Ce que vous devez retenir
- you drop serious cash on an electric hypercar that pumps out 1,548 horsepower, then the company tells you they’re cutting it down to 900 hp “for your own good.
- The company also planned to restrict the Launch Control system to prevent street racing (which, fair enough, makes sense from a liability standpoint).
- The company has already proven they can build an electric supercar that competes with established players (yes, even giving Porsche some sleepless nights), but managing customer relationships in the auto world requires a different playbook than smartphones or laptops.
The tech giant just learned a harsh lesson about messing with supercar owners and their toys. Xiaomi, fresh off launching their jaw-dropping SU7 Ultra electric supercar, had to completely reverse course after attempting to slash the car’s power through a software update. The backlash was swift and brutal.
When a software update becomes a power theft
Picture this: you drop serious cash on an electric hypercar that pumps out 1,548 horsepower, then the company tells you they’re cutting it down to 900 hp “for your own good.” That’s exactly what happened with Xiaomi’s update 1.7.0, which would have neutered the SU7 Ultra by a staggering 42%.
The proposed restrictions were pretty extreme. Owners would have been stuck with 900 hp for daily driving, with the full 1,548 hp only available on approved racetracks. But here’s the kicker – you’d need to hit certain lap times to “earn” access to your car’s full potential. Talk about adding insult to injury.
The company also planned to restrict the Launch Control system to prevent street racing (which, fair enough, makes sense from a liability standpoint). These changes came after an accident involving the vehicle last month, pushing safety concerns to the forefront.
What makes the SU7 Ultra worth fighting for
To understand why owners went ballistic, you need to grasp what this machine can do. We’re talking about performance that rivals the most exclusive hypercars on the planet:
The SU7 Ultra rockets from 0-60 mph in just 1.98 seconds. That’s Tesla Plaid territory, but with even more raw power under the hood. Top speed hits 217 mph – not exactly your typical grocery getter.
These numbers aren’t just marketing fluff. They represent the core value proposition that buyers paid for. When you’re dropping hypercar money, you expect hypercar performance, not a watered-down version that gets nerfed after purchase.
Social media pressure forces a U-turn
The owner backlash on social platforms was immediate and intense. Within days, Xiaomi threw in the towel and scrapped the entire update. The company discovered what automakers have always known – mess with enthusiasts’ cars, and you’ll hear about it loud and clear.
This reversal highlights something interesting about the modern car market. Premium vehicle owners, especially in the electric space, form tight-knit communities with real influence. Their voices carry weight, and manufacturers ignore them at their own risk.
The controversy centered on a simple principle: don’t change the fundamental character of a product after someone has already bought it. Owners felt blindsided by what they saw as a bait-and-switch operation.
The bigger picture for electric performance cars
While Xiaomi backed down on power limits, they’re still pushing track-specific tire recommendations for maximum performance runs. It’s a compromise that acknowledges both safety concerns and owner expectations.
This whole episode raises fascinating questions about over-the-air updates in modern vehicles. Traditional automakers could never walk into your garage and dial back your engine’s output, but software-defined vehicles make this kind of remote tampering possible.
Where do we draw the line? Cars today are essentially computers on wheels, giving manufacturers unprecedented control over their products long after sale. The Xiaomi situation might set a precedent that other automakers will watch closely.
Some updates improve functionality or add features – those are welcome. But when updates remove capabilities that buyers specifically paid for, that’s a different conversation entirely.
Lessons learned in the transition to wheels
For Xiaomi, this represents growing pains in their automotive journey. The company has already proven they can build an electric supercar that competes with established players (yes, even giving Porsche some sleepless nights), but managing customer relationships in the auto world requires a different playbook than smartphones or laptops.
The automotive industry has its own unwritten rules about respecting the buyer-seller relationship. Performance car enthusiasts, in particular, take their purchases seriously and expect that relationship to be honored long after the papers are signed.
Moving forward, this experience will likely influence how Xiaomi and other tech companies approach automotive software updates. The lesson is clear: tread carefully when your changes affect the core experience that customers paid to own.
