Chinese company Xiaomi is known for its unending lists of consumer products and among its newest endeavor is an electric vehicle, yeah, an electric vehicle meant to go up against the likes of Tesla.
The company’s EV debut model is codenamed Modena and it reportedly sits within the same realm as the Tesla Model 3 sedan and will come with a price tag similar to the Chinese EV’s Xpeng P7 sedan.
The firm is said to be considering two different versions of the vehicle, one with a starting price of between RMB 260,000 and RMB 300,000 ($38,000 to $43,600) and the other with a starting price of RMB 350,000 ($51,600).
According to a report, the base model with the most affordable price tag is said to be powered by a standard 400V BYD Li-Ion phosphate battery pack and will be made commercially available to consumers.
The vehicle will also sport a number of sensors to help it navigate safely. The Chinese tech giant entered a partnership deal with Continental, a German company in order to make sensors including cameras and five mmWave radars that will be used on the car.
On the other hand is the high-end model which will reportedly come with a high-voltage 800V architecture and will make use of CATL’s Qilin Battery, which can be charged 0 to 80% within 15 minutes.
The vehicle will also be equipped with an Orin X processor developed by Nvidia as well as LiDAR technology based on algorithms developed by Xiaomi itself.
The report also added that the vehicles will come with a smart interior with its infotainment system powered by Qualcomm 8295 chipset.
Xiaomi’s second production vehicle, codenamed “Le Mans,” is slated for a 2025 debut and will feature three motors with in-house control software. It will be built on the same platform as the first one.
For the record, the Chinese tech giant first announced in 2021 its ambition of entering into the EV market while pledging US$1.5 billion in investment funds into the venture while it projected a future US$10 billion investment into the venture.
The company signed a contract with the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area Management Committee in November 2021 to build a 300,000-unit-per-year facility in Yizhuang, along with a headquarters base for its automotive industry and its sales and R&D headquarters.
However, the car manufacturing plant will be constructed in two phases with an annual production capacity of about 150,000 vehicles per phase even though mass production is expected to commence as soon as the year 2024.