Emir BardakçıIt recently emerged that Xiaomi had re-coordinated its lap time at Germany’s famous Nürburgring track after canceling the first attempt for the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra due to weather conditions. Indeed, Xiaomi is ready to go head-on with BYD’s U9 also tested aggressively at the Nürburgring.
First Attempt unsuccessful due to Weather
The famous blogger “Keyboard Car God” published a video about his visit to Nürburgring in order to watch the test of BYD’s U9. Bad weather-lousy, foggy, and rainy-on that day. He joked, “God doesn’t bless BYD or Xiaomi!”, as both brands have bad luck when testing. At Xiaomi, on October 9 and 10, it had conservative track time scheduled for its SU7 Ultra; weather conditions were also bad.
As Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, explained in an earlier occasion, track time at this place is hard to come by: frequent rain, average of 123.9 days of precipitation in a year, and very limited availability. There are regular competitions, public open days, and manufacturer test days, so there are less times manufacturers can book laps. But Xiaomi had its slot booked months in advance, it was due to hit the track at the beginning of this year for October 9 and 10, but that was cancelled due to the weather.
Xiaomi’s New Lap Time and Competition with BYD U9
Following the cancellation, Xiaomi quickly re-coordinated a new lap time and sent the fans into a frenzy about the competition between the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and BYD’s U9. Through Weibo, Blogger Wu Pei confirmed that Xiaomi rescheduled and the fans can very soon expect Xiaomi’s SU7 Ultra racing against BYD’s U9 at Nürburgring.
But both seem to have the Nürburgring Nordschleife, a most challenging 20.8-kilometer track featuring more than 70 corners, as their target, and neither is ready to back off on its electric car.
BYD U9’s Nürburgring Strategy
BYD has been refining the performance of the U9 for the Nürburgring. As reported earlier, the team in charge of U9 optimized its handling for the circuit and improved its performance on more than 30 sections of the track, readjusting more than 70 corners. Thus, this reflects how seriously BYD is considering the Nürburgring test, while every move of Xiaomi’s challenge will be closely watched by both fans and industry experts.
What’s Next for Xiaomi and BYD?
When Xiaomi reschedules the test, all eyes will be on the performance of the SU7 Ultra. This high-stakes competition between Xiaomi and BYD is part of a larger trend that indicates Chinese automakers are going all out to make their electric vehicles competitive contenders in the global arena. Both brands are making great investments in technology and testing to push the boundaries of what their EVs can do, especially on the world’s most iconic racetrack. The next lap, in that case, will be at the Nürburgring between the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and BYD’s U9-a battle surely to be electrifying.
