A historic first took place on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany. For the first time in the history of the complex nicknamed the "Green Hell", a production car covered the entire 20.8 kilometer route in completely autonomous mode, without any human intervention. The protagonist of this technological experiment is the new high-performance electric SUV Xiaomi YU7 GT.
The YU7 GT equipped with the track package recorded an official time of 10 minutes and 29.483 seconds. While this time may seem modest to racing fans, the achievement marks a turning point: the control software successfully managed over 70 blind corners, massive level differences and complex mass transfers at high speeds without error.
To put things into perspective, the time of 10 minutes and 29 seconds is comparable to that achieved by an amateur driver, without prior training, on the Nürburgring, who drives his everyday car at a cautious pace.
Xiaomi's AI system ran in a defensive mode. The algorithms prioritized absolute safety and maintaining a reserve of grip, electronically limiting the top speed on straight lines to around 210 km/h (130 mph), although the car is capable of much more.
The difference becomes obvious when we compare autonomous driving with the physical limits reached by a professional pilot:
Autonomous Tour (AI): 10 min 29.483 sec
Human Tour (Driver Ren Zhoucan): 7 min 22.755 sec (absolute record for a production SUV stabilized in May 2026)
The gap: The software was exactly 3 minutes and 7 seconds slower than the human.
Xiaomi Auto representatives emphasized that this result is not a destination, but a starting point for perfecting autonomous driving in extreme conditions.
Beyond the assistance systems based on LiDAR sensors and advanced cameras, the Xiaomi YU7 GT is an electric performance monster. Developed in collaboration with the Xiaomi Research and Development Center in Munich, the SUV hides impressive figures:
Propulsion: Two proprietary V8s EVO electric motors developing a total power of 738 kW (approximately 1,003 hp).
Acceleration: From 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.92 seconds.
Architecture: 897V high-voltage platform with silicon carbide, powered by a 101.7 kWh lithium ternary battery.
Range and Charging: Certified range of 705 km (in CLTC standard). Thanks to the electric architecture, the battery can be charged for a range of almost 570 km in just 15 minutes.
Dynamics: Dual-chamber air suspension, adaptive variable dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes and active torque vectoring on the rear axle.
Officially, Xiaomi is currently focusing deliveries of the YU7 SUV and its top-of-the-line GT version on the domestic Chinese market, where prices start at around 389,900 yuan (equivalent to around 53,000 - 57,000 USD). The company has not yet opened an official direct distribution network for the cars in Central and Eastern Europe.
However, the car can be purchased in Romania. The local car market reacted quickly through dealers specializing in parallel imports of premium and electric vehicles.
A Xiaomi YU7 Max Dual Motor AWD version (690 HP) with the same 101.7 kWh battery has already been listed for sale in the stock of some independent leasing dealers in Bucharest (such as Elite Cars Leasing) at a price of EUR 95,590 (approximately EUR 79,000 net).
If you want the extreme YU7 GT version, you will have to place a custom order through these importers. The final price in Romania for the GT version will most likely exceed the threshold of 110,000 - 120,000 EUR, including import taxes, shipping, individual homologation and dealer margin.