New information about Xiaomi electric cars, as well as the first photos of the prototype, appeared on the Internet. According to Chinese media, the less expensive model will compete with the Tesla Model 3 sedan. Codenamed Modena, the variant will be larger and more powerful than the Tesla model, and will cost about the same as XPeng’s P7 model.
According to the available data, the company is considering the release of two variants – one will cost from $38,000 to $43,600, and the second – from $51,600. The more affordable electric car will receive BYD’s standard lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries for operation with a voltage of 400 V. It also will receive numerous sensors developed jointly with the German company Continental, including cameras and radars operating in the mmWave range – the same ones used by the Chinese premium crossover Li Auto One.
The more expensive variant will be built on an 800-volt architecture and will use CATL Qilin Batteries, which can be charged from 0 to 80% in just 15 minutes. The novelty will receive the Orin X processor from NVIDIA, as well as the leader. The system will work on algorithms developed by Xiaomi. Both versions will receive ‘smart cabins’ on Qualcomm 8295 chipsets, which will be used for the first time this year in the Jidu ROBO-01 model.
It is known that the second, more expensive electric car, codenamed Le Mans, should debut in 2025 and will receive three electric motors with control software developed by Xiaomi. However, in general, the car will be built on the same platform as the first one.
In March 2021, Xiaomi announced its entry into the electric vehicle market and investment in the industry of $1.5 billion, as well as the intention to spend another $10 billion over 10 years. The company signed a contract with the Steering Committee of the Beijing Economic and Technical Development Zone in November 2021 to build a factory in Yizhuang district, capable of producing up to 300,000 cars per year, as well as the construction of the headquarters of the relevant Xiaomi division and areas where specialists will develop new cars.
The plant will be built in two stages, and mass production should begin in 2024. On January 5th, one of the founders of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, held a meeting in the automotive division, saying that he was completely confident in the new products.
