CEO Lei Jun had previously dampened hopes of an especially affordable Xiaomi EV. According to him, an electric car costing less than 100,000 yuan, equivalent to around €12,500, should not be expected over the next 10 years. According to Lei Jun, the main reason is the high development costs. Xiaomi wants to equip its electric cars with a high degree of intelligence and automation.

This technology cannot be economically implemented in an EV in this price range, he said. Xiaomi is therefore pursuing a significantly different strategy from automakers that are trying to gain market share with the cheapest possible electric cars. At the same time, the success of the Chinese SU7 series shows that Xiaomi can apparently generate enormous demand even without such a budget EV.

Just how aggressively Xiaomi is now targeting the Chinese automotive market was demonstrated recently at the major SkyNomad Technology Launch Event. There, the technology giant presented the new EREV SUVs, the SkyNomad N70 Max and N90 Max. The technical specifications in particular make it clear where Xiaomi sees its opportunities: The range-extender vehicles are designed to offer a range of up to 1,705 kilometers.

They also feature a convertible living-room-style interior and prices starting at 259,900 yuan, equivalent to around €33,000. Xiaomi is therefore not positioning its new electrified SUV models as budget cars, but rather as technologically advanced EVs with an aggressive price point for the Chinese market.