Xiaomi‘s foray into the electrical car market with the SU7 Extremely has generated important buzz, however a current controversy surrounding an elective carbon fibre hood is elevating eyebrows and drawing criticism from early adopters. Regardless of a hefty price ticket of 42,000 yuan (5,800 USD), the hood that includes distinguished vents provides no purposeful aerodynamic profit and serves primarily as a beauty improve.
Throughout a four-hour New Yr’s Eve livestream on New Yr’s Day this 12 months, Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun introduced a broadly applauded determination: including the vented entrance hood as an elective configuration for the SU7 Extremely.
The elective carbon fibre hood was launched to permit clients to make their manufacturing SU7 Extremely look extra just like the prototype used for efficiency testing, together with runs on the Nürburgring. Xiaomi initially said that the hood, made utilizing a posh hot-press tank course of, would cut back the car’s weight by 1.3 kg and have two through-channels designed for environment friendly airflow, mirroring the prototype’s aerodynamic design.
Nevertheless, upon receiving their automobiles, a few of the first clients who opted for the costly hood carried out easy assessments, equivalent to utilizing a blower, and located just about no airflow by the vents. This rapidly led to disappointment and accusations on-line that the vents have been merely ornamental, missing the purposeful function seen in efficiency automobiles from producers like Ferrari or Porsche, the place comparable hood vents contribute to downforce or cooling.
Whereas Xiaomi highlighted the hood’s “cool look” and weight discount, the first justification for the vented design was its aerodynamic perform, which customers are actually questioning. The discrepancy between the marketed aerodynamic advantages and the obvious lack of perform has fueled person frustration, particularly given the numerous price of the choice.
This example underscores new entrants’ challenges within the aggressive automotive market, notably within the high-performance section, the place they have to stability advertising enchantment with purposeful engineering. For now, the 5,800 USD vented hood on the Xiaomi SU7 Extremely seems to be a pricey aesthetic alternative slightly than a performance-enhancing characteristic.
