You know how we all thought that the absolute zenith of performance was either a screaming V10, a supercharged V8, or a twin-turbo straight-six? Think again. Because with the rise of electrification in the automotive industry for the past few years, with Tesla spearheading the electrified revolution, and Chinese marques like BYD now leading the charge. Electrification is now more than just eco-friendly transport in the Toyota Prius and Nissan LEAF.
Because now, “electric” and “performance” can be said in the same sentence. Thanks to the Rimac Nevera and BYD Yangwang U9, or if you want the same level of performance in a more ‘reasonable’ package, there’s the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra. Yes, you heard me, the phone company has made its own EV, one quick enough to beat even a Ferrari, as Mat Watson from Carwow recently proved in a series of drag races.
The SU7 Ultra makes 1,548 hp and 1,770 Nm of torque thanks to its tri-motor setup, with one motor in the front and two in the rear sending power to all four corners, and despite its weight of 2,360 kg, it’s capable of reaching 100 km/h in a dizzying 1.98 seconds.
Meanwhile, the Ferrari that the SU7 was pitted against? The SF90 XX, packing a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 making 797 hp and 804 Nm of torque on its own, sending power to the rear wheels by way of an 8-speed dual clutch transmission, but once it’s paired with its three electric motors, with two in the front and one in the back, that power now bumps up to 1,030 hp with the motors powering the front wheels and the engine powering the rear, effectively making it all-wheel drive, weighing 1,660 kg and being able to reach 0-100 in a respectable 2.3 seconds.
And what do all these numbers mean in the real world? Despite its modest exterior, the SU7 left the SF90 screaming as it tried to keep up, with the EV finishing a standing quarter-mile in 9.3 seconds, with the SF90 trailing behind almost a second behind at 10.2 seconds. Now you might be thinking that the SF90 might have had a chance had the distance been longer, right? Well, for the half-mile, only the opposite rang true, with the Chinese EV finishing in 14.5 seconds, with the Italian Stallion lagging behind by an even larger margin of over a second behind at 15.7 seconds.
Now, while the Xiaomi’s quarter and half-mile drag races times and margins to the Ferrari are impressive, speed isn’t everything, because the brake test is where the Maranello machine manages to edge out on the Chinese sedan, with both cars needing to come to a dead stop from 160 km/h, the Ferrari managed to out-brake the Xiaomi a little over a car length.
Now you might be scratching your head as to why the Ferrari struggled so much against the Xiaomi, considering a regular SF90 can do a quarter-mile in 9.6 seconds, but according to Watson, there was a storm the day prior to testing, leaving sand on the road, causing the Ferrari to struggle, while the Xiaomi was unfazed considering how evenly EVs can distribute torque.
Sandy struggles and traction challenges aside, what does this mean for the future of performance cars? While you might think that if even Ferrari struggles against a phone company on its first outing in making a car, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the internal combustion engine is dead, but rather, if the old guard ever wants to keep up, they have to up their game, because numerous challengers are out there to take the throne.
