Xiaomi’s first automotive is actually on its approach, the most recent pictures provide us a glimpse into the winter testing of the EV that the corporate refers to as Modena. The autos within the pictures are trying full and are almost certainly “production intent” items which counsel the 2024 launch date is kind of reasonable.
The pictures come from Interior Mongolia, which provides good circumstances for excessive climate testing – snow and blistering chilly all day and evening lengthy. The corporate is almost certainly trying on the battery efficiency in chilly circumstances and dealing on car dealing with within the snow. We simply talked about how the chilly climate impacts electrical automotive vary.
In keeping with one Chinese language blogger, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun himself has joined the check drivers and is collaborating within the winter testing in Mongolia. It wouldn’t be a a lot of a shock, Jun isn’t solely an enormous automotive fan however the Modena challenge is near his coronary heart and he likes to pay shut consideration to the progress.
Xiaomi determined to increase into automotive markets solely in September 2021. The corporate dedicated almost $1.5 billion to this challenge and regardless of many regulatory delays and improvement points, the challenge appears to be progressing effectively. The official goal for manufacturing begin is the primary half of 2024.
Initially the corporate was utilizing BYD Han vehicles as check mules for its autonomous driving software program evaluation. The primary Xiaomi autos had been noticed solely not too long ago on the roads throughout China and that’s when the codename Modena popped up as effectively.
As it’s the case with most electrical sedans, the Xiaomi Modena has a really aerodynamic form with an extended hood and swooping roofline dropping gently in direction of the again. There are the ever-present retractable door handles and LiDAR sensors on the roof.
In keeping with Chinese language media, the Xiaomi Modena might be accessible in three variations. The 2 entry fashions will use BYD LFP ”blade” batteries, whereas the highest trim will get the most recent CATL Qilin battery pack. Infotainment might be dealt with by the most recent Qualcomm’s 8295 chips which supply 30 TOPS of NPU computing energy.
As for pricing, Xiaomi is being fairly modest with its targets because the automotive is reportedly going to price between $38,350 and $51,650. That’s proper in the course of the EV worth vary in China and it’ll make the Modena an incredible worth providing. Xiaomi is reportedly already engaged on its second car, codenamed Lemans, which is deliberate to go on sale in 2025.
