Lei Jun livestreamed the entire 1,313 km! New‑generation Xiaomi (小米) SU7 set off with a full charge and recharged only once between Beijing and Shanghai

Long‑range claim played out live

It has been reported that Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi (小米), livestreamed a one‑day endurance run of the company’s new SU7 Pro electric sedan from Beijing to Shanghai, departing with a full battery and stopping to recharge only once. The trip began at 06:35 and, after a final run into Shanghai, ended around 21:40 — a roughly 15‑hour journey covering 1,313 km with about 19 km of range remaining. Lei Jun invited viewers and sceptics to test the car themselves when asked whether this was a specially tuned vehicle.

Route, logistics and a bit of theatre

According to the livestream, the team passed the S2 Hulu Expressway Kangqiao toll plaza at 20:30, marking about 1,265 km and an ETC toll cost of ¥645; they then deliberately pushed the route farther to round the run to roughly 1,300 km. Lei Jun said he started the morning with coffee at Starbucks and had planned a leisurely lunch but skipped it because of the attention from onlookers. Also on the trip were Xiaomi Group PR head Xu Jieyun (徐洁云) and Xiaomi Auto vice‑president Li Xiaoshuang (李肖爽).

What Xiaomi wants Western readers to know — and what they should ask

The public endurance run is a clear marketing play to demonstrate real‑world long‑range performance, but it also speaks to product positioning. Lei Jun explained on the stream that Xiaomi prioritises long range over ultra‑fast charging for now, arguing that ultra‑fast chargers are still not widespread domestically and yield diminishing returns. Is this a genuine test or a controlled demo? Lei Jun’s response — that media have already run independent tests and that critics are welcome to buy an SU7 Pro and try it themselves — was designed to pre‑empt scepticism.

Bigger picture: EVs, infrastructure and geopolitics

For Western readers unfamiliar with China’s EV landscape: Chinese automakers are locked in a fierce, fast‑moving competition to lead in batteries, chips and software, even as global trade tensions and supply‑chain scrutiny put a premium on domestic engineering. The SU7 run underscores two local realities — that long‑range EV performance is a major consumer selling point, and that charging infrastructure deployment remains a strategic constraint shaping product choices. Whether Xiaomi’s public stunt will sway buyers or simply raise expectations for third‑party validation remains to be seen.