China’s tech giant Xiaomi completed this week a two-day test drive of its first model, the SU7 sedan, in Germany.
The company registered its first vehicle there a few months ago — a SU7 Ultra unit —, and is preparing for a planned European launch in 2027.
The company’s President (William) Lu Weibing shared a Weibo post this Friday, in which he said he was part of the test.
“Finished a two-day test drive of the Xiaomi SU7 in Germany, covering nearly 800 km [497 miles] from Berlin to Hamburg and Hamburg to Frankfurt,” Lu wrote.
The SU7 model, which debuted a year and a half ago in China, has a CLTC range of up to 830 km (516 miles).
Lu’s post indicates that the test drive was likely not completed on a single charge, as he mentioned that they’ve used the German charging infrastructure — despite not clarifying when the stops were made.
“I also tried out Germany’s charging infrastructure, which is overall very well developed,” the executive said, adding that “he often ran into people coming over to check out the Xiaomi SU7, and some could even call out the model name right away.”
SU7 Speed
Lu Weibing also wrote that it was his “first time driving on the German Autobahn,” a controlled-access highway system spanning over 13,000 km (8,200 miles) known for its unrestricted speed zones.
“I reached a top speed of 260 km/h [161 mph] and the SU7 was still incredibly stable,” he wrote.
In June, Xiaomi‘s high performance SU7 Ultra set a new record for the fastest car in the world, completing a lap around the Nürburgring circuit in just 7 minutes and 4.957 seconds.
Since then, the model has been overtaken by BYD’s luxury Yangwang U9X, which beat the racetrack record by about five seconds with a time of 6 minutes, 59.157 seconds.
Germany as China’s EV Base
Xiaomi recently launched its R&D center in Munich, six months after the site was first reported.
The brand has hired several industry veterans, such as former BMW designer Kai Langer, to lead the center.
In the past few years, several electric vehicle makers from China have opted to establish research hubs in Europe’s largest auto market.
Shanghai-based Nio established its design headquarters just outside the Bavarian city in June 2015, and currently has two R&D centers in Germany — in Munich and Berlin.
Beijing-based Li Auto announced in January that it would be establishing its European hub in Munich as well, ahead of its overseas expansion, which started just last month.
XPeng also launched its R&D center in Munich two months ago, at the time of the IAA Auto Show.
By then, it was also revealed that the Guangzhou-based automaker has started local production, aiming to avoid EU tariffs on imported Chinese EVs. The company partnered with Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria.
