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Chinese tech giant and popular phone maker Xiaomi has officially confirmed that it is working on an electric car to be launched in the near future.
This announcement comes shortly after Huawei also confirmed rumours that it was working on an EV. Unlike Huawei, Xiaomi says that it will set up a separate entity that will build the EV but will share the same CEO, Lei Jun. During the announcement, the tech giant said that for the initial phase it’s investing around KES 164 billion ($1.5 billion) to bring the car to life. Additionally, Xiaomi plans to invest around KES 1 trillion ($10 billion) over the coming 10 years.
According to reports, Xiaomi will use Great Wall Motor Company’s factory for manufacturing and the first EV model is expected to roll out the production lines in 2023. However, we’re yet to get any details on the car itself.
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Apart from making a lot of mobile devices, Xiaomi is best known for running internet services and making a range of low-cost premium home gadgets from rice cookers to robot vacuums and many more. The tech giant also makes electric scooters, so the EV will not be its first stint in the mobility industry.
A number of tech firms have been recently expressing interest in making their own electric cars, even if it’s in partnership with established traditional carmakers. So far we have seen Huawei, Apple, Google, Baidu, and a number of startups are all eyeing the EV market cake. It will be interesting to see how the electric cars market will develop in the near future as the race to dethrone Tesla catches on.
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