About this video

• Video Title: Driving Xiaomi's Electric Car: Are we Cooked?
• Channel: Marques Brownlee
• Speakers: Marques Brownlee
• Duration: 00:17:25

Overview

Marques Brownlee reviews the Xiaomi SU7 electric car, exploring its features, interior, driving experience, and overall value. The video questions whether Chinese electric cars, like the SU7, could dominate the global market due to their advanced technology and competitive pricing.

Key takeaways

• The Xiaomi SU7, particularly the SU7 Max, offers impressive specs for its price point, comparable to higher-priced EVs from established brands.
• The car's exterior design draws inspiration from various luxury car manufacturers, creating a blended aesthetic.
• The interior boasts premium features such as heated and ventilated leather seats, a comprehensive HUD, and a large central display, feeling more like a luxury vehicle than its price suggests.
• Xiaomi's deep integration into the tech ecosystem is evident in the car's software, wireless CarPlay, and modular accessory options, offering a unique user experience.
• The driving experience is versatile, with adjustable modes ranging from a comfortable cruiser to a sporty performance mode, demonstrating strong handling and acceleration.
• The video questions if the rapid advancement and competitive pricing of Chinese EVs like the SU7 pose a significant threat to existing automotive markets.

• 00:00 - 00:04: All right. So, there are a lot of hot takes in the tech world, and I see a lot
• 00:04 - 00:09: of them in the comment section and in articles all the time. And one of the
• 00:09 - 00:14: most common ones is, yo, have you seen these Chinese electric cars? If they
• 00:14 - 00:19: ever came to the US, they would cook everything that we have here. They are
• 00:19 - 00:24: too good. They have too much tech and they are too cheap to not dominate
• 00:24 - 00:29: everything. And so, I figured [music] I should get my hands on one and actually
• 00:29 - 00:30: figure out if that's true or not. And uh yeah, you could say there's a little
• 00:30 - 00:31: something to it.
• 00:36 - 00:39: There are so many crazy things I've learned about this car while I've been
• 00:39 - 00:43: testing it, but let's just start with the basics. This car here I've been
• 00:43 - 00:46: driving for the last 2 weeks is called
• 00:46 - 00:49: the Xiaomi SU7.
• 00:49 - 00:52: Yeah, that Xiaomi. [music] So, the Xiaomi that makes basically everything
• 00:52 - 00:56: in China. Tablets, headphones, robot vacuums, printers, appliances, and
• 00:56 - 00:59: smartphones. And they even refer to the
• 00:59 - 01:03: trims of this car as the SU7, SU7 Pro, SU7 Max, and SU7 Ultra. So, this here is
• 01:03 - 01:06: the SU7 Max. And this retails for about
• 01:06 - 01:09: 299,000
• 01:09 - 01:11: Chinese yuan, which actually converts to
• 01:11 - 01:15: about $42,000 US, which is going to be a
• 01:15 - 01:18: lot more impressive in about 5 minutes.
• 01:18 - 01:21: So, base specs. This is a fully electric
• 01:21 - 01:24: four-door sedan. 101 kWh battery, dual
• 01:24 - 01:28: motor, all-wheel drive, 673 horsepower,
• 01:28 - 01:30: and 320 mi of range. Already, those are
• 01:30 - 01:32: specs on paper on the level of like a
• 01:32 - 01:34: Tesla Model 3 Performance, which today
• 01:34 - 01:37: costs like $55,000.
• 01:37 - 01:38: Now, looking around the outside of this
• 01:38 - 01:41: car, it looks like a pretty reasonable
• 01:41 - 01:42: car. I think a lot of people would
• 01:42 - 01:45: agree. But that's the thing. This is
• 01:45 - 01:47: Xiaomi we're talking about making this
• 01:47 - 01:50: car and they're not a car company which
• 01:50 - 01:52: means they don't have any previous
• 01:52 - 01:56: designs that they have to pay homage to
• 01:56 - 01:58: or any traditional lines and shapes that
• 01:58 - 02:02: they have to keep around which means a
• 02:02 - 02:04: little bit less prestige. Yes, but also
• 02:04 - 02:06: a little bit more freedom because I see
• 02:06 - 02:08: them taking stuff from all over the rest
• 02:08 - 02:10: of the car industry in this car. Like
• 02:10 - 02:12: these headlights for example, that is
• 02:12 - 02:14: very much a McLaren looking headlight
• 02:14 - 02:16: and they have Lotus lines on the hood
• 02:16 - 02:18: here. And then as you get back even more
• 02:18 - 02:20: kind of looks like a Porsche Tyan from
• 02:20 - 02:22: the side profile if I'm not crazy. It
• 02:22 - 02:24: has these thin bezels like the Polestar
• 02:24 - 02:25: and then a thicker tail light across the
• 02:25 - 02:27: back which kind of looks maybe like a
• 02:27 - 02:30: Lincoln or some others. And then there's
• 02:30 - 02:32: a fully active wing on the back that
• 02:32 - 02:34: kind of looks like a Mercedes AMG GT.
• 02:34 - 02:36: All of these are more expensive cars
• 02:36 - 02:38: from more premium brands. And so they
• 02:38 - 02:39: kind of meld them all together into one
• 02:39 - 02:42: car with this kind of unique purple
• 02:42 - 02:44: color that honestly I think looks pretty
• 02:44 - 02:45: good. And we're not even on the inside
• 02:45 - 02:45: yet.
• 02:50 - 02:53: So the inside here is where they really
• 02:53 - 02:56: start to stack the wins. This is a nice
• 02:56 - 02:59: car. Not just in like a nice with an
• 02:59 - 03:02: asterisk type of way, like, "Oh, this is
• 03:02 - 03:04: nice for a $45,000 car," or, "Oh, this
• 03:04 - 03:07: is nice for a car I've never heard of."
• 03:07 - 03:08: No, this this is a nice car. It's got
• 03:08 - 03:10: this pretty clean design all around the
• 03:10 - 03:13: interior. Again, bringing in inspiration
• 03:13 - 03:14: and premium features from a bunch of
• 03:14 - 03:17: different places. Like, these are
• 03:17 - 03:19: comfortable, heated, and ventilated
• 03:19 - 03:20: leather seats. This heated steering
• 03:20 - 03:22: wheel looks and feels a lot like a
• 03:22 - 03:24: Porsche steering wheel to me with the
• 03:24 - 03:25: shape and the simplicity and just a few
• 03:25 - 03:27: buttons with stalks at the bottom.
• 03:27 - 03:30: There's a big, bright, and automatically
• 03:30 - 03:31: aligning HUD in front of me, right in
• 03:31 - 03:32: front of the road at all times. And
• 03:32 - 03:34: that's right above a small display
• 03:34 - 03:37: behind the steering wheel. And then a
• 03:37 - 03:38: 16-in primary display in the center. And
• 03:38 - 03:41: then there's storage everywhere. There's
• 03:41 - 03:43: here in the middle between the front
• 03:43 - 03:44: seats, where they've also cleverly
• 03:44 - 03:46: stored a flashlight powered by the car's
• 03:46 - 03:48: battery, kind of like Riven. And believe
• 03:48 - 03:49: it or not, a tasteful amount of real
• 03:49 - 03:51: hardware controls here. There's a power
• 03:51 - 03:53: onoff button right here. There's
• 03:53 - 03:55: temperature controls up and down, fan
• 03:55 - 03:57: speed up and down at my fingertips. You
• 03:57 - 03:59: can also put the wing up or down at the
• 03:59 - 04:01: back of the car. And there's a lift
• 04:01 - 04:02: height because there is, of course, an
• 04:02 - 04:05: adjustable air suspension. Up at the
• 04:05 - 04:06: top, there's a pair of air cooled 50
• 04:06 - 04:08: watt wireless chargers because, you
• 04:08 - 04:10: know, if you got a Xiaomi car, you might
• 04:10 - 04:12: as well have a Xiaomi phone with 50 watt
• 04:12 - 04:14: wireless charging to match. So, those go
• 04:14 - 04:16: up there. There's also a huge tinted
• 04:16 - 04:18: glass panoramic sunroof over my head.
• 04:18 - 04:21: Very nice feature. The headliner is all
• 04:21 - 04:23: Alcantara everywhere. And there are 25
• 04:23 - 04:26: speakers in this car that sound really
• 04:26 - 04:30: good. and ambient lighting everywhere
• 04:30 - 04:32: that pulses to the bass of your music in
• 04:32 - 04:34: the colors of the album art of the song
• 04:34 - 04:36: that's playing because it's connected to
• 04:36 - 04:37: the car and it just knows that type of
• 04:37 - 04:38: thing. And that's not even mentioning
• 04:38 - 04:41: the backseat experience of this car,
• 04:41 - 04:43: which is also really nice. Those screens
• 04:43 - 04:44: for the rear passengers are Xiaomi
• 04:44 - 04:45: tablets cuz of course they are. I
• 04:45 - 04:49: haven't even driven it yet and it's
• 04:49 - 04:53: already feeling like a 60 $65,000 car.
• 04:53 - 04:55: But there are not one but two really
• 04:55 - 04:58: cool features I've never seen in any
• 04:58 - 05:00: other car that are in this one. So
• 05:00 - 05:02: number one is the software. The software
• 05:02 - 05:05: is so good. This feels like a preview
• 05:05 - 05:07: kind of like what Apple might have done
• 05:07 - 05:09: if they'd made an Apple car. I say that
• 05:09 - 05:10: because it's super smooth just like a
• 05:10 - 05:12: smartphone, but also it's a car made by
• 05:12 - 05:15: someone who makes a phone. And so the
• 05:15 - 05:19: car plugs right into the Xiaomi
• 05:19 - 05:22: ecosystem in so many ways. There's the
• 05:22 - 05:24: wireless charger, but also wireless
• 05:24 - 05:26: screen mirroring. It connects to various
• 05:26 - 05:28: other Xiaomi smart home accessories like
• 05:28 - 05:30: security cameras. You can sign into them
• 05:30 - 05:32: with the car with your account. So
• 05:32 - 05:34: everything from text messages to map
• 05:34 - 05:36: directions are all syncing from your
• 05:36 - 05:38: phone. And hey, if all else fails,
• 05:38 - 05:40: thankfully as a backup, this car also
• 05:40 - 05:42: happens to have wireless Apple CarPlay.
• 05:42 - 05:44: And it's nice. I think it is the
• 05:44 - 05:46: biggest, nicest window of wireless
• 05:46 - 05:49: CarPlay I have ever seen in a car. I
• 05:49 - 05:50: think probably my favorite example of
• 05:50 - 05:51: the software being incredible in this
• 05:51 - 05:54: car is uh you see the speaker in the
• 05:54 - 05:56: headrest behind me. When I'm driving and
• 05:56 - 05:59: my phone is paired to the speakers in
• 05:59 - 06:00: this car and I'm navigating, you know
• 06:00 - 06:02: that part where like you're driving and
• 06:02 - 06:03: the music's getting pretty good and
• 06:03 - 06:05: right as the bass is about to drop, the
• 06:05 - 06:07: navigation voice comes on and interrupts
• 06:07 - 06:09: it. That never happens in this car
• 06:09 - 06:13: because it separates out the voice from
• 06:13 - 06:16: the navigation and puts it just in that
• 06:16 - 06:19: speaker behind me while all the rest of
• 06:19 - 06:21: the music in the sound in the car stays
• 06:21 - 06:23: exactly the same. So, as a driver, I
• 06:23 - 06:25: hear the voice saying, "Turn left, turn
• 06:25 - 06:27: right, but everything else, including
• 06:27 - 06:29: the music for all the passengers, stays
• 06:29 - 06:32: sick." That is my favorite software
• 06:32 - 06:34: feature I've seen in a car in a while.
• 06:34 - 06:35: So, the software being awesome is the
• 06:35 - 06:38: one thing, but the second awesome thing
• 06:38 - 06:41: is the modules because this is a a
• 06:41 - 06:43: modular interior because hidden around
• 06:43 - 06:45: this car are a bunch of various mounting
• 06:45 - 06:48: points for modular accessories. There's
• 06:48 - 06:50: one over here in the corner and another
• 06:50 - 06:53: over here in the center all the way
• 06:53 - 06:55: around the back of this center display.
• 06:55 - 06:57: And so on these mounting points, you can
• 06:57 - 07:00: attach various accessories that Xiaomi
• 07:00 - 07:02: makes like this extra speedometer and
• 07:02 - 07:06: trip display or this magnetic car mount
• 07:06 - 07:08: in the corner of the car or this super
• 07:08 - 07:10: useful USB hub that gets full power and
• 07:10 - 07:12: can pass it along through a cable to
• 07:12 - 07:14: passengers in the back seat or wherever
• 07:14 - 07:15: they want. There's also high quality
• 07:15 - 07:17: microphones that pair to the car for a
• 07:17 - 07:19: karaoke experience or even long range
• 07:19 - 07:20: walkie-talkies for some reason if you
• 07:20 - 07:22: need to maybe shoot a video with the car
• 07:22 - 07:24: and communicate with the camera car.
• 07:24 - 07:25: What other car does this? I've never
• 07:25 - 07:27: seen the ability to customize exactly
• 07:27 - 07:30: how much hardware or how little hardware
• 07:30 - 07:32: you have in the interior layout like
• 07:32 - 07:35: Xiaomi does. I mean, they're not a car
• 07:35 - 07:36: company clearly, but they've come up
• 07:36 - 07:38: with some really innovative things to
• 07:38 - 07:41: make the car uniquely your own. You can
• 07:41 - 07:43: make it maximalist, you can make it
• 07:43 - 07:45: minimalist, you can do as much or as
• 07:45 - 07:46: little as you want. And that'll of
• 07:46 - 07:48: course fluctuate the price you pay, but
• 07:48 - 07:50: hey, that's up to you. I think that's
• 07:50 - 07:52: pretty sick. All of that is without even
• 07:52 - 07:54: mentioning all the little stuff like the
• 07:54 - 07:56: active noise cancellation in here, the
• 07:56 - 07:58: quality of the speakers, the surround
• 07:58 - 08:00: sound, all the other things that the
• 08:00 - 08:02: software does really, really well. And I
• 08:02 - 08:02: haven't even gotten to driving it yet.
• 08:06 - 08:14: So, this is obviously a standard issue
• 08:14 - 08:16: four-door electric car, right? But the
• 08:16 - 08:19: superpower of electric cars is that they
• 08:19 - 08:21: can have multiple personalities. That's
• 08:21 - 08:23: what makes these interesting. So, in its
• 08:23 - 08:26: default mode, which is comfort mode,
• 08:26 - 08:29: it's pretty nice, actually. It rides
• 08:29 - 08:30: super soft. It's chill. The air
• 08:30 - 08:33: suspension is actually pretty
• 08:33 - 08:35: incredible. I feel like this is on the
• 08:35 - 08:36: same level of absorbing all these bumps
• 08:36 - 08:38: and all these potholes and the things on
• 08:38 - 08:40: the road as the Lucids that I've driven.
• 08:40 - 08:42: Like this is really quite good and it
• 08:42 - 08:45: never gets too unsettled. The
• 08:45 - 08:46: accelerator pedal, it's it's responsive
• 08:46 - 08:50: enough. It's not like super twitchy and
• 08:50 - 08:51: aggressive. It's obviously the comfort
• 08:51 - 08:53: mode, so you feel like you have all the
• 08:53 - 08:55: power you need, but it rolls it on
• 08:55 - 08:57: nicely and eases off when you remove
• 08:57 - 08:59: your foot from the pedal. And what a lot
• 08:59 - 09:00: of other EVs don't have is this really
• 09:00 - 09:02: high degree of customization over
• 09:02 - 09:05: exactly how that feels. Like there is a
• 09:05 - 09:07: full-on power delivery slider. You can
• 09:07 - 09:09: move it to be a fully rearwheel drive
• 09:09 - 09:11: vehicle all the way to a fully
• 09:11 - 09:13: frontwheel drive vehicle. And then the
• 09:13 - 09:14: liftoff regen is nice and secure and
• 09:14 - 09:18: assuring. This is a you never have to
• 09:18 - 09:21: take the car out of this mode if you
• 09:21 - 09:22: never wanted to. This is a very
• 09:22 - 09:24: reasonable thing to expect from a
• 09:24 - 09:26: four-door electric car. But there's also
• 09:26 - 09:28: a drive mode knob down here. And if I
• 09:28 - 09:30: just turn it one notch to the right,
• 09:30 - 09:34: everything turns red. The graphics in
• 09:34 - 09:36: front of me change. I get my estimated
• 09:36 - 09:38: range and my speed and how much power
• 09:38 - 09:39: I'm using. And then I rotate it again
• 09:39 - 09:41: and it's sport plus mode and there's a
• 09:41 - 09:44: geforce meter now. And now all of a
• 09:44 - 09:46: sudden the accelerator pedal is way more
• 09:46 - 09:48: responsive and twitchy and everything
• 09:48 - 09:50: firms up. The steering is definitely
• 09:50 - 09:52: heavier. So, this feels much more like a
• 09:52 - 09:54: fun type of drive and it's not quite on
• 09:54 - 09:57: the maxed out level. Like, I know people
• 09:57 - 10:00: want to compare this to Porsche Tyan.
• 10:00 - 10:02: This is not Porsche Tyan levels of
• 10:02 - 10:04: sporty, but it's it's like one notch
• 10:04 - 10:06: below that, which is still really good.
• 10:06 - 10:08: It's got all the EV party tricks. 0 to
• 10:08 - 10:10: 60 in under 3 seconds, launch control,
• 10:10 - 10:13: and even a little boost button where if
• 10:13 - 10:17: you press the drive mode button, you get
• 10:17 - 10:19: this crazy graphic on the screen. And
• 10:19 - 10:21: then that's add that's add that's all of
• 10:21 - 10:23: your power which is sick. So obviously
• 10:23 - 10:24: it does great in a straight line with
• 10:24 - 10:27: 600 plus horsepower but it kind of
• 10:27 - 10:30: handles on the same level of Model 3
• 10:30 - 10:34: performance or BMW i4. This is a really
• 10:34 - 10:37: capable car. It's kind of like a wolf in
• 10:37 - 10:39: sheep's clothes type of car where you
• 10:39 - 10:41: see it on the road and it doesn't
• 10:41 - 10:42: necessarily look like something that has
• 10:42 - 10:45: Porsche 911 Turbo S horsepower but it
• 10:45 - 10:48: does. And so yeah, kind of it just gives
• 10:48 - 10:51: you this confidence of being able to
• 10:51 - 10:52: place the car wherever you want on the
• 10:52 - 10:53: road. And that is the superpower of
• 10:53 - 10:56: electric cars. Plus, it's got these
• 10:56 - 10:59: these active bolsters. The seats are
• 10:59 - 11:01: hugging me when I go around turns. So
• 11:01 - 11:03: when I turn right, the left bolster kind
• 11:03 - 11:05: of like hugs like catches me a little
• 11:05 - 11:07: bit. This is something those very
• 11:07 - 11:08: expensive G Wagons have done and
• 11:08 - 11:10: popularized for a while now. It's a
• 11:10 - 11:12: little weird, not going to lie, but just
• 11:12 - 11:14: makes you think it's doing something.
• 11:14 - 11:15: It's also become much more apparent as
• 11:15 - 11:17: I'm driving this car how wellb built it
• 11:17 - 11:20: really is. It does not feel anything
• 11:20 - 11:21: like the $42,000 price tag might
• 11:21 - 11:24: suggest. Like obviously the materials
• 11:24 - 11:26: are one thing and you've got these
• 11:26 - 11:28: leathers all around and the stitching
• 11:28 - 11:30: and these different contrasted
• 11:30 - 11:32: materials, but also just in general like
• 11:32 - 11:34: it's quiet in here. I don't hear motor
• 11:34 - 11:38: noise. I don't hear wind very much. I
• 11:38 - 11:40: don't hear other cars or noises around
• 11:40 - 11:43: me outside the car. like I can
• 11:43 - 11:46: verify that there are there are noises
• 11:46 - 11:48: out there that I'm not hearing. It's
• 11:48 - 11:50: it's sick. And then there's the active
• 11:50 - 11:52: noise cancellation on top of that. So,
• 11:52 - 11:54: it just feels like a really serene, calm
• 11:54 - 11:56: experience just because it's so well
• 11:56 - 11:57: built. And you might have also noticed
• 11:57 - 11:59: the LAR box right above me on the top of
• 11:59 - 12:01: this car here because the other button
• 12:01 - 12:03: on the steering wheel is Xiaomi's full
• 12:03 - 12:06: self-driving which doesn't work on every
• 12:06 - 12:08: road here in the US but in China you
• 12:08 - 12:10: have Pilot Pro and Pilot Max and those
• 12:10 - 12:13: will take care of almost all of the
• 12:13 - 12:15: driving on almost all of the roads the
• 12:15 - 12:16: same way something like a Tesla Model 3
• 12:16 - 12:18: might here in the US. So I've turned it
• 12:18 - 12:20: on on this road. This is a a smaller
• 12:20 - 12:22: single lane road and is totally fine.
• 12:22 - 12:24: And there's all sorts of things like
• 12:24 - 12:25: obstacles that it has to avoid and it
• 12:25 -