Xiaomi began delivering its SkyNomad extended-range SUVs on Saturday, five days after launching them, handing over the first cars to customers in 75 Chinese cities who locked in orders at the September 7 event.
Founder and CEO Lei Jun attended the first handover in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. A day later, he repeated it in Shanghai, delivering about 30 SkyNomad vehicles to customers.
Lei chose Xuzhou for a reason, as the city was known in antiquity as ‘Pengcheng’, a homophone for the range’s Chinese name.
Xiaomi quoted wait times of one to five weeks for cars already built or close to completion, and ready stock of the N90 Max is reported to have sold out.
The new series took more than 10,000 locked orders within four minutes of going on sale. A locked order commits the buyer to a configuration and is a firmer measure of demand than a refundable deposit.
SkyNomad is Xiaomi’s second vehicle line and its first extended-range product, after the battery-electric SU7, SU7 Ultra, YU7 and YU7 GT. The company said at the launch that it has now completed both platforms.
Cumulative deliveries passed 800,000 on September 7, in 29 months.
The N70
The N70 is a five-seat SUV measuring 4,960mm long and 1,998mm wide, on a 2,950mm wheelbase. It is built on Xiaomi’s ‘Kunlun’ architecture and comes as the single-motor Pro and the dual-motor Max.
A 1.5-litre turbocharged engine works as a generator. Xiaomi pairs it with a 52kWh battery on the Pro and a 76kWh pack on the Max. The Pro’s motor produces 210kW.
The Max produces 310kW, reaches 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds and tops out at 190 km/h, on double wishbones at the front and an H-arm multi-link rear, and is rated at 505km of electric range on the CLTC cycle.
The Pro has front-row massage seats and powered second-row seats that recline to 135 degrees. Xiaomi has said the front seats rotate 180 degrees on extended rails, and that the second row slides to give either 1,410mm of legroom or 2,425 litres of boot space.
The N90
The N90 measures 5,285mm long, 1,998mm wide and 1,825mm high, on a 3,080mm wheelbase. The Max seats seven in a 2+2+3 layout and is aimed at business users and large families. The Explorer Edition seats five and is pitched at creative workers and campers.
The Max carries a 76kWh pack and is rated at 464km of electric range and 1,705km combined on the CLTC cycle, with fuel consumption of 6.26 litres per 100km on the WLTC cycle once the battery is depleted.
The Max has 16-point massage in the first two rows as standard, powered seat rotation controlled by Xiaomi’s voice assistant, a 21.4-inch rear screen and a centre island holding a 9-litre compressor fridge that slides back to serve the second row.
Pricing
The N70 Pro starts at 209,900 yuan ($31,300). The N70 Max is 239,900 yuan ($35,800), the N90 Max 269,900 yuan ($40,200) and the N90 Max Explorer Edition 299,900 yuan ($44,700).
Two of those came in below Xiaomi’s own pre-sale prices of July 30. The N70 Max was pre-sold at 259,900 yuan and launched 20,000 yuan ($3,000) lower. The N90 Max was pre-sold at 299,900 and launched 30,000 yuan ($4,500) lower.
Xiaomi reused the 299,900 price for the Explorer Edition, which did not exist at pre-sale.
The range enters the most crowded segment of the Chinese market, where rivals that also produce hybrid vehicles, including Li Auto and AITO, have made fridges, rear screens and reclining seats standard equipment between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan.
