Image Credit: Captain Electro.
Usually, when Xiaomi announces a "GT" or "Pro" version of something, I expect it to slide neatly into my pocket or vacuum my living room floor while scaring the cat. But a while back, the tech giant decided that phones and smart toasters are a bit boring, and started to make electric cars. And this glorious morning, they have unleashed the Xiaomi YU7 GT, a vehicle that drops a grand piano on the toes of its competitors.
We have seen the spy shots floating around the internet, blurry photos of a big masked car looking like it was up to no good. But now the cat is officially out of the bag, and it is a very angry, very large cat. The filings from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology dropped today, and the numbers are plain ridiculous. The new YU7 GT is not a car. It's a challenge written in burning rubber.
Image Credit: Xiaomi.
Under the glorious wide body, this beastie is hiding a dual-motor setup that is properly unhinged. You get a front motor pushing 288 kW and a rear one shoving 450 kW. If my math holds up after a pint, that is a total of 990 horsepower. Nearly 1,000 horsepower in a family SUV. It will do 0 to 62 mph in a time that barely lets you blink, approaching the 2-second mark. I said that before - that is not acceleration. I speak from experience - it feels like teleportation.
Visually, the YU7 GT looks like the regular YU7 went to the gym and ate all the protein powder. It is an all-black affair, ditching the happy, youthful colors of the standard model for the "I am the villain" look. It sits on massive 21-inch wheels wrapped in rubber that is way wider than my ego - 265/40 up front and 295/35 at the back. Not as wide as we find on the Ferrari Purosangue, the YU7 took a lot of inspiration from, but nearly. There's a new bumper, a massive rear diffuser, and red brake calipers that grasp onto what I can only assume are carbon-ceramic discs, because stopping this thing will require an act of Congress.
Image Credit: Xiaomi.
Since we are on the subject of stopping, we need to address the weight. The YU7 GT tips the scales at a portly 5,423 pounds (2,460 kg). That is a lot of heft to be hurling around corners at 186 mph (300 km/h). Physics is a cruel mistress, and she usually wins, but with 990 hp, Xiaomi seems to be trying to bribe her into looking the other way.
It is a big lad, too. It measures 197.4 inches long, 79 inches wide, and stands 62.9 inches tall. The wheelbase is a generous 118.1 inches, which means you could probably host a small dance party in the back seat. It is officially wider and longer than the standard version, mostly thanks to that wide-body kit that makes it look so muscular.
Image Credit: Xiaomi.
Rumor has it this lunacy will cost between $60,000 and $70,000. For a 1,000-horsepower rocket ship? That is suspiciously good value - as long as you don't mind moving to China, of course. I hate to be a party pooper, but Xiaomi's last high-performance experiment, the SU7 Ultra, is selling about as well as sand in a desert. Can they actually shift these units, or will it just be a terrifying halo car that sits in showrooms looking scary? For now, I am just glad it exists. It is daft, heavy, and absurdly powerful. If there ever was a perfect SUV - this is it, and I love it.
Related article:
Is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Already Out of Juice?
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