomi’s 650+ hp EV, the SU7
The first images of Xiaomi’s SU7 EV have been published by a Chinese government regulatory agency, showing off the car in advance of its official public debut. Alongside the images, various specifications in the regulatory filings are being reported, such as the car’s size, weight, power output, manufacturer, and available models at launch.
According to the filing (via CarNewsChina), Xiaomi will not actually be building the car — Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC) will. BAIC is a government-owned Chinese car manufacturer and will be producing the SU7 on contract. This was previously rumored over a year ago, and today’s news confirms it.
Beyond that, we’re getting a sense of where the SU7 will be positioned in the vehicle landscape. With a 118″ wheelbase and fastback roofline (though a faux-hatch trunk), the SU7 seems closest to the Tesla Model S’s packaging, albeit with a slightly longer wheelbase than that car. That’s not very surprising given the extreme popularity of long-wheelbase versions of mid-size luxury sedans in China, the market this car is undoubtedly seeking to court. On overall length, the SU7 is actually just shy of a Model S (a difference of less than 30mm), so the two seem like prime points of comparison.
While we have power specifications and curb weights, range and battery capacity weren’t included in the filings. The single-motor RWD variant of the SU7 will produce around 295 hp and weigh around 4,365 lbs. The premium AWD dual-motor version makes 663 hp and weighs a substantially heftier 4,861 lbs (presumably owing not just to the extra motor but to a larger battery). We do know battery chemistries between the two models are different, with the cheaper car getting a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack and the premium trim using nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). Previous leaks indicated an 800-Volt architecture and 100kWh battery, the latter likely referring to the higher-end model.
Based on images from the regulatory filing, we can also see that some trims of the SU7 will feature a rather bulbous lidar array on the roof of the car, presumably to provide driver assistance and autonomy features — though it’s not clear what level of autonomy the SU7 will actually be capable of. The specific trims available at launch are the SU7, SU7 Pro, and SU7 Max, which do make this car sound more like a smartphone than a luxury sedan. There will also apparently be a Founders Edition subvariant (badging is visible on the photos), because of course there will.
Given Xiaomi is a Chinese brand with an ecosystem of products and services largely marketed to Chinese customers, it’s unclear if the company has any plans to sell the SU7 outside its home country. With state-owned BAIC doing Xiaomi’s manufacturing, that does lend credibility to the car launching sooner rather than later, and Xiaomi allegedly wants the car to be available starting in early 2024, with manufacturing beginning before the end of 2023.
Electrek’s take
Hodge-podge of styling elements aside (I see Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Stinger on this car, for a start), the Xiaomi SU7 definitely seems set to raise eyebrows with its available high-output model, lidar-assisted autonomy features, and Xiaomi-developed in-car software. Of course, two big details are omitted in today’s not-leak: Range and pricing.
I’ll personally be curious to see what level of improved integration Xiaomi will be able to provide owners of its smartphones with this car, though I suspect many of those things will only ever be relevant to China-market customers. While Xiaomi does sell phones in a long list of countries around the world, its larger “Mi ecosystem” of products and services is mostly a China play. And with BAIC building the car, it’s unclear just how much of this car will be Xiaomi versus BAIC. Xiaomi has a long history of slapping its name on products the company doesn’t meaningfully contribute to from an engineering and development standpoint. (That’s basically what the “Mi ecosystem” is — white-label branding.)
Given Xiaomi has essentially zero brand recognition in the United States, it seems exceptionally unlikely this car will ever come to the US market. The company has much more popularity in Southeast and Central Asia, but these aren’t regions where luxury EVs are particularly relevant to most consumers. Perhaps its best hope outside Asia, then, is Europe, where Xiaomi is surprisingly dominant in certain countries (e.g., Spain, Denmark, Greece, Belgium). The problem is that dominance leans heavily toward the value segment of the market — not exactly the kind of people who are buying a big, expensive EV. Xiaomi’s brand is built on delivering high value relative to product capability, and that’s far easier to do in the heavily commoditized, high-turnover world of smartphones. There’s only so much you can do to make a full-size EV cost-accessible, and I sincerely doubt Xiaomi and BAIC will be able to wave a magic wand to deliver world-beating pricing (at least outside China).
Perhaps the largest impact a car like the SU7 will have on the broader market is in driving the discussion of technology companies building their own vehicles. Apple has long flirted with the idea of its own car, and with global smartphone growth plateauing, consumer tech brands will likely be eyeing the success of Xiaomi’s outsourced manufacturing arrangement with great interest.
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Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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