At the end of last year, the first rumors emerged about whether Xiaomi was working on an electric car. The Chinese brand would thus join the race that companies like Apple already have to launch an electric vehicle.
Today, we already know that those rumors were trueand in less than a month Xiaomi would be ready to show the world the first prototype, although it seems that the Chinese government is not very happy with it…
Problems getting the license
The electric car project has meant a investment of around 10,000 million euros for Xiaomi, and its co-founder, Lei Jun, who already said that this would be the last sector he would enter, hopes to have a large community that will make Xiaomi one of the largest electric car manufacturers in the world.
But to get it you have to go through all the regulatory bodies and meet certain requirements, and Xiaomi is having trouble convincing China and become a manufacturer.
As Bloomberg has learned, they have been in talks for months with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which has the last word on who can do what, and so far those talks have not served much.
This is a serious problem for Xiaomi at a time when many brands (especially Chinese) have jumped on the electric mobility bandwagon and they have big plans for their electric cars. The more time Xiaomi spends without obtaining that license, the more time the rest of the companies will have to develop their vehicles.
2024 in the spotlight
Xiaomi’s intention is show the prototype this month of Augustand from there make relevant tests to have the car ready in 2024but these issues could delay that release date, and it’s not a great time, as in the latest financial results, Xiaomi sales fell for the first time in its history.
Only time will tell if in the end they manage to resolve their differences with the Chinese government and officially become a car manufacturer. As soon as they get it, we expect a constant drip of information about Xiaomi’s next electric car.
Source | Bloomberg