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Independent Xiaomi YU7 testing explains outrageous EV range claims coming out of China

The Xiaomi YU7 Max SUV range test. (Image source: Sohu)
The Xiaomi YU7 Max SUV range test. (Image source: Sohu)
Xiaomi is claiming 466 miles of official range specs for its Model Y competitor, and the YU7 Max SUV has been subjected to an independent range test. The Chinese CLTC standard, however, is way more generous than the EPA estimate in the US, explaining those outrageous range claims for Chinese electric vehicles.

A test run of the Xiaomi YU7 Max SUV, one of the main Tesla Model Y competitors in China, has demonstrated why those outrageous range claims of Chinese manufacturers that often make headlines should be taken with a grain of salt.

At first blush, the YU7's 466-mile range specification schools any of the available Tesla Model Y variants by a large margin. The longest range RWD Model Y trim sold in the US, for example, is rated for just 344 miles of range on a full charge.

Anecdotal evidence, however, has shown that the Chinese CLTC testing standard overshoots the more stringent EPA range estimates used in the US by a third. The new EPA testing routine that involves a more even mix of city and highway driving has been demonstrably more credible than the European WLTP standard by 10-15%, too.

As if to confirm said anecdotal evidence, independent range testing of the Xiaomi YU7 Max has shown that it falls way short of its official CLTC range specs. Instead of 466 miles, the YU7 Max managed just 306 miles, more than a third less than its official rating. The test was done in warm weather conditions, with tire pressure to specifications and at an average speed of 62 mph, or a bog-standard highway driving in a closed loop around Beijing.

Despite that the CLTC testing routine leans more heavily on city driving, skewing the numbers a bit, the test comes to show that the official range specification of electric cars in China should not be taken at face value, as the driving mix is different.

Recently, for example, Huawei filed a patent for a solid-state battery that made some headlines with its outrageous EV range claim of 3,000 km (1,864 miles) on a charge that only takes five minutes. While fast 10%-80% charging is par for the course with solid-state batteries, energy density that would allow such range isn't. Granted, prototypes can theoretically double the energy density of current batteries, but Huawei cites the same 500 Wh/kg limit for its battery technology that every other solid-state cell developer does.

If the CLTC range testing routine has been used, however, then the jaw dropping 1,864-mile range number makes more sense. That number should be cut by at least a third to approximate the EPA range estimates, and then by another third to account for the weight material and thermal losses if it makes it from a cell prototype to a finished battery, as per Korean researchers.

This would return an actual 800-mile range for an eventual solid-state battery by Huawei. That is much more in sync with what Toyota, Samsung, and other solid-state battery makers are promising for when their research makes it into mass production.

In short, while the EPA routine that is used to test the official range of electric vehicles in the US is still not perfect and falls a bit short from reality, too, it seems to be the best approximation of actual EV range when it comes to official standards. As for the Chinese EV claims, these should be cut down by about a third to make a fair comparison with the official EPA estimates.

After all, the Xiaomi YU7 Max SUV demonstrated power consumption of a bit over 20 kWh/100 km, which is par for the course for a fast AWD electric SUV during highway driving, so Xiaomi and the rest of the Chinese EV makers aren't offering anything extraordinary when it comes to efficiency, despite their official range specifications.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2025 07 > Independent Xiaomi YU7 testing explains outrageous EV range claims coming out of China
Daniel Zlatev, 2025-07-19 (Update: 2025-07-19)