Ford CEO Jim Farley pronounce in arecent podcast interviewthat he ’s been driving an electric fomite made by Chinese consumer computer hardware company Xiaomi and “ does n’t want to give it up . ” The simulation , the Xiaomi SU7 , looks similar to a Porsche Panamera sedan and starts at about $ 30,300 with a top - of - the - line variant going for about $ 42,100 .
“ This Xiaomi car … is fantastic . They betray ten thousand , twenty thousand a month , ” Farley said . “ I do n’t like talking about the competition much , but we fly [ an SU7 ] from Shanghai to Chicago and I ’ve been driving it for six months now , and I do n’t need to give it up . ”
Farley did n’t remark which version of the SU7 he import , but it ’s normal for automakers to test out their competition ’ vehicles to better understand what they ’re up against . Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently say he learned his company ’s electric pickupswere being pull down by automakers in China .
Ford CEO Jim Farley says he’s been driving a Xiaomi SU7 and doesn’t want to give it up.Wang Zhao / Getty
Xiaomi is best love for making smartphones and was once name to as the “ Apple of China ” for its rapid rise in the market place there . It drop behind Huawei today but still stay a major player in the Taiwanese smartphone market . It also sell a range of other electronics let in TVs and sassy loudspeaker system which can all function interoperably within the Xiaomi ecosystem .
It may seem left at first that a French telephone Jehovah would enter the electric railcar market , but it ’s not that unusual when you regard that BYD , one of the biggest EV maker in China , catch its start making battery for electronics from the likes of Motorola . Electric railway car are basically smartphones on wheel — the toughest challenge to overcome for automakers has been battery chemistry and pricing . in reality slapping together cars is sort of a mesa stakes function now , and there be whitelabel - esque manufacturers that do it on declaration for numerous car brands . Foxconn , which manufacturers devices include the iPhone , has been working on inscribe the cable car market .
The SU7 is in full integrated with Xiaomi ’s other product , so you’re able to remotely control home appliances from the fomite , for instance . Up front it has a 16.1 - inch infotainment filmdom with smartphone mirror and Xiaomi Pilot , its software for aided driving . The car can go from 0 to 62 mph in 2.7 seconds , gravel the Tesla Model 3 ’s meter of 3.1 seconds . Xiaomi says the received model gets 435 miles on a charge , though that number might not be honest .
Taiwanese troupe have been able to fulfil what Ford and Tesla have not — produce cheap electric cars that in reality make money — thanks in part to the Chinese Communist Party ’s EV - favorable policies , access to peeled materials for batteries , and the sheer scale of its domestic railcar grocery store . The goal seems to be to unseat the U.S. as a dominant global player in the future of automotive and acquire China ’s sonant big businessman abroad . BYD , which at one point in 2023 catch Tesla as the big galvanic car God Almighty in the human beings , has been centre on growing in developing markets , flooding them with low-cost eV andopening factoriesin places like Brazil .
lamentably , because of geopolitical issues , the U.S. market place is all but close to Chinese automakers right now , and neither party seems to have an appetite to change that . Back in September , the Biden giving medication implemented a 100 % tariff on Chinese electric vehicle sold in the U.S. , even though no automaker from China sells vehicles here .
Even still , one of the cheapest Chinese eV , the BYD Seagull EV , starts at just $ 9,700 — so factorisation in the duty , $ 20,000 for an electric car with an estimate range of 190 miles is not bad at all . They ’re sell in Mexico as theBYD Dolphin Mini , so you could drive down south and seize one , though they ’re price closer to $ 20,000 USD there — still a good great deal .
Ford has been struggle alongside the rest of the U.S. legacy automaker to get its EV line of work off the ground . gross revenue of EVs have n’t correct , but growth has slowed and the legacy companies have been quick to pare back their ambitions as they slowly grind towards profitability . Ford recentlycanceled a three - wrangle electric automobile SUVand delayed an electrical pickup truck motortruck until 2027 . The party reported a $ 1.3 billion passing in its Model e EV partition in the first quarter of 2024 and a $ 1.1 billion expiration in the second .
Tesla is the only troupe that has been able to reach profitability in EVs stateside , but CEO Elon Musk say on an net income call this week that the company wo n’t be releasing a $ 25,000 car as many hoped . The company ’s sales event will be roughly compressed in 2024 , a far cry from the50 % year - on - year growththat Musk predicted not that long ago . The company still sells far fewer vehicles than companies like Toyota .
Ultimately , building electric fomite requires significant investment upfront and eld of forbearance to see a return . There ’s a moment of a Gallus gallus and testicle problem — selling a lot of EVs affordability postulate important scale to drive down monetary value , but selling a mickle of EVs require the cars to be , you know , affordable for enough mass . Trump has said that if he becomes United States President again , he will cut taxation credits and other bonus supporting the EV industry . Do n’t expect cheap Chinese EVs like the Xiaomi SU7 in the U.S. anytime presently .
Electric carsFordTESLA
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