China's Xiaomi releases its first self-developed NEV

BEIJING - Chinese tech firm Xiaomi on Thursday night released its first self-developed new energy vehicle model SU7.

Three versions of the model -- SU7, SU7 Pro and SU7 Max -- will enter the market, with the prices ranging from 215,900 yuan ($30,431) to 299,900 yuan.

Designed with a minimum range of 700 km, the SU7 and SU7 Max will start to be delivered to customers by late April, while the SU7 Pro will be delivered by the end of May.

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said at the launch event that the tech firm has achieved technological breakthroughs in key fields such as modeling design, batteries, intelligent driving and intelligent cockpits.

Xiaomi entered the NEV sector in 2021 and built a factory covering a land area of more than 700,000 square meters in Beijing.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that the production volume and the sales volume of NEVs in China reached 1.25 million units and 1.21 million units in the first two months of this year, up 28.2 percent and 29.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.