Xiaomi’s Super SUV Sped Around the Nürburgring Without a Driver

Xiaomi is quickly becoming a fixture in the Nürburgring record books.

The Chinese electronics giant’s new high-performance EV, the YU7 GT, just became the fastest autonomous vehicle in the motorsports complex’s history. That’s right, the company’s latest speed record was set without the assistance of a human driver.

Early Monday, Xiaomi revealed the YU7 GT had circled the Nürburgring Nordschleife, or the complex’s north loop, in 10:29.483 minutes. The time is the first official autonomous lap completed at the racing circuit, making it the new record, according to Electrek.

The Nürburgring also shared a video of the record-establishing lap on its YouTube page. In the clip, you can see there is no one behind the wheel of the SUV as its makes its way around the 12.94-mile course. The video lacks the visceral thrills of others we’ve seen taken at the track affectionately known as the “Green Hell,” but it’s important to remember what the EV is doing: navigating its way around 73 officially recognized turns (33 left and 40 right) and over 1,000 feet of elevation changes. We’ve seen plenty of vehicles circle Nordschleife faster, but the YU7 GT isn’t exactly a slouch. On the back straightaway, it reached a top speed of 210 km/h, or 130 mph.

The autonomous record is actually the second set by the YU7 GT at the Nürburgring in as many months. In late May, Xiaomi announced the EV had become the fastest SUV in the complex’s history after circling its northern loop in 7:22.755 minutes. That time beat the previous mark, which was set by an Audi RS Q8 Performance in the fall of 2024, by nearly 14 seconds.

Xiaomi, which was previously best known for its smartphones, has only been building automobiles for a few years now, but it’s shown it knows what it’s doing. Its super sedan, the SU7 Ultra, was the fastest EV in the track’s history for a chunk of last year.

The range-topping version of the company’s flagship SUV looks awfully similar to the Ferrari Purosangue and features a dual-motor powertrain that makes 990 hp. The company claims the vehicle can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds and hit a top speed of 190 mph. It also has an autonomous driving system designed for public roads, which suggests the system used by the record-setting example may have utilized a custom setup.