Xiaomi Plans to Launch Ferrari-inspired Electric SUV to Compete Tesla Model Y

Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, is making strides in the electric vehicle (EV) market. After successfully launching its first EV, the SU7, earlier this year, Xiaomi now has plans to expand its lineup with a new electric SUV. This upcoming SUV, codenamed MX11, was recently spotted testing in China. 

The MX11 electric SUV appears to be similar in size and design to the Ferrari Purosangue SUV. From the sides, it has a distinct silhouette reminiscent of the Ferrari model. The front face features sleek design elements, including slim LED headlights and daytime running lights (DRLs), which draw inspiration from the Xiaomi SU7 (itself inspired by the Porsche Taycan).

Little is known about the specifications, but reports suggest that the MX11 might share some elements with the SU7 electric sedan. It could use the same 400V architecture and a 73.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack from the SU7.

The leaked images (above) reveal of the upcoming electric SUV is heavily camouflaged yet it has striking resemblance to the Ferrari Purosangue.

There's also speculation about a higher-spec variant with an 800V architecture and a larger 101-kWh battery.

Xiaomi aims to compete with EV giants like Tesla by positioning the MX11 to rival the Tesla Model Y. The previously launched SU7 model was aimed at the Tesla Model 3, and Xiaomi seems determined to make an impact in the competitive Chinese EV market.

The MX11 is slated for a 2026 release and is estimated to cost around 150,000 yuan (21,000 USD).

Ferrari Files Patent for a Hydrogen-powered Engine

Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, Ferrari, has filed a patent application for a hydrogen-powered internal-combustion engine. This innovative approach is seen as a way to keep combustion engines relevant in an era of stricter emissions regulations.

The patent, which was filed in 2023 and published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 29, 2024, outlines a system that would generate no greenhouse gases and minimal amounts of other pollutants like carbon monoxide and particulates.

The patent application is titled "CAR PROVIDED WITH A HYDROGEN-POWERED INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE," but it's only one of several documents that describe a number of unorthodox systems for a potential sports car.

Ferrari's move is part of a broader trend among automakers to explore alternative fuels and technologies to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles. Hydrogen combustion engines burn hydrogen instead of gasoline, emitting only water vapor as a byproduct. However, there are challenges associated with hydrogen, such as its lower energy density compared to gasoline, which requires larger volumes of onboard storage to deliver equivalent range.

The patent also suggests that a car with a hydrogen-combustion engine will be "longer and heavier" than a similar car equipped with a petrol-powered internal-combustion engine, due to the need for more extensive hydrogen storage. Despite these challenges, Ferrari is looking into this technology as a potential way to maintain the performance and excitement of their vehicles while addressing climate-change concerns.

Production Model of Hydrogen Engine Cars

As of now, there is no official announcement from Ferrari regarding the release date of a production model featuring the hydrogen-powered internal-combustion engine. While Ferrari has filed a patent for such technology, it appears they are still in the exploratory phase.

The company is already producing plug-in hybrid models and plans to launch its first full-electric vehicle in 2025. However, they have not established a timeline for transitioning to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It's important to note that the development and release of new automotive technologies can take several years, especially when it involves significant changes like switching to hydrogen power.

Ferrari is making significant strides towards electrification with a clear vision for the future. The company plans to launch its first electric car in the fourth quarter of 2025.

By 2026, Ferrari aims for 60% of its lineup to be comprised of plug-in hybrid models. The remaining 40% will be internal combustion engine vehicles. The goal is to increase the proportion of EVs to 40%, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) to 40%, and internal combustion engines to 20% by 2030.

Despite the shift to electric, Ferrari is committed to maintaining its signature performance and driving experience. The electric models will feature multimaterial construction using carbon fiber and aluminum for enhanced strength and rigidity. Ferrari is working on creating a unique sound signature for its electric vehicles to ensure they retain the soul-stirring engine notes that the brand is known for.

The move towards electric vehicles is part of Ferrari's broader strategy to become carbon neutral by 2030. 

Ferrari's journey into electric power has been gradual, marked by hybrid models like the SF90 Stradale, which combines a twin-turbocharged V8 engine with three electric motors¹. The company's electric vision signifies a bold step towards sustainability without compromising on the exhilarating Ferrari experience that fans and drivers have come to expect. 

Ferrari Selects AWS as its Official Cloud Provider to Power Innovation on the Road and Track

Leading global manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports cars will leverage AWS machine learning, analytics, and compute capabilities to accelerate innovation across its road cars department, GT Competitions, Ferrari Challenge, and FORMULA 1 team Scuderia Ferrari

As part of the partnership with Scuderia Ferrari, the AWS logo will debut on the team’s car and drivers’ apparel this weekend at the French Grand Prix and beyond

Companies will develop a new, AWS-powered digital engagement platform for fans of Scuderia Ferrari, offering immersive, personalized content from the track  

Today, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that it has entered into an agreement with Ferrari S.p.A. to become their Official Cloud, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence Provider. Together, the companies will accelerate the pace of innovation across the entire Ferrari organization, including their road cars department, GT Competitions, the Ferrari Challenge, and the Scuderia Ferrari FORMULA 1 (F1) team. Ferrari will use AWS’s breadth and depth of services and proven global infrastructure, including the AWS Europe (Milan) region, to streamline design and testing of its cars, giving customers the most exciting driving experiences possible. In addition, Scuderia Ferrari will leverage AWS to launch a digital fan engagement platform, via its mobile app, to engage hundreds of millions of fans worldwide with exclusive, personalized content.  

Ferrari Selects AWS as its Official Cloud Provider to Power Innovation on the Road and Track. (Photo: Business Wire)

"Ferrari and AWS both represent excellence in their fields. As our Official Cloud Provider, I firmly believe AWS will enable our company to become a data-driven organization that uses the power of technology to improve our products, increase engagement with Ferrari enthusiasts worldwide, and deliver continuously more exciting driving experiences,” said Mattia Binotto, Principal of Scuderia Ferrari. “We chose AWS because of their relentless focus on innovation, unmatched portfolio of capabilities, and proven experience supporting partners in the automotive and sports industries. Throughout our storied history, Ferrari has had racing and innovation at our core, and now we look forward to applying AWS machine learning, advanced analytics, and high performance computing across the company to deliver deeper insights and even more powerful cars.”

As a manufacturer of some of the world’s highest-performing cars, Ferrari will rely on AWS’s advanced analytics, machine learning, compute, storage, and database capabilities to rapidly achieve insights into car design and performance on the road and track. Ferrari will leverage Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), with a range of specialized instance types for efficient high performance computing (HPC), to run complex simulations that test car performance under a wide variety of driving conditions and racing scenarios. As part of this work, Ferrari will use AWS Graviton2-based instances—which consistently deliver up to 40% better price performance over comparable current generation x86-based instances. Further, by tapping into the virtually unlimited scale of AWS HPC resources, Ferrari can run thousands of simulations concurrently to gain insights far faster than ever before possible running simulations in an on-premises environment. As a result, the company’s engineers can pursue an agile approach to experimentation with new designs and strategies to accelerate their pace of innovation.

As Ferrari moves from simulation to assembly of its new road vehicle prototypes, it will apply AWS analytics and Amazon SageMaker (AWS’s service that helps developers and data scientists build, train, and deploy machine learning models quickly in the cloud and at the edge) to inform testing and gain deeper insights into how its parts and cars perform under real world conditions. To support this work and its simulations, Ferrari will build a data lake with Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and use AWS Lake Formation to quickly and securely gather, catalog, and clean hundreds of petabytes of data. Ferrari will examine factors that impact car performance and driver handling, such as engine temperature at different vehicle speeds, vehicle vibration patterns on different road surfaces, and suspension loads that affect how the vehicle grips the road. Using AWS services to gain a holistic view of car performance, Ferrari can deliver their customers driving experiences that are more thrilling, but also safer and more reliable.

Ferrari will also leverage AWS to make it easier for current and prospective customers to build, purchase, and maintain their cars. Using Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) and Amazon DynamoDB (AWS’s fully managed key-value database), Ferrari will be able to quickly create, deploy, and scale improved digital experiences such as the Ferrari Car Configurator. Consumers can use the Configurator to custom-build their car and then immerse themselves in it using high-resolution 2D and 3D visualizations. AWS will also power Ferrari’s Vehicle Information Hub that centralizes and manages customers’ car information, providing them with proactive, personalized information related to servicing and maintenance.

In addition, for F1 racing fans, Scuderia Ferrari will use AWS compute, containers, and media services to power a new digital fan engagement platform via its mobile app that will inform, educate, and entertain their fans. Upon creating customized profiles, fans will receive exclusive content such as virtual access to the Scuderia Ferrari garage and hospitality suite on race days. Moving forward, Ferrari plans to build virtual and augmented reality experiences on AWS that bring fans into the garage to interact with drivers and team personnel. Ferrari will also build a virtual fan community among the app’s millions of users and engage fans with app-based quizzes on race days.

“AWS offers iconic global brands like Ferrari the breadth of services, insights, and agility they need to remain leaders in their fields through innovation and deepen their connections to loyal customers and fans,” said Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “Ferrari can rely on AWS to help them take driving and racing to the next level, while generating fresh excitement among their global community through more personalization and new digital experiences. What’s more, as their Official Cloud Provider, we look forward to helping Scuderia Ferrari maintain their record as the world’s greatest racing team.”

For more information about AWS’s work with Scuderia Ferrari, please visit www.aws.amazon.com/sports.

 

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