Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies is backing a number of EV car brands in China, and Luxeed is the latest of them.
Developed by state-owned Chery Automobile and Huawei, the new brand will debut its first production model in November – and with big claims nonetheless.
The company says the coupe-styled Luxeed S7 electric sedan, which is based on Chery's E0X platform designed for dual-motor, all-wheel-drive EVs, will trump the Tesla Model S in several areas.
"The car will make its debut in late November. It will be superior to Tesla's Model S in various aspects," said Richard Yu Chengdong, the head of Huawei's car unit, during a new product launch ceremony on September 25, according to the South China Morning Post.
He didn't elaborate on the Luxeed S7's price, range, or intelligent features. The S7 will compete with a number of premium EVs in the Chinese market, including the Tesla Model S, BYD Han, Nio ET7, and others.
The first specs of the new model were released last month by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). In base trim, the 197-inch long Luxeed S7 is powered by an LFP battery supplied by CATL which supplies electricity to a 288-horsepower (215-kilowatt) electric motor from Huawei on the rear axle.
A hybrid M3P battery using ternary and LFP cells in the same pack is the second option, and it should enable 435 miles of range on China's CLTC cycle. The vehicle will also have an 800-volt electrical system.
According to CarNewsChina, the S7 is expected to debut Huawei's HarmonyOS 4 operating system, which allows a multi-screen sharing function to realize simultaneous viewing in the cabin. It's also said to pack one LiDAR, three millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 11 high-definition cameras as part of Huawei's ADS 2.0 autonomous driving system.
The second generation of Huawei's ADAS has a Bird's Eye View network and a General Obstacle Detection network enabling it to detect abnormal objects on the road, such as overturned vehicles, fallen trees, and more.
The combination between Huawei's technological prowess and Chery's manufacturing expertise is believed to offer a good starting point for the Luxeed brand and its first product, according to analysts cited by SCMP.
Chery is seen as Huawei's strongest partner in developing smart cars so far. The automaker is transitioning to EVs and founded the Jetour brand in 2018; Jetour delivered more than 180,000 EVs in 2022, up 17 percent year on year.
Huawei, which is under sanctions in the US, unveiled its Huawei HI intelligent automotive solution in April 2021. The system consists of a high computing power, 4D imaging radar, an autonomous driving platform, and intelligent thermal management.
The tech giant has been supplying automotive chips, LiDAR sensors, and connected technologies to carmakers such as Arcfox and Avatr Technology.
In late 2021, Huawei launched the Aito brand with carmaker Seres to build luxury EVs. The first product is the Aito M9 full-size SUV that will be sold at Huawei's stores across mainland China starting in December.
Tesla remains the leader of China's premium EV sector, with the Shanghai-made Model 3 being the best-selling premium EV in the country. However, the US EV maker is seeing increasing competition from local startups such as Nio, XPeng, and Li Auto, whose vehicles are viewed as having more intelligent features.
