Xiaomi

For the first time since Tesla launched the Model 3 in China in 2019, another automaker has outsold it in the premium electric sedan segment. And it’s a smartphone company.

Xiaomi delivered 258,164 units of its SU7 sedan in 2025, nearly 30% more than Tesla Model 3’s 200,361 deliveries, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

This comes just weeks after we reported that Tesla confirmed its first year of domestic sales decline in China. The writing was on the wall, and now we’re seeing the direct consequences.

Weighing in at just 1,356 kg and packing a 320 kW (~430 hp) electric motor, the Xiaomi-backed JMEV SC01 ditches the extras and keeps the essentials – so if you’re the kind of person that dreams of a self-driving future that lets you pay more attention to your Twitter X feed than the road ahead, this one’s not for you.

But if it is for you, I have fantastic news: this electric roadster is being sold in Europe (and it won’t stop there).

The SU7, Xiaomi’s first EV, took the Chinese market by storm last year. Xiaomi opened pre-orders for an upgraded, longer-range model on Wednesday, and it’s still cheaper than a Tesla Model 3, starting at 229,900 yuan ($33,000).

Young Chinese EV developer Xiaomi Automobile has officially expanded its global footprint, opening a new R&D and Design Center in Germany. This is Xiaomi’s first step in its planned expansion outside China and into new markets around the EU.

The Tesla Model Y has long been a dominant force in the EV world. It is the best-selling electric vehicle in the world, and it briefly became the best-selling car globally.

But it is being seriously challenged. In China, the Model Y is already feeling the impact of Xiaomi’s YU7.

Executives for Xiaomi Automobile have confirmed the Chinese automotive business’s plans to (eventually) start selling its EVs in new overseas markets, including Europe.

The Xiaomi YU7 offers a longer driving range than the Tesla Model Y, more advanced tech, and it’s cheaper. With wait times for the Chinese EV extending over a year, the company’s CEO told buyers to check out rivals if they need a car quickly.

With its tire-blistering acceleration and record-setting performance, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has been getting attention throughout the auto industry, impressing everyone who’s seen it. That “everyone” now seems to include the OG supercar brand, itself.

Xiaomi has confirmed receiving over 200,000 real orders for its Tesla killer, the YU7, in just three minutes. We are referring to actual orders, with a soon-to-be non-refundable deposit.

I had the chance to test drive the Xiaomi YU7 ahead of its launch today in China, and I came out of the entire experience both impressed and frustrated.

Let me try to explain why, and also why Western automakers are scared of these new Chinese EVs.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has set a goal for the YU7 to outsell the Tesla Model Y, the best-selling electric premium SUV, in China.

It could very well happen, considering Xiaomi’s SU7 is now outselling Tesla’s Model 3.

Move over, Rimac. There’s a new all-electric speed leader at the famed Nürburgring track. Veteran smartphone manufacturer and young automotive arm Xiaomi recently achieved the fastest time for a production EV at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Here we compare the specs of the new Tesla Model Y (Chinese version) to the newly unveiled Xiaomi YU7, a vehicle dubbed the ‘Tesla killer’.

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.

As confirmed this week, the new YU7 SUV from Xiaomi Automobile will officially launch on May 22. Before then, however, Xiaomi has teased a brief glimpse at the YU7’s interior—more specifically, an intuitive display that runs across the entire dashboard.

About one year after first catching wind that EV newcomer Xiaomi Automobile was working on an SUV we’d come to know as the YU7, the company is finally set to officially unveil the new model in China. This will be a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y and has the potential to reimagine the all-electric SUV market in China.

Xiaomi Automobile, the young EV business spun out of the Chinese smartphone giant, has earned the respect of Nürburgring, one of the world’s longest and most renowned permanent race tracks. After catching the public’s attention during a lap at Nürburgring last year, Xiaomi has signed on as a long-term premium partner to the track, which includes naming rights on the Grand Prix Circuit and more.

The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!

Xiaomi is building some of the best, most capable high-performance electric cars in the world right now – and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun wants you to know that they’re among the safest, too. To prove it, he’s wrapping a watermelon in the company’s “bulletproof” battery armor and dropping it off a six-storey building.

Young EV automaker Xiaomi Automotive continues to showcase that it is a force to be reckoned with in China. The automotive division of the massive electronics manufacturer Xiaomi Corporation recently hit 200,000 EV deliveries in record time. As such, the automaker has increased its delivery targets for 2025 as its second all-electric model looks to hit the market this summer.

The SU7 Ultra, Xiaomi’s new flagship electric vehicle, went against a Tesla Model S Plaid in a drag race and it smoked it.

The car is ridiculously powerful, and it’s about 35% cheaper than the Plaid, which is already affordable relative to its supercar performance.