Xiaomi's new generation SU7 car, draft leaked

Yesterday, Xiaomi Group founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun publicly shared the designer sketches of the new generation SU7 on social media. This sketch first revealed key upgrade details in the vehicle’s exterior design and intelligent sensing hardware, sparking widespread attention and discussion within the industry and among consumers, further fueling market anticipation for this new model.

The sketches clearly showcase the core design changes of the new generation SU7’s front face. The vehicle adopts a brand-new “U” shape grille design, with lines that are more streamlined and smooth compared to the current model. By eliminating redundant decorations, it not only gives the body a stronger sporty feel, aligning with its positioning as a high-performance C-class eco-tech sedan, but also further optimizes the vehicle’s aerodynamics. As a continuation of Xiaomi Auto’s focus on aerodynamic design, this new front face design complements the vehicle’s flowing fastback shape and smooth body curves, embodying the “Design with the Wind” philosophy, laying the foundation for reduced drag and improved range—remember, 40% of an electric vehicle’s daily energy consumption comes from overcoming wind resistance, so excellent aerodynamics is key to enhancing range.

More notably, this new “U” shape grille area cleverly integrates advanced 4D millimeter-wave radar, achieving a perfect blend of aesthetic design and functional practicality. Compared to traditional 3D millimeter-wave radar, the new SU7’s 4D radar adds height perception capabilities, generating dense point clouds to create “imaging” effects. It can accurately distinguish road obstacles from aerial signs, effectively reducing false braking and missed detections. It also features all-weather penetration through rain and fog, long-distance detection, and can maintain over 90% detection capability in harsh weather conditions, compensating for the limitations of cameras and lidar.

In terms of intelligent driving hardware, the new SU7 continues Xiaomi Auto’s core strategy of “full-specification configurations,” providing users with a high-end intelligent driving experience from the start. The vehicle is equipped with one laser radar, one 4D millimeter-wave radar, twelve ultrasonic radars, and eleven cameras—seven surround-view cameras and four 360-degree cameras—forming a multi-dimensional, comprehensive environment sensing matrix. This hardware setup aligns with Xiaomi’s self-developed full-stack intelligent driving technology architecture, supported by high-performance computing chips, enabling precise environment perception, obstacle recognition, and path planning. This solid foundation facilitates the deployment of advanced driver-assistance systems, making driving in complex scenarios like highways and urban areas safer and more confident.

It is reported that the new Xiaomi SU7 was officially launched on March 19 of this year, with deliveries beginning on March 23. To date, over 7,000 units have been delivered, and the order volume has exceeded 40k units, with market enthusiasm continuing to rise. Lei Jun’s public sharing of the designer sketches not only demonstrates Xiaomi Auto’s ongoing refinement in design and technology but also indirectly confirms the confidence behind the upgrades in appearance and intelligent driving of the new SU7, further strengthening its competitiveness in the mid-to-large size new energy sedan market.

Industry analysts believe that the core logic behind the design upgrade of the new SU7 is “aesthetics and practicality in harmony.” The new “U” shape grille optimizes aerodynamics and visual appeal while integrating sensing hardware seamlessly. Meanwhile, the “full-specification” intelligent driving hardware strategy continues Xiaomi Auto’s user-centric product philosophy. With the detailed sketches now revealed, it is expected to further boost market interest in the new vehicle and inject new momentum into Xiaomi Auto’s ongoing efforts to capture a larger share of the new energy vehicle market.