Chinese tech firm Xiaomi is officially on the road to creating its very first electrical vehicle after completing the official business registration of its EV unit. This definitely marks a huge step towards what was once regarded as just a rumour.

Dubbed, Xiaomi EV, this new unit, has been opened with a registered capital of CNY 10 billion (roughly KES 170 billion) with the firm’s CEO Lei Jun acting as its legal representative. Xiaomi has also hired 300 employees as staff for the new department with more expected to join, the firm revealed.

The company, which is currently the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, confirmed this venture into electrical cars in March 2021, pledging to invest up to KES 1 trillion over the next years. So, it’s quite clear that the firm is quite serious about this ambitious move.

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According to Lei Jun, the push into electric vehicles would mark his  “last major entrepreneurial project.”

Xiaomi also looks well prepared for the venture as it confirmed its research by conducting over 2000 interview surveys and visiting over 10 industry peers and partners. However, there are very few details revealed about its strategy for the types of vehicles it intends to manufacture.

What is known is that the EVs could feature hi-tech mobility features including autonomous driving technology. This is after the firm spent $77 million to purchase Deepmotion, a startup that deals in this kind of tech.

This comes at a time when electric mobility is at its highest demand to the point of forcing existing automotive manufacturers to fully adopt it. And with everything going on across the world, there’s no doubt that this is the future of the industry.