It gets even more bizarre

Xiaomi stops after 39 km – irreparable!

(Bild: Stephan Schätzl)

The hype surrounding the Xiaomi SU7, the first car from a cell phone and electrical appliance manufacturer, is huge, the feedback from customers and journalists is mostly positive and the car is sold out until 2025. Some customers may now be starting to doubt their decision, as one car gave up the ghost just 39 kilometers after delivery. For good.

Since the market launch of the four-door electric coupé, there have been a number of reports of problems, but since Tesla, customers of hyped electric cars have tended to suffer. But this incident reported by Car Nees China is truly bizarre: not only did an SU7 stall and shut down after 39 kilometers, it is apparently beyond repair.

After the breakdown, the car was transported back to the delivery center, from there to the factory for analysis (the Xiaomi SU7 is built by BAIC). The owner posted a video of his car on social media. The video shows the car on the hard shoulder with flashing warning lights. Inside, the screen shows the message "The car is about to stop, please stop safely and contact the online service", the message then changed to something like "The drive system is faulty and cannot be shifted". This indicated that there was a fault preventing the car from shifting between forward and reverse gear.

Manufacturer does not issue a replacement car
Xiaomi offered to refund the purchase price as well as an unspecified amount of compensation, as the vehicle is irreparable. However, the new owner insists on getting a new Xiaomi SU7. But he was refused. The reason given: All cars scheduled for production already have fixed owners. This means that the man would have to place another regular order in order to receive his new car sometime in 2025.

According to Car News China, the number of faults in the Xiaomi SU7 is increasing. For example, the emergency brake assistant refused to work above a speed of 135 km/h. An OTA update should fix the problem. There have also been reports of problems with the paintwork and worn seats.

New model planned
According to reports, Xiaomi is already planning a second model. This is said to be a compact SUV - direct competition for Tesla's Model Y.