"Become the fastest four-door electric car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife within 10 years."

Just three months after Lei Jun set the goal during his annual speech in July this year, Xiaomi officially announced that the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype set a new record with a time of 6 minutes, 46 seconds, and 874 milliseconds at the Nürburgring Nordschleife on October 28th, Beijing time, becoming the "fastest four-door electric car at the Nürburgring".

Screenshot from Weibo @Lei Jun

As Albert Einstein once said, time is relative. In contrast to Xiaomi's three-month feat that Lei Jun compared to a ten-year effort, Geely's CEO An Conghui made a bold statement last year when announcing the Zeekr 001 FR: "I believe no competitors can produce such a versatile supercar within five years!"

Similarly, the public opinions on both sides are also "relative." Following Lei Jun's announcement that the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype had become the "fastest four-door electric car at the Nürburgring" and the start of presales for the production version at a price of 814,900 yuan, the automotive and tech circles erupted in excitement, while Geely and its entire camp remained relatively low-key.

Image from Xiaomi's press conference

Social media accounts of active executives such as @Zeekr Guan Haitao (Zeekr CMO) and @Zeekr Dr. Zhu Ling (Zeekr VP) only posted a few official advertisements, while @Yang Xueliang Victor (Senior VP of Geely Holding Group) shared a landscape video after Xiaomi's press conference, almost disrupting his daily update routine for October.

It's worth noting that earlier this year, when Lei Jun and Xiaomi were promoting their "Tribute to Automotive Industry Pioneers" campaign, @Yang Xueliang Victor had repeatedly posted responses expressing annoyance at the tributes. Now, the rivalry between Xiaomi and Geely in the automotive industry has only intensified.

01

Irresistible Momentum

Returning to the protagonist, Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, it's important to note that there is a fundamental difference between it and the car that set the "fastest four-door electric car at the Nürburgring" record. The latter is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype, a non-production vehicle that cannot be driven on public roads.

Image from official promotional materials

Despite being a non-production vehicle and despite the qualifiers such as "four-door" and "electric car," the record set by Lei Jun and Xiaomi Automobile is still significant. Firstly, such an achievement gives Xiaomi the confidence to further challenge the record for the "fastest production four-door electric car at the Nürburgring," currently held by Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, the most prestigious record in the electric car world.

At the same time, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype has completed performance validation for the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra in multiple areas, including the three electrics (motor, battery, and electronic control), chassis, brakes, and more. Many of the race-oriented hardware and technologies, represented by the three electrics, will be carried over to the production model. According to Lei Jun's introduction at the press conference, the production version of Xiaomi SU7 Ultra can complete two full-speed laps at the Nürburgring without performance degradation.

It's worth mentioning that the time of 6 minutes, 46 seconds, and 874 milliseconds for the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype is far from its limit. According to in-car footage released by Xiaomi Automobile, the track was not fully dry during the record-setting run, affecting grip, and the vehicle's wheel speed sensors were affected by fallen leaves on the track, briefly cutting power.

On October 29th, a professional in the racing community told Yuan Media Hui that if the weather was good and the vehicle was in normal condition throughout the run, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype should have no problem improving its time to under 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

According to Yuan Media Hui's analysis, if the lap time were to improve by another 7 seconds, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype would surpass models like the NIO EP9, McLaren P1 XP1 LM Prototype, and Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR (991.2), ranking fourth on the list of cars that cannot be legally driven on public roads at the Nürburgring, trailing only Lotus, Volkswagen, and Porsche (with another prototype).

The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, priced at 814,900 yuan, offers good value for money compared to similar performance competitors, but it's hardly affordable, destined to be a plaything for the few. However, the buzz generated by the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is expected to bring a new wave of store visits for the Xiaomi SU7, keeping subsequent order volumes high.

According to Lei Jun's official announcement, Xiaomi Automobile delivered 20,000 vehicles in October alone, potentially overtaking the Tesla Model 3 to become the best-selling electric sedan priced above 200,000 yuan. With continuous orders and robust production and delivery capabilities, Xiaomi Automobile should have little difficulty achieving its sales target of 120,000 vehicles this year.

02

Xiaomi Sets Record, BYD Lends a Hand

Xiaomi Automobile's record-setting run at the Nürburgring was also thanks to BYD.

According to insiders, during Xiaomi's attempt to set a record at the Nürburgring, unfavorable weather conditions prevented the two test cars from completing their runs during the two exclusive days booked in January. Just as it seemed hopeless to reschedule, BYD, which was also conducting testing at the Nürburgring, lent a helping hand.

"BYD U9 had booked a day at the Nürburgring, and when Xiaomi contacted them, they agreed to squeeze in some time for Xiaomi's Prodrive team (which worked with Xiaomi SU7 Prototype on the Nürburgring runs) to conduct final tuning before the record run," said the insider.

Although this episode was not officially announced, clues can be found in the official messages from Lei Jun and BYD. On October 29th, Lei Jun mentioned on social media that he had coordinated with a competitor to use their exclusive track time on October 21st for Xiaomi SU7 Prototype testing. On the same day, Hu Xiaoqing, General Manager of BYD Up Premium Auto Business Unit, also officially announced on social media that BYD U9 was conducting exclusive lap time tests at the Nürburgring.

Interestingly, BYD U9's Nürburgring run on October 21st was also "timely" in that a blown tire prevented it from achieving an officially certified lap time, avoiding stealing the spotlight before Xiaomi SU7 Ultra's announcement. It is reported that BYD U9 plans to complete its Nürburgring lap time test in early November, potentially becoming another top-ranking Chinese brand model on this globally renowned track.

In fact, Xiaomi and BYD's tacit understanding extends beyond the Nürburgring. From smartphones to automobiles, BYD's presence can be seen in Xiaomi products. For example, the battery for the entry-level Xiaomi SU7 model comes from supplier Fudi, which is wholly owned by BYD according to Tianyancha information.

Xiaomi and BYD's increasingly close cooperation is the last thing Geely, Xiaomi's rival, wants to see. Interestingly, Geely executive Yang Xueliang publicly sided with Great Wall Motor in criticizing BYD's atmospheric pressure fuel tank issue at the 2024 China Automotive Summit earlier this year, and Great Wall specifically mentioned Geely's views in its official statement on October 18th.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

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