The production spec Xiaomi SU7 Ultra gets a 24ct gold 'n' carbon fibre badge

The production-ready Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has finally landed and of all the things we weren’t expecting, it boasts its own 24-carat gold and carbon fibre bonnet badge.

Yep, one of the standout features of the SU7 Ultra is the luxury nugget adorning the front end. No word on whether the badge comes with its own tracker.

Anyway, we probably shouldn't get too distracted by the shiny bits, because another of the SU7 Ultra's selling points is the fact it has 1,527bhp. Yeah, seriously. In fact, in stripped-out prototype form it (kinda) broke the Nürburgring lap records for EVs and for four-door cars late last year. Xiaomi is planning to go back with the production car, and it reckons that track-optimised battery cooling allows it to do two full, flat-out laps.

In the words of Xiaomi chief, Lei Jun, the SU7 Ultra's performance is on par with Porsche, although the aforementioned prototype was over 20 seconds faster around the 'Ring than the Taycan Turbo GT. Undoubtedly influenced by the Taycan's styling, there's carbon fibre aplenty on the SU7 Ultra; fixed rear wing, roof, bonnet, rear diffuser… you get the picture.

The rear diffuser is actually active with different settings for road and track driving, and the SU7 Ultra apparently generates up to 285kg of downforce. With its trio of electric motors, carbon ceramic brake discs, Akebono brake calipers and fancy Pirelli tyres, it has already smashed a number of lap records in China, and we're told there will be a 'Racing Package' and a 'Nürburgring Nordschleife Limited Edition' available later this year. A gentle reminder that it also does the 0-62mph sprint in a mere 2.1 seconds.

For safety, the bottom of the 93.7kWh battery has what Xiaomi calls a ‘bulletproof coating’, and Jun also claims the technology offering of the SU7 Ultra is "catching up with Tesla". The SU7 Ultra gets 391 miles of range (CLTC tested) and can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in just 11 minutes.

Inside, there’s both a central touchscreen and physical buttons to control stuff. The driver’s seat has headrest audio and can be upgraded with ‘active wing support’, suggesting it’ll give you a tighter hug when put into track mode. Both front seats are ventilated and have massage functionality, and all the seats have graphene-based heating elements. Fancy.

Everything has some level of customisation, including the vanity mirror with three colour temps and levels of brightness. Hello, gorgeous.

Xiaomi says there’ll be three two-tone colour combinations for the interior and five body colour choices for the exterior (Parrot Green is most definitely our favourite). It’s being super aggressive when it comes to selling the thing in its home market: at just under £58,000 (529k RMB) it undercuts the Tesla Model S Plaid by about thirty grand sterling (ouch).

No word yet on when it's coming to Europe, if at all. Though there will be at least one car setting lap times in Germany shortly...