In this week’s spring product launch, Xiaomi laid plans for its entrance into the EV market. Over the course of the next 10 years, Xiaomi will invest $10 billion into its smart electric car business. For a company that covers a vast array of tech products, from TVs and phones to robot vacuums and electric scooters, the move is not a huge surprise, but the news may have some of the big names worried.
The 2021 new product launch included some great-looking tech products, such as the Mi 11 Ultra smartphone, the Mi Smart Band 6 sports tracker and the Mi Mix Fold – its first foldable smartphone. The announcement to move into the electric vehicle market, however, was probably the most significant.
Xiaomi founder and CEO, Lei Jun, called the EV market a natural choice for the company as a means to expand its artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) ecosystem. “Smart electric vehicles represent one of the largest business opportunities in the next decade and represent an indispensable component of smart living,” said Lei.
- iPhone SE update coming in 2022 and a new look for 2023
- OnePlus Watch: more details on the upcoming wearable
- Pentax K-3 mark III offers an impressive future for DSLR photographers
Lei shows the statement of intent to enter the EV market
The EV subsidiary will be wholly owned by Xiaomi and will be led by Lei Jun himself. The project he describes as “the last entrepreneurship in my life.” Lei admits that Xiaomi is a latecomer to the EV market but has confidence that they can build a great car, asking his fans to be patient. “One day I hope there will be a Xiaomi car on each and every street.”
While there have been reports of Xiaomi using the Great Wall Motor Company’s factory to make the vehicles, there was no mention of this in the press conference and Great Wall has denied discussing a partnership with Xiaomi.
Xiaomi isn’t the only Chinese tech firm looking at the EV market. Search engine giant Baidu announced plans to make EVs back in January using a plant owned by Geely – the parent company of Geely Auto, Proton, Lotus and Volvo.
-
The three best bicep exercises to build 3D arms, according to a personal trainerOn a mission to build bigger arms? These are the bicep exercises you want to be incorporating
-
New sub-£50 fragrance suddenly becomes a mainstay in my collection of luxury and designer bottlesI can't believe it's this cheap
-
A massive EV charging upgrade could be coming from an unlikely sourceThis could make your fossil fuelled car obsolete
-
Phone maker Xiaomi just revealed a hardcore Porsche Taycan rival with 1,500 hpXiaomi SU7 Ultra is a Chinese super-saloon gunning for the Nurburgring EV lap record
-
Lotus Emeya first drive: an electric tour de forceThe Hyper Grand Tourer brings a long-imagined Lotus into an all-electric existence
-
The Alpine A290 is the hot hatch EV we’ve been waiting forIs this warmed-up Renault 5 enough to prove electric cars can be fun?
-
Mercedes-Benz EQA review: a fun and compact SUVMercedes’ smallest electric vehicle is a great city car with bags of range
-
Living with an EV – 5 learnings about chargingAfter running an electric vehicle for six months, here's what I learnt about the charging process
-
BYD Seal review: a tempting Tesla rivalWith a 3.8-second acceleration and a sub-£50k price point, there's lots to love about the BYD Seal
-
Polestar just showed off charging tech even Tesla can't rivalPolestar 5 fitted with StoreDot XFC cells charges 70% in under 10 minutes
