Words: Andrew Sluys
Published 23 June 2026
The Xiaomi YU7 GT electric SUV has just set the record for being the fastest driverless car to lap Germany’s famous Nurburgring.
While the 10 minute, 29.483 second lap wasn’t particularly fast by modern ring standards, the fact it was done completely autonomously is nothing short of incredible.
For context, the latest Manthey-equipped 911 GT3 RS did it in 6:45.389, and the new Golf GTI even managed 7:44.523, but both those cars had racing drivers that knew every single turn.
Likely as a safety precaution, the YU7 was top speed limited during certain sections of the track, rather than going as fast as possible.
For example, it only hit 200km/h on the Döttinger Höhe straight, where performance cars are usually topping 320km/h.
Xiaomi is no stranger to the ‘ring, with Vincent Radermecker setting a 7:22.755 lap in the same YU7 GT earlier this year.
Last year, the smaller SU7 Ultra managed a blistering 7:04.957 lap.
As a high-performance electric SUV, the YU7 GT packs a hefty 727kW, which allows it to hit 100km/h in 2.92-seconds.
It has a top speed of 300km/h, and can cover over 700km off a single charge, thanks to the large 101kWh battery it carries.
It sits on adaptive dampers, and makes use of carbon ceramic brake rotors paired with six-piston Akebono calipers.
The Nvidia Drive AGX Thor platform powers its autonomous driving functions, which also uses LiDAR and 4D millimeter-wave radar.
There aren’t any plans for Xiaomi’s expansion to the Australasian market just yet, but it’s about to launch in Europe, which is a good sign for us.
