- 2025 Xiaomi YU7 arrival timing detailed ahead of Chinese launch.
- Controversial tech-backed automaker fields premium electric SUV rival to BYD Sealion 7, Kia EV6.
- The XU7 features 800-volt electrical system which can more than 500km of range in just 15 minutes.
The boss of tech giant Xiaomi, Lei Jun, has confirmed launch timing of the company’s much-anticipated first SUV model, the YU7.
Arriving before the end of June, the YU7 joins the SU7 which has shot to explosive popularity in China as an aspirational and locally-produced electric sports sedan. For context, the SU7 secured nearly 90,000 pre-orders when it went on sale in March of 2024.
Now, the aggressively styled YU7 which looks largely like a lifted version of the SU7, borrowing heavily from styling cues of Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren and others, marks a new chapter for the tech company’s automotive division, as it expands beyond its single initial model.
The YU7 will arrive in three variants to the Chinese market, a Long Range rear-wheel-drive version, Long Range all-wheel-drive Pro version, and a performance-oriented all-wheel-drive Max version to mirror the same line-up as the SU7.
The two Long Range versions are equipped with a 96.3kWh battery pack allowing either 835km or 770km of driving range respectively, while the Max can travel 760km from its even larger 101.7kWh battery.
Performance is up to a combined 508kW/838Nm derived from Xiaomi’s motors, which produce 220kW/400Nm for the basic ‘V6’ unit, 275kW/500Nm for the higher-spec ‘V6s’, or 425kW/635Nm for the top-spec ‘V8s’ motor.
Each version is equipped with an 800-volt electrical system, allowing fast charging which can add up to 510km of range in just 15 minutes, according to the brand.
Meanwhile the high-performance Ultra version of the SU7 sedan sits apart from the rest of the line-up, sporting a tri-motor set-up with a 900-volt battery architecture and peak outputs of a combined 1330kW/1770Nm. The brand says the Ultra can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 1.98 seconds. An Ultra version of the YU7 has yet to be revealed.
Chinese media is speculating a price-tag as low as the equivalent of NZ$54,100, although Lei Jun has allegedly refuted the rumour that the YU7 would be so affordable, saying it will take a price-jump over its SU7 relation.
Chances for an local arrival are low, as demand for the SU7 already exceeds the brand’s construction capacity, and the arrival of the YU7 is only likely to make limitations worse for the brand.
It would enter a particularly tough market segment in this part of the world, which now has no shortage of appealing options, ranging from the Kia EV6 and its Hyundai Ioniq 5 relation, to newcomers like the BYD Sealion 7.
None of these options offer quite the dramatic styling or performance aspirations of the SU7 and YU7 pair, however. A rival on the performance front may instead look like the Denza Z9 GT which is yet to be locked in for local release, despite Denza arriving before the end of 2025 as BYD’s luxury arm.
- Tom White, deputy news editor.
