You’ve seen the Xiaomi SU7, a compelling (and very popular) rival to the Porsche Taycan introduced in China late last year. But where does the automotive ambitions of China’s premier smartphone maker end? Evidently very far away, because it has showcased a new high-performance version of its electric sedan, the SU7 Ultra Prototype.
Borrowing a moniker from Xiaomi’s highest-end phones (and looking all the world like a four-door McLaren 720S GT3), the Ultra laughs in the face of the Taycan Turbo GT. Whereas Zuffenhausen’s top-dog sports EV is highly-tuned but remains road-legal, this car’s sole domicile is at the track. This has allowed the company to add a level of performance and aerodynamic addenda you simply can’t get on the street.
Let’s start with the mechanicals. Like the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire, the Ultra boasts a triple-motor powertrain, including the first use of Xiaomi’s V8s motor. Two of these are mounted at the rear, each one making 578 PS (425 kW) and 635 Nm of torque all on its own.
This is paired with a V6s motor from the regular SU7 Max at the front, and the end result is profound – a whopping 1,548 PS (1,139 kW) sent to all four wheels. Equipped with Pirelli P Zero racing slicks, the Ultra is able to sprint from zero to 100 km/h in just 1.97 seconds and to 200 km/h in 5.96 seconds. Top speed is quoted at over 350 km/h.
Providing juice is a 897-volt battery (no specified capacity as yet) claimed to be designed specifically for racing. This is CATL’s first Qilin II battery, touted to offer “ultra-low” internal resistance in the cells and be capable of discharging 1,330 kW (1,808 PS) at peak power; even at just 20% charge, it can still deliver over 800 kW (1,088 PS).
To haul it back from silly speeds, the Ultra features six-piston AP Racing brakes, coupled with upgraded regenerative braking that can recuperate over 400 kW and generate up to 0.6 g in deceleration by itself. That’s just as well, because even with full carbon fibre bodywork and a completely stripped-out interior – a crash diet that has trimmed over 500 kg from the road-going SU7 – the Ultra still weighs a hefty 1,900 kg.
Incredibly, the race car-spec aerodynamics is able to generate enough downforce to counteract all that weight. Thanks to the enormous front splitter, a front diffuser, cavernous open front and rear wheel wells, a towering rear wing and a massive rear diffuser, the Ultra produces 2,145 kg of the stuff at 350 km/h.
Xiaomi plans to take the Ultra Prototype to the Nürburgring Nordschleife in October to try and wrest the production four-door lap record (currently 7 minutes 7.55 seconds) from the Taycan Turbo GT. More importantly, the triple motor powertrain and associated battery are set to appear in a production SU7, also expected to be called Ultra, sometime next year.
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