Electric vehicles have become a real trend among high-tech companies, and rumors about xiaomi EV have been circulating for a very long time. Companies such as Apple, Huawei, Nvidia, Alibaba and many others have already confirmed their participation in projects or have appeared in the development. Some companies are specially created for the project of developing electric cars. Naturally, it was logical that sooner or later the ambitious Xiaomi would join this list, which, on its own or by its partners, seems to be producing everything. Sometimes there really is a feeling that there is no such product left that is somehow unrelated to Lei Jun’s company. He officially announced the preparation of the electric car, and now he gave some clarifications about what to expect from him.
Yesterday, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi held a personal live broadcast. It discussed many different topics, but apart from them there were conversations about the upcoming electric car.
How much can a new Xiaomi EV cost?
Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s first car will be either a sedan or an SUV with a price range of 100,000 to 300,000 yuan (about 15,000 to 45,000 US dollars). Lei Jun also said that the new round logo is more suitable for car brands than the previous one. But they changed the logo design before deciding on the Xiaomi cars.
Recall that at the presentation of new products, which took place last week, the company showed a new logo, which now has twisted edges and has become not only more modern, but also more elegant. It even became more consistent with the natural outlines, because angular square shapes are rarely found in the environment.
Lei Jun also added that in the future, the company’s cars will be supplied with special air conditioning systems. They will not only cool and clean the ”outboard ” air, but also be able to humidify it and fight smog. However, it is still unclear what kind of smog was meant — urban or from a person smoking in the car.
Before the live broadcast, Lei Jun launched a survey on Weibo about upcoming cars. He asked whether they should use the Xiaomi brand on the company’s automotive products, which category of cars they should release first, and what price tags the audience would consider acceptable.
As a result, most users think that the first Xiaomi EV should not be a motor home or a sports car, and two-thirds of users choose a price tag of more than 100,000 yuan (approximately 1.1 million rubles). But with the use of a logo or trademark, users could not decide. On my own, I can add that I would be willing to consider buying a Chinese electric car related to Xiaomi, but I’m not sure that calling it a phone brand would be a good idea.
Now Xiaomi can no longer retreat, since the launch of work on an electric car has been officially announced. If a company decides to back down, it can have a very negative impact on its reputation and fan trust.
What was shown at the last presentation?
Recall that Xioami announced its intentions to create its own electric car at a presentation at the beginning of last week. It also showed us the new smartphones Xiaomi Mi 11i, Mi 11 Lite, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra. The presentation also brought us a new Xiaomi Mi Band 6 with a frameless screen, cool wireless charging and the company’s first foldable phone – Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold. At the presentation, Lei Jun talked a lot about where the company is going, and said that it plans to invest $10 billion over 10 years. At the first stage, the investment will amount to $1.53 billion at once. In addition, the head added that he is ready to put everything on his reputation and ”go to the battlefield and fight for Xiaomi”.
We all understand that it will be difficult to develop Xioami EV from scratch, even for a company like Xiaomi. Most likely, it will have to enlist the support of someone from the automakers to get the base, which will be used to place batteries and other electronics.
Previously, there were even rumors that Xiaomi would buy the electric car manufacturer NIO, but in this case, the company would not talk about the need for regular investments, but would announce a merger. Therefore, we rely on our own developments in cooperation with one of the Chinese car manufacturers.