I Test Drove a Chinese EV. Now I Don't Want to Buy American Cars Anymore. — WSJ

By Joanna Stern | Photography by Matt Genovese for WSJ

My dearest Xiaomi SU7 Max,

It's been about a month since we were last together. Now, every time I climb back into my Ford Mustang Mach-E, I can't stop thinking about you — your long range, your modular interior, your absurdly large infotainment screen.

At night, I miss your adjustable color lighting. On weekends, the kids talk about your wireless karaoke mics, walkie-talkies and yes, that back-seat minifridge.

Please come back to America...for me.

Always,

Joanna

The Xiaomi SU7 Max — like other Chinese-made cars — is effectively blocked from the U.S. market. And yet, late last year, I spent two weeks test-driving one of China's hottest cars around the mean streets of New Jersey. A friend who previously worked at Xiaomi bought the car and got a temporary permit to drive it in the U.S. He generously let me take it for an extended spin.

My time with the car confirmed what experts in the auto industry have long been saying: Holy crap, China is winning the digitally enhanced electric-car race.

Chinese EV makers such as Xiaomi, BYD and Geely have earned global accolades because their cars deliver longer battery ranges and deeply integrated digital platforms. We're talking software that feels smooth like a brand new smartphone, not a screen you have to jab five times to load a map. Plus, they often cost tens of thousands of dollars less than Western competitors. In Europe and Mexico, they're blowing past Tesla and other EV rivals.

"The competitive reality is that the Chinese are the 700-pound gorilla in the EV industry," Ford CEO Jim Farley told me in an interview last year. "There's no real competition from Tesla, GM or Ford with what we've seen from China." Even Farley, after driving a Xiaomi SU7, said he didn't want to part with it. The company is now rebuilding its EVs, starting with a $30,000 pickup, to compete directly with what they have seen from China.

I didn't understand it all until my Xiaomi tryst. I fell for the SU7 Max inside and out, and now I'm left wanting what I can't have — at least for now. There are growing signs Americans might not have to wait forever to experience China's superior take on the EV.

The connected car

Smartphones, tablets, washing machines, toasters, dust-mite vacuums. If it uses electricity, Xiaomi probably makes it and sells it in China. So as cars increasingly became computers on wheels, Xiaomi started making EVs.

The SU7 Max feels exactly like what you'd expect from a tech company making a car, not a car company making tech. The massive 16.1-inch infotainment screen runs HyperOS, the company's Android-based software. It's packed with apps — many of them in Mandarin, which I don't understand. I am, however, fluent in Apple CarPlay, which looks beautiful on that big screen.

One of my favorite small features: Navigation directions don't kill the music. They come through speakers in the driver's seat headrest, while the song or podcast keeps playing everywhere else.

Remember when I chose an EV a few years back? Remember how loudly I complained about Tesla and others ditching buttons and knobs for all-touchscreen everything? With Xiaomi, you don't have to choose. It sells a slim control bar that magnetically snaps to the bottom of the screen, giving you honest-to-goodness physical buttons for music and climate control. Miracles happen.

You can snap on other modules, too, such as LED bars — if your goal is less family sedan, more Berlin nightclub.

The real magic, though, is for people who live inside Xiaomi's ecosystem. I could mirror whatever was on a Xiaomi 17 Pro Max phone directly on the main display. Full-fledged Xiaomi tablets — loaded with games and apps — dock into the backs of the front seats to face the rear passengers, instantly becoming climate-control panels.

Bluetooth microphones pair with the sound system, and the karaoke app displays the lyrics to your fave karaoke songs. (Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," obviously.) Long-range walkie-talkies let the driver communicate with kids who have, for obvious reasons, decided to hide under the bed with them. A minifridge locks into the hump between the rear two seats, and you can adjust temperature from, yes, any of the many screens.

As Americans, we don't live in the Xiaomi universe. It's like if Apple had actually built the long-rumored Apple Car and everything just...worked.

The easy rider

I don't only love this car because it's like visiting a Chinese tech mall. I love driving it. I'll leave the deep discussion of torque, suspension and other mysterious car terms to my colleague Dan Neil. What I can say is that this EV sails along smoothly and quietly while somehow feeling sportier than my Mustang Mach-E or the Tesla Model Y I tested a few years back.

Due to my lack of Mandarin skills, I couldn't test the self-driving features. But on one trip from my home in New Jersey into New York City, I put the car into advanced driver-assistance mode. The car braked, steered and accelerated more smoothly than my Ford Mustang Mach-E. I especially noticed while crawling into the Holland Tunnel, a scenario I've been through many times in my Mustang.

On those same New York jaunts, the battery range exceeded my expectations, largely set by my Mustang Mach-E. On one very cold day — when EV batteries typically take a hit — a 50-mile round trip used no more than 30% of the charge. Xiaomi boasts a range of 810 kilometers on a battery charge for the SU7 Max (roughly 500 miles). To charge it at home, I used my Level 2 charger with an adapter, since China uses different plugs.

We don't know the long-term reliability or safety performance of these cars, according to analysts I spoke to. For me to be a serious customer, I would obviously need more information. But my impression during my brief time with the SU7 was that this is a well-designed and well-constructed vehicle.

The global roadblock

So you get it, I fell in love with all things about this car, including its price tag. In China, its launch pricing started at 299,900 Chinese Yuan, which converts to roughly $43,000 — in the same range as a Tesla Model Y. Yet the Xiaomi experience feels more premium. Of course, experts I spoke to said the SU7 Max would cost more if sold in the U.S.

"If"? Or should I say "when"? Right now, there's a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles — on top of other tariffs — and there are federal restrictions on Chinese connected vehicle technology. But those heavy obstructions might not last.

In early January, in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, President Trump said Chinese automakers would be welcome if they built cars in the U.S. using American factories and workers. "Let China come in," he said.

"You absolutely will get a car like the Xiaomi SU7 here — no question," Michael Dunne, chief executive of auto-consulting firm Dunne Insights, told me.

"Chinese manufacturers are prepared and poised to pounce as soon as the door opens — and that door opens not through imports, but through manufacturing here," he said, adding that it could happen in the next two years. Geely has even said as much, though Xiaomi said it has no current U.S. plans.

I will wait for you, Xiaomi. We shall be together again one day.

Write to Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com

Xiaomi is likely to see strong orders for the new SU7 model to be announced in April, Daiwa analyst Kelvin Lau writes in a note. The company said that its next-generation of SU7 luxury electric sedan will be launched officially in April. Daiwa sees high incentive for potential customers to shift to the new model if there's an offer on it, he says. The current SU7 model is still a popular model in the market with around 150,000 units in pending orders, he says. Xiaomi's EV deliveries saw a strong pick-up at the end of 2025, with 50,000 units sold a month. The major question is whether this trend will sustain or be a short-term boost, Lau adds.(jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

Goldman Sachs expects China's 10 large cap private enterprises to perform well in 2026 and beyond, thanks to an easing regulatory stance toward the private sector and breakthroughs in AI. These companies, namely Tencent, Alibaba, CATL, Xiaomi, BYD, Meituan, NetEase, Midea, Hengrui and Trip.com, are seen to further increase their dominance in China's stock market, similar to the Magnificent 7 stocks in the U.S. The group, dubbed the Chinese Prominent 10, is forecast to deliver earnings growth of 13% on a compound annual basis in 2026-2027. GS also sees scope for further global market-share gains by Chinese companies, citing export strength. About half of the Chinese Prominent 10 are well positioned to benefit, given their strong balance sheets, cash flows, scale advantages and leading technologies, they say. (jason.chau@wsj.com)

By Jiahui Huang

Xiaomi released its new generation of SU7 electric sedan amid intensifying competition in China's auto market.

The company will launch a new generation of SU7 with new colors, interior design, and more advanced driving assistance features, among others, the chief executive of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, said in his Weibo account on Wednesday.

In a separate Weibo post of Xiaomi, the company said sales of the new generation of SU7 will begin in April. Pre-sales began on Wednesday, with the standard version priced at 229,900 yuan, equivalent to $32,919.51. The vehicle also has pro and max versions.

The new generation of SU7 will be equipped with lidar sensors to facilitate more advanced driving assistance features and added safety features with two rear side airbags.

The new product launch comes at a time when the Chinese auto industry is facing slowing demand and lower government subsidies.

"For 2026, we expect another year of intense competition with 119 new energy vehicle models expected to be launched," said Goldman Sachs analysts Tina Hou and Jenny Du in a note.

Xiaomi CEO Lei set the 2026 electric-vehicle delivery target at 550,000 units in a New Year broadcast on Jan. 3. This is below investors' expectation of between 600,000 to 700,000 units, Citi analysts said in a recent note.

Xiaomi's EV segment has witnessed rapid growth since the launch of its first EV model SU7, two years ago. In the third quarter of 2025, Xiaomi's EV business's revenue almost tripled to 28.3 billion yuan, driven by higher vehicle deliveries and selling prices.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

Nvidia's new artificial-intelligence platform, open models and ecosystem should create demand for robotaxis and support global growth, Citi analysts write in a note. Citi forecasts the global robotaxi market will grow to $188.91 billion in 2034 from $4.43 billion in 2025. China's total addressable market for robotaxis will rise to $67.59 billion in 2035 compared with $39 million in 2025. Nvidia's initiatives will likely increase investors' confidence and directly benefit Pony AI and WeRide from a software angle. Automakers such as BYD, Geely Automobile, Great Wall Motor, SAIC and Xiaomi, as well as ride-hailing platform Didi, could also benefit from the robotaxi industry's growth. In terms of hardware, Chinese lidar sensor maker Hesai will benefit. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

By Kimberley Kao

Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin plans to sell up to $2 billion worth of its shares starting from December 2026, the company said Sunday.

Shares of the Beijing-based company fell as much as 3.3% early Monday before reversing losses. They were last 1.2% higher.

The sales of the class B ordinary shares won't exceed $2 billion in total, and won't be more than $500 million in any 12-month period, Xiaomi said in a filing.

Lin, who is also executive director and vice chairman of Xiaomi, plans to use the proceeds primarily for establishing an investment fund company, it said.

"Mr. Lin has expressed his full confidence in the business prospects of the Group and will continue to serve the Group on a long-term basis," Xiaomi said.

The $500 million worth of shares is equivalent to about 0.4% of Xiaomi's outstanding shares, according to calculations by Citi Research analysts.

The impact of the share sale will likely be limited but could affect sentiment, they said in a note. The investment fund company may focus on incubating emerging technology, which could benefit Xiaomi's artificial intelligence of things ecosystem, they said.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com