Xiaomi YU7: 240,000 orders in 18 hours for the electric SUV that shakes the market

A danger, yes, especially for giants like Tesla, and the numbers prove it: 240,000 orders blocked in the first 18 hours since the launch of the Xiaomi YU7, the first high-performance luxury SUV from the Chinese company, with buyers ready to pay substantial deposits. It's not just enthusiasm. It's a declaration of war. And if the premises are maintained, we are facing an epochal turning point in the premium segment of electric cars.

Xiaomi didn't just launch a car. It built a manifesto: refined design, mind-blowing technical solutions, luxury and comfort designed for everyday use, but with the aim of rewriting the rules. The entry price of 253,500 RMB - about 32,000 euros - for the Standard version, up to 329,900 RMB for the Max, sets its sights on a segment that until now seemed to be protected by Tesla, NIO and BMW iX. But apparently, the house of cards could collapse. And quickly.

The heart of the “Xiaomi danger” is not only in the technical sheet – impressive in itself – but in the way it manages to make the imaginary of the electric dialogue with the most concrete desires of the modern motorist: extreme power, real autonomy, futuristic but familiar cockpit. The Max version goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.23 seconds and promises a range of up to 835 km (CLTC), absolute reference numbers for an electric SUV under 800,000 RMB. And with an ultra-fast charge from 10 to 80% in 12 minutes, waiting times seem to be a thing of the past.

There is another fact that is shaking the industry: Xiaomi is not a startup. It is a 15-year-old giant, with billions of active users in its digital ecosystems, smart devices sold all over the world, a culture of radical innovation and a fan base already educated to the idea that "if Xiaomi does it, it will be accessible and advanced". This is why, today, the arrival of the YU7 is not just a market test: it is an earthquake announced.

On the design front, the SUV signed by Xiaomi raises the bar with sculpted proportions, muscular bodywork and a color palette that ranges from sophisticated pearl white to magnetic emerald green. Each color choice is not random, but part of an aesthetic that wants to dialogue with the identity of the urban, technological driver, but with refined tastes. Inside, the experience is enveloping and refined: Nappa leather seats, 25-speaker Dolby Atmos audio system, spacious and modular environments, with rear seats that transform into a 1.8-meter bed and 1,758 liters of total cargo.

But the real masterstroke is the “Human x Car x Home” ecosystem. Xiaomi didn’t settle for just putting a connection in the car: it brought the car into its connected world. The HyperOS operating system allows for full integration with smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smart TVs, and even smart refrigerators. And for Apple users, there are no limitations: compatibility with Apple CarPlay, Apple Music, Apple Watch, and remote control from iPhone. It’s the automotive equivalent of what Apple has done in the tech world: creating a bubble in which every device communicates perfectly with the other.

Assisted driving? Xiaomi didn't start from scratch. It invested billions in research, and equipped the YU7 with a platform based on the 700 TOPS NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™ chip, completed by LiDAR, 4D radar, 11 HD cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors. Not only that: the system is already trained on 10 million real driving clips, reducing the uncertainties typical of the first ADAS generations. And the interfaces are brought to life by two virtual animals that interact with passengers and voice commands: an ironic touch, from a brand that knows how to speak to hearts even before wallets.

In the meantime, Tesla is watching. But it can’t afford to sit back and watch. The rumors of an impending price cut are not coincidental. The arrival of the YU7 – and the enthusiastic response from the market – are upsetting the balance of power. Because Xiaomi hasn’t just built a powerful SUV: it has built a holistic experience, from hardware to artificial intelligence, through subscription services, a personal cloud, top-level security, and a voice assistant system that knows every nuance of the user.

Of course, time will tell. The first deliveries will begin in China in the coming months, and we will have to see how the model will respond to the test of the road, maintenance, after-sales assistance. But for now, the feeling is clear: with the YU7, Xiaomi has hit the mark. And it has done so with surgical precision, with a machine that combines the strength of hi-tech with the concreteness of automotive common sense.

It's not just a new car. It's a new idea of ​​mobility. And judging by how it started, Xiaomi's story with the electric car is only in its first chapter. Tesla has been warned.