More bad news for Tesla – Xiaomi's new Model Y rival beats it on price and just smashed pre-order records

The YU7 is a smash hit in China, while Tesla sales continue to suffer

· TechRadar

News By Leon Poultney published 27 June 2025

(Image credit: Xiaomi)

  • Xiaomi says it's sold more than 2,000 YU7s within three minutes of launch
  • The electric SUV deliberately undercuts the Model Y
  • Huge demand means the company’s plant capacity is sold out until 2027

Not content with ripping up the performance EV rulebook in the Nurburgring-shattering SU7 Ultra, Chinese technology giant Xiaomi is now entering the popular and hotly-contested SUV market with its YU7.

There are no guesses for which best-seller its latest model is gunning for, seeing as Xiaomi’s Tesla-baiting model betters Musk’s best-selling creation in almost every statistic.

It is faster from 0-62mph, the range is substantially higher than a Model Y (in YU7 Max versions) and it operates on a modern 800V architecture for ultra-rapid charging – all of this and it is roughly $1,400 cheaper than a Base Model Y in China.

Offered in three distinct variants (Standard, Pro and Max), Xiaomi’s YU7 delivers a variety of performance and electric range figures, with the entry-level Standard version offering almost 520 miles on a single charge, according to China’s notoriously generous Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC).

The 800V silicon carbide platform means it supports ultra-fast charging at up to 5.2C (a rate of 5.2 times its capacity in one hour), this allows it to nail a 10–80% charge in as little as 12 minutes and can add up to 385 miles of range in 15 minutes.

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(Image credit: Xiaomi )
(Image credit: Xiaomi )
(Image credit: Xiaomi )
(Image credit: Xiaomi )
(Image credit: Xiaomi )

Performance is strong, too, with the marque’s HyperEngine V6s Plus endowing the YU7 Max model with 690hp, which translates into a top speed of 146mph and a 0-62mph sprint time of just 3.2 seconds.

It is a veritable tech-fest under the shapely, almost Ferrari-esque skin, with Nvidia’s Drive AGX Thor chips powering advanced levels of autonomous driving, as well as the new Xiaomi HyperVision Panoramic Display that projects information onto the lower half of the windshield.

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