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Payne: Chinese EV smashes Porsche Taycan Nürburgring record
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 1, 2024
It’s been a tough week for the German auto industry — and it just got gloomier.
Volkswagen AG threatened three plant closures in Germany (and a fourth in Belgium) as the automaker groans under high costs and the country’s green energy and automotive transition. The plant closings in its home country would be the first in the company’s 87-year history. That shocker was followed by Chinese EV automaker Xiaomi, recently praised by Ford CEO Jim Farley, breaking German performance icon Porsche’s electric vehicle lap record at Germany’s legendary Nürburgring racetrack.
The Nürburgring is the world’s most challenging track and a performance benchmark that Porsche has long dominated. A Porsche holds the outright lap record (919 Hybrid Evo race car), the gas-fired lap record for a series production car (911 GT2 RS), and now . . . well, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra sportscar holds the (unofficial) EV record, smashing the Porsche Taycan’s mark. As Germany forces automakers to ditch petrol-fired cars by 2035, the record is another sign that the Chinese see EV mandates as their market opening.
The Porsche Taycan still officially holds the EV lap record at 7:07.55 minutes, but the staggering, 6:46.87-minute lap on a partially-damp track thrown down by a prototype version of the 1,548-horsepower Xiaomi SU7 Ultra was an intentional shot across the bow of one of Europe’s most revered performance brands. On the 13-mile track, the Ultra hit speeds as high as 200 mph. A $213,995 Turbo GT version of the Taycan earlier this year eclipsed the 1,020-horse Tesla Model Plaid record of 7:35.58 minutes.
When the SU7 Ultra — a performance version of the standard SU7 EV — goes into production in March next year, it is expected to return for the official record.
Xiaomi, owned by one of China’s largest smartphone makers, dropped the lap-time news the same week it opened pre-sales of the SU7 Ultra at the price of $114,200. The EV is aimed squarely at the six-figure Taycan, Porsche’s first electric four-door sedan, which went on sale in 2020.
It even looks like a Taycan with similar, racy, coupe-style roof and body style — save the headlights that echo a McLaren 720 supercar. It’s familiar, knock-off Chinese styling as brands try to mimic design in the western markets they are entering.
Styling aside, analysts are impressed with how fast the Chinese have progressed in EV manufacturing.
“The Chinese are on-par with — and in some cases out-engineering — European and U.S. EV makers. Save design, the Chinese are comparable in performance, features and time to market,” said auto analyst and investor Anton Wahlman, who points to the strides Chinese companies have made since the $100,000 Qiantu K50 electric supercar was teased at the New York Auto Show in 2019. Qiantu didn’t follow through in international markets, though U.S. distributor Mullen Automotive last year rebadged it the Mullen GT for sale here.
Those impressed with China’s progress include Ford’s Farley, who has been test driving a standard $30,000 Xiaomi SU7 sedan.
“We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up,” Farley, a licensed race driver, recently told “The Fully Charged Podcast” host Robert Llewellyn. Like models from other Chinese brands, a Xiaomi would face a 100% tariff were it imported into the United States.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley told Llewellyn. “Everyone’s talking about the Apple car, but the Xiaomi car (is) fantastic. They’re selling 10,000 or 20,000 of them a month; they’re sold out for six months. That is an industry juggernaut, and a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies.”
The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra received 3,680 pre-orders 10 minutes after pre-sales began, as the company looks to build on China’s EV European gains. Chinese brands have made inroads in the nascent European EV market with 11% market share, though EVs’ market share slumped to 18% this summer after rising over 20% in late 2023.
Chinese automakers account for only about 3% of new car sales in Germany, but 8% of the market for battery-electric vehicles. Chinese brands selling in Germany include BYD, MG and NIO. Like California, the United States’ largest auto market, the EU plans to eliminate the sale of internal combustion vehicles by 2035.
“The Chinese have gotten lucky with Europe’s forced transition to EVs,” said analyst Wahlman who splits his time between the United States and Europe. “They are entering the auto market with new technology at the same time that legacy automakers are also just starting with electric models. So everyone is starting from Square One.”
The SU7 electric sedan went on sale in China in March, offering three variants — Standard, Pro and Max — with the Ultra unveiled in July as a halo model. The car was on display at last summer’s Paris Olympics, but it will likely be two or three years before Xiaomi exports to Europe.
The SU7 Ultra is built on an 800-volt platform and derives its power from three electric motors for a combined output of 1,548 ponies. Xiamo claims the Ultra can rocket from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in just under two seconds, with a top speed of 217 mph.
Like its goal to be a Top 5 global automaker as governments mandate non-ICE vehicles, Xiaomi has work to do. The Nürburgring Ultra tester was a stripped-down prototype featuring a racing steering wheel and elementary dash. At the 4:10 minute mark, the accelerator pedal failed, and the driver had to jab it several times before it awoke.
Wahlman said the track lap should wake up a few auto executives. “The Chinese aren’t gaining European share on cheap prices as much as they are offering content-rich vehicles like a BYD ATTO 3 versus a Volkswagen ID.3,” said the analyst. “It’s shocking how fast the Chinese have moved up the learning curve.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.