Business Insider: Xiaomi's affordable $29,000 Chinese EV
Business Insider's video is the most succinct pitch in any of the eight reviews: a phone-and-appliance company built an affordable, self-driving electric car that completely sold out the year it launched. The 5-minute walkthrough doesn't try to drive the car or score it — it tries to explain to a US business audience why this matters.
Watch original ↗- →Frames Xiaomi as "sometimes called the Apple of China — a phone and appliance company that built an affordable self-driving EV".
- →Notes the entire 2024 production run sold out within days of release.
- →Walkthrough of the car: key-based start, phone-charging spot, a 16.1-inch central screen "larger than many TV screens", and three trims (standard / pro / max).
- →Closing verdict: "maybe a bit derivative but isn't a copy. Very good value for money in the China context. Will it make it globally? Time will tell."
Opening framing: Xiaomi is "sometimes called the Apple of China." The video establishes the unusual combination — a cell phone and appliance company that built an affordable self-driving car. This is the framing for an audience that doesn't know who Xiaomi is.
Sales context. The 2024 production run sold out within days of release. The video uses this as the actual pitch — not the car's spec sheet, but the demand signal. "Sold out" lands harder for a US business audience than "power output."
Tech walk-through. The 16.1-inch central screen "larger than many TV screens," the phone-charging spot in the dash, key-card-based entry, three trims (standard / pro / max). The screen size does most of the work in convincing a tech-shopper audience.
The self-driving angle, framed for a US viewer. LiDAR, compute, what the car does today versus what it's expected to do via software updates. The video doesn't claim US-equivalent autonomy — it acknowledges the regulatory mismatch up front.
Cost framing. The ~$29K Chinese MSRP. What this would mean for a US buyer (it wouldn't reach the US in any usable form due to tariffs). The video stops short of the import-grey-market discussion.
Closing verdict: "maybe a bit derivative but isn't a copy. Very good value for money in the China context. Will it make it globally? Time will tell." A US business audience gets a calibrated, non-hyped takeaway.
“Xiaomi is a cell phone and appliance company.”
“Sometimes called the Apple of China.”
“The entire 2024 production run sold out within days.”
“Maybe a bit derivative but isn't a copy. Time will tell.”
The $29K Chinese price, the 16.1-inch screen, and the standard / Pro / Max trim split that BI walks through all live on /price and /specs with confidence labels on /sources. The self-driving / LiDAR coverage is on /lidar; the company-as-Apple-of-China framing context is on /about (where we make our independence from Xiaomi explicit).
Different reviewers reach different conclusions on the same car. Here are the seven other videos we've watched and summarised — including at least one critical view if you want to balance the picture.
Carwow (Mat Watson)
Mat Watson reviews the SU7 Ultra: "My favourite car from China so far"
MKBHD (Marques Brownlee)
MKBHD: "Are we cooked? Not yet"
Doug DeMuro
Doug DeMuro: "A bargain Chinese luxury sport sedan" — Doug Score 69/100
Inside China Auto
Inside China Auto first-look at the updated SU7
Everything Electric (Elliot Richards)
Everything Electric (Elliot Richards): "Puts a fizz in your pants"
Out of Spec Reviews
Out of Spec: "Best driving Chinese car I've ever been in"
The Electric Viking