Xiaomi is expanding into the automotive sector with the announcement of new commercial brands, including Titan, Gigafactory ed EV Hyperfactory. These moves mark a new chapter for the company, broadening its horizons beyond the mobile phone and electronic gadget sectors. But are these really car brands? In my opinion, no, just like Tesla.
Xiaomi is pushing the accelerator, in the true sense of the word
Recently, the company has filed requests to register a number of trademarks, which include Xiaomi Automobile Gigafactory, Xiaomi EV Hyperfactory, Xiaomi Titan, Xiaomi Titan Alloy e Xiaomi Super Motor. These applications, currently awaiting approval at the Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, indicate the company's clear and ambitious strategy in the automotive sector.
Already in July 2019, the Chinese giant had extended its range of action to include sale of auto parts. On November 12, 2020, the company took it a step further by filing a patent application for electrodes for lithium batteries and lithium batteries. Following this trajectory, on March 30, 2021, it then announced an investment of 10 billion yuan over the next 10 years for automobile production, aiming to position itself among the top five global automobile manufacturers.
Xiaomi's journey into the automotive world reached a significant moment last year with the presentation of the first car model Xiaomi SU7. During the official conference in December, Lei Jun presented five key technologies of its product: electric drive, battery, large-scale die casting, intelligent cabin and autonomous driving. Lei Jun also pointed out that Xiaomi is the only automobile manufacturer in China to have started mass production of domestically developed alloys.
Xiaomi's first major project after the official announcement of its entry into the automotive sector was the development of the "super motor". This project led to the creation of two engines, the Hyper Engine V6 and V8, now mass produced.
In addition, Xiaomi has independently developed a new high-voltage silicon carbide platform, capable of reaching a maximum voltage of 871 V. The company is also collaborating with CATL to jointly develop an 800V high-voltage battery pack. Also worth highlighting is Xiaomi's construction of its own battery production plant.
But the brand will it launch new cars? No, the answer is simple. The trademarks that the company has requested to register could (and indeed, certainly are) refer to technologies that will then be used on electric car models. Moreover, Gigafactory e Hyperfactory they cannot be product names and we know this thanks to Tesla: Tesla's Gigafactory is simply a factory in Nevada, the largest ever, among other things.
