1,548HP Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Shreds Tires and Expectations in Qionghai Drift, Gymkhana Style

A sleek electric beast tears out of a hotel driveway, tires squealing, smoke billowing, as it rips through the streets of Qionghai, a coastal city on China’s Hainan Island. This is no ordinary sedan. It’s the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, a 1,548 horsepower electric vehicle from a company best known for smartphones than speed machines.

Xiaomi, a Beijing-based electronics giant, didn’t just dip its toes into the automotive world – it dove in headfirst. The SU7 Ultra, launched in February 2025 for around $73,000, is a four-door sedan that defies its practical shape with mind-boggling specs. Powered by three electric motors – two at the rear, one up front – it delivers 1,548 horsepower, enough to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 1.98 seconds. Top speed? 217 mph. The car’s 93.7 kWh CATL Qilin 2.0 battery gives a 385-mile range on China’s CLTC cycle, though real-world highway driving will likely trim that to around 230 miles. Carbon fiber panels, a 24K gold “Mi” badge and an active rear wing say premium, while the interior has a 16.1-inch 3K touchscreen running Xiaomi’s HyperOS, syncing seamlessly with phones, tablets and even smart home devices.

Handling matches the power. A track-optimized cooling system keeps the motors and brakes from overheating, even during brutal laps. Carbon-ceramic brakes, capable of withstanding 1,300°C, stop the car from 100 km/h in 30.8 meters. The suspension is tuned for precision, so drivers can push hard through corners. On tracks like Shanghai International Circuit, where it set a production car record of 2:09.944, and the Nürburgring, where a prototype lapped in 6:46.87, the SU7 Ultra has already proven itself.

The performance starts with the SU7 Ultra launching out of the Holiday Inn Resort Qionghai Guantang, its electric whine piercing the tropical air. Driver Ye Zhicheng, a Formula Drift veteran with a taste for the dramatic, drives the car through a pre-set course that looks like a Hollywood movie. From 40 seconds in, the sedan slides around corners, weaves through obstacles and even drifts past two Lincoln limousines in a move that’s both crazy and precise.

Ye Zhicheng has piloted a modified Nissan Cefiro in Formula Drift and he can most certainly push the car to the limit while still being super precise. Sliding between moving limos or “licking” walls with the bumper, Ye makes the SU7 Ultra look like it was born for this. Comments on the video say Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, posted it on social media so it’s definitely a flex for the brand.
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