On July 15, some media sources said that Xiaomi's car manufacturing is about to usher in a major node - at a public event in August, Lei Jun will appear with Xiaomi's engineering prototype car, and then this car will start a series of tests. . According to the plan, Xiaomi's first model is expected to be officially mass-produced in the first half of 2024.

So, are people looking for a 1999 yuan Xiaomi car coming?

｜Xiaomi benchmarks Tesla Model 3

According to information previously announced by Xiaomi, Xiaomi's first car will be mass-produced in 2024, and launching an engineering prototype and starting testing is undoubtedly one of the necessary conditions for mass production. This is also the first time the outside world can see Xiaomi's first mass-produced model since Xiaomi announced the car.

Xiaomi's first model is a sedan, which is mainly positioned as a mid-to-high-end model, directly targeting the Tesla Model 3.

It is reported that Xiaomi cars will be divided into two models: youth version and ordinary version. The price of the youth version is about 60,000 yuan, and the price of the ordinary version is between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan. The main selling point is cost performance.

In addition, Xiaomi car is equipped with Xiaoai classmates and adopts quasi-L4 intelligent driving. In terms of AloT, it will be interconnected with the orthodox smart home to build a "third space" RV. In addition, the machine will use a three-electric solution of 800 volts + silicon carbide + 80kWh batteries, with a battery life of 750km-900km.

Xiaomi has published several patents related to autonomous driving including "image processing method and device, vehicle, readable storage medium", "road positioning method, device, equipment, vehicle and storage medium".

In terms of vehicle cruise, Xiaomi has also disclosed patents such as "method and device for realizing constant speed cruise" and "control method for vehicle constant speed cruise".

｜Cost-effectiveness within 100,000?

On April 7 last year, Xiaomi CEO launched a vote on Weibo about the type and price of Mi Fan's expectation of Xiaomi's first car. In terms of type, SUV and sedan got the most votes, and in terms of price, those below 100,000 won the most votes, and the higher the price. option, the lower the number of votes, the distribution is very even.

In terms of domestic consumption levels, low-priced cars are definitely more popular. Even in the new energy vehicle market, the three new car-making forces, Weilai, Ideal, and Xiaopeng, have been operating for many years, and only achieved monthly sales of more than 10,000, but Nezha Auto has caught up with the price advantage at an alarming rate. Although Xiaomi is in the mobile phone The industry is well-known and has accumulated a lot of popularity, but just entering the automotive industry, it is difficult for the products launched by consumers to gain the full trust of consumers. If the price is too high, sales may be hindered.

The reason why many Mi Fans are looking forward to Xiaomi Auto is that Xiaomi can bring the concept of cost-effectiveness to the automotive industry and decentralize the high-end configuration and technology of the automotive industry. However, the auto and mobile phone industries are different after all, and the profits of car companies are usually very low.

Therefore, Xiaolei believes that Xiaomi will take the cost-effective route, but we should not expect it to be much lower than the products of other car companies. Domestic car companies are very popular. Chery, Wuling and other car companies are famous for their cost-effectiveness. Their profit margins are already very small, and the operational space left for Xiaomi is even smaller.

｜Can Xiaomi Auto respond to fans’ expectations?

Making a car is a difficult challenge for Lei Jun and Xiaomi Group. The domestic first-tier mobile phone company Huami OVH, including second-tier mobile phone companies such as Meizu, all announced their entry into the automotive field except for Honor, but we can see that other mobile phone companies choose to be software and hardware providers instead of complete vehicles. Xiaomi is the only one A mobile phone company that makes its own vehicles.

In the entire mobile phone industry, only Apple chooses to be the same as Xiaomi, and does not want to be only a supply chain company, but to build a complete vehicle by itself. At the same time, car companies have also reported news about making mobile phones, such as Tesla and Weilai. Geely recently acquired 79.09% of Meizu shares. The two companies have reached cooperation, which shows that car companies and mobile phone companies have crossed lines or cooperated. imminent.

Judging from the current situation, the competition in the field of new energy vehicles is particularly fierce, and Xiaomi does not have any obvious advantages. Especially when other car companies have launched mass-produced models and started to deliver them, Xiaomi is already a little late.

When other car companies gain a firm foothold in the new energy market, it will be even more difficult for Xiaomi to gain consumer recognition. Therefore, Xiaomi must launch a mass-produced model as soon as possible. According to the current progress, Xiaomi cars have been tested on the road and are testing lidars. It is estimated that there are still two or three years before the mass production of products. By 2025 at the latest, we will likely see the release of Xiaomi's first mass-produced model.