If the name ‘Xiaomi’ doesn’t ring any bells, you’re not alone. However, in China, they are an engineering giant and a household name, manufacturing everything from smartphones to household appliances. Often touted as the Apple of Asia, the company, like so many others, decided to enter the fiercely competitive car space and compete in the world’s largest automotive market, China. But unlike so many other startups that have failed (there were more than 600 automotive startups in China at one point), Xiaomi has recently been making waves not just domestically, but on the international stage.
Its very first product, the all-electric four-door SU7 sport sedan, was announced back in December 2023. While many called it a Taycan knock-off, when you look at the performance numbers and the price point at which it is being offered, it becomes hard to ignore, and as a result, it now outsells the Tesla Model 3 in China. Ford CEO Jim Farley famously has a Xiaomi SU7. Now that you have some context, let’s get back to why the brand now has the automotive world’s attention.
Meet the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype, the all-electric sedan that just got around the Nürburgring in 6:22.091 minutes, setting a new prototype lap record. This makes it the fourth fastest car to ever lap the Nordschleife, with only the 919 Hybrid Evo (5:19.546), the Volkswagen ID.R (6:05.336), and the 1983 Porsche 956K (6:11.13), being quicker around the 12.92-mile (20.8 kilometer) circuit. Now, this isn’t the first time that Xiaomi has attempted a record. Back in 2024, a stripped-down pre-production SU7 Ultra prototype recorded an unofficial time of 6:46.87; quick, but controversial. This time, they’re back under official conditions and have managed to slash nearly 24 seconds off that run.
Also, if you keep tabs on production car lap records at the ring at all, the SU7’s time is quicker than the $2.7 million Mercedes-AMG One’s record time of 6:29.029. So while the Mercedes hypercar is street-legal, and the SU7 Ultra-prototype isn’t, the Chinese EV still shares much of its architecture with the production car. But with a time of 7:04.957, as of June 11, 2025, the standard road-going SU7 is officially the fastest production EV around the ‘Ring, beating the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s 7:07.55.
As for performance, the all-carbon Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype is powered by a tri-motor drivetrain that draws power from a 93.7 kWh battery pack for a combined 1,548 horsepower and 1,405 pound-feet of torque. 0-62 mph comes up in 1.97 seconds, and the top speed is rated at 217 mph. Tipping the scales at 4,188 pounds, the SU7 Ultra Prototype is capable of producing 4,728 pounds of downforce at speed.
To celebrate this achievement, Xiaomi will offer 100 examples of a Nürburgring Limited Edition SU7 Ultra, costing 814,900 yuan (~$114,000). Now that is a bargain and a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay for a typical record-breaking hypercar. Sure, Xiaomi and other automakers like Nio or Denza, from China may not have the pedigree of most legacy automakers, but what they’ve managed to achieve in such a short span of time is commendable.
Source: Xiaomi, Nürburgring
