Chinese tech giant Xiaomi unveils 217mph electric HYPERCAR with ‘sofa’ interior & AI brain that ‘senses driver’s mood’
TECH giant Xiaomi has unveiled a 217mph all-electric hypercar of the future that uses a SOFA for a cockpit.
And it even has an AI feature that “senses” your mood and changes the car’s interior to suit.
It’s called the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo and it was unveiled a special event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
The car was created as part of gaming giant Gran Turismo’s Vision GT scheme.
That’s when car makers are invited by Gran Turismo to invent concept cars of the future – that can then be played inside the sim-racing games.
Plenty of car makers have been given the opportunity to make a Vision GT, including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen.
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But Xiaomi is the first “tech” firm to get the opportunity.
The Chinese tech giant is best known for its phones, and is actually the world’s third-biggest mobile maker behind Apple and Samsung.
But it’s also seen huge success with its Xiaomi SU7 EV in China, which is expected to roll out in the UK and Europe in the next couple of years.
However, while the SU7 is a real car that can be bought, this hypercar is not only not on sale – it won’t land in Gran Turismo games until September.
The other bad news is that means there’s no telling whether or not Xiaomi will actually ever send this hypercar into production.
But it’s worth noting that several Vision GT projects have inspired real production cars, including the Bugatti Chiron, McLaren Sabre, and Hyundai N Vision 74.
Xiaomi wouldn’t confirm to The Sun whether or not the car (or a version of it) will eventually be produced for sale, but it wasn’t a hard no.
In any case, Xiaomi’s EV design team seems to have poured as much love into this hi-tech virtual motor as they would a real car.
They say it has a theoretical top-speed of 350km/h, which works out at about 217mph.
And its creators say that its speed credentials are thanks to a design that has been “sculpted by the wind”, referring to its aerodynamics.
“Its teardrop-shaped cockpit is embedded within a body sculpted with cutouts and airducts, forming aerodynamic channels throughout the vehicle,” Xiaomi explained.
“The signature halo-shaped taillight serves as both a visual icon and a massive air outlet.”
According to Xiaomi, it serves up a drag co-efficient of 0.29, downforce of -1.2, and an aerodynamic efficiency rating of 4.1.
That won’t mean much to those outside of the car world, but they’re impressive stats aimed at demonstrating how the car would slice through the air with minimal resistance.
“Electric hypercars must answer a fundamental question,” said Xiaomi’s ECV boss Tianyuan Li.
“Do we pursue extreme low drag for straight-line speed, or maximum downforce to conquer corners?
“The optimal solution lies in finding the perfect balance between the two.”
This reportedly pleased the petrolheads over at Gran Turismo, who Xiaomi says were impressed by the design.
Kazunori Yamauchi, who produces Gran Turismo, is reported as saying: “When I saw that Xiaomi had resolved the contradiction between low drag and high downforce, I was truly amazed.”
The interior of the car is also as futuristic as you’d expect.
Xiaomi has tried to make the inside feel like a sofa – and has actually described it as a “Sofa Racer”.
Normally supercars (and hypercars) use bucket seats.
But Xiaomi says its new design has a dashboard, door panels, and seats that flow together like a single loop.
The sofa-style seats are made from 3D-knitted natural fabrics.
“The dashboard, door panels, and seats flow together as one cohesive loop, a cocoon-like cabin that gently envelops the driver,” Xiaomi explains.
It has an intelligent Xiaomi Pulse feature that interacts with the driver “through light and sound”.
And the car can reportedly “sense the driver’s state”, and will adapt to your mood – whatever that means.
As a bonus, Xiaomi also mocked up an at-home racing SIM.
It’s also an entirely virtual concept, but it’s meant to let you imagine what it would be like to pretend to drive the car digitally at home. That’s a complicated thought, but the imaginary simulator looks cool enough.
“Envisioned as an elegant piece of furniture that blends naturally into a living space, it offers a glimpse into how the Vision Gran Turismo experience could transcend the boundaries of the car itself,” Xiamo says.
“Allowing players to practice, explore, and enjoy the art of driving from anywhere.”
The new Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo is expected to arrive in-game as soon as September, but its exact performance stats are still being decided.
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