Xiaomi’s Sky Nomad Brand
Xiaomi Auto has finally named its long-rumored new vehicle lineup. The company announced “Sky Nomad” as a new series that will carry the Chinese name Xiaomi Pengcheng. The reveal came through Xiaomi’s newly launched WeChat page for the brand, backed by city-screen advertising across China. With Sky Nomad, Xiaomi moves into extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, for the first time.
Key Takeaways
- Sky Nomad is Xiaomi’s new EREV series, sitting alongside the SU7 sedan and YU7 SUV, and known in China as Xiaomi Pengcheng.
- The first model, the N90, is a full-size SUV measuring 5.3 meters long with a 3.1-meter wheelbase, offered in five and seven-seat layouts.
- The N90 pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged range extender with a battery pack above 70 kWh, good for 400 to 500 km of pure-EV range and over 1,500 km combined.
The existing SU7 and YU7 are Xiaomi’s electric sedan and SUV. Sky Nomad adds a different powertrain path. The N90 uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged range extender that never drives the wheels directly. Instead it charges the battery, which powers the electric motors. Xiaomi expects a battery pack above 70 kWh, giving 400 to 500 km of electric-only range and a combined range beyond 1,500 km.
The N90 is a genuinely large vehicle, at 5.3 meters long with a 3.1-meter wheelbase, and it will come in five and seven-seat versions. Spy shots showed the larger variant with a roof-mounted tent. The design leans rugged and boxy, with blocky headlights, a trapeze-shaped air intake, side bumper inlets, a high bonnet line, roof-mounted LiDAR, and electric door steps. Xiaomi has also teased a flexible, MPV-style cabin with sliding and rotating seats.
Aiming at China’s Family SUV Market
Xiaomi is targeting the segment where the money is. EREVs have become the default choice for China’s large family SUV buyers, easing range anxiety with an onboard generator. That puts Sky Nomad squarely against family-focused rivals like the Li Auto L9 and the Huawei-backed AITO M9, both later this year. Xiaomi delivered 32,759 units domestically in May 2026 alone and currently sells the SU7 sedan, SU7 Ultra, and YU7 SUV.
The launch coincides with a wider shift in China’s auto industry, where tech firms and carmakers are blurring into one another and packing software and AI into every model. Xiaomi is a case study in that transition, having gone from smartphones to becoming a serious carmaker in just a few years after unveiling its first electric car and proving a newcomer could grab real market share.
The economics behind the move are hard to ignore. China’s EV and EREV market is fiercely price-competitive, with buyers able to choose from an enormous range of affordable, well-equipped models, and legacy automakers struggling to keep pace on price and software. Founder Lei Jun drew a firm line between the two families, framing the SU7 and YU7 as a driver’s car and Sky Nomad as a mobile living space. The N90 is expected to reach showrooms in the second half of 2026, and coverage notes the SUV was built on Xiaomi’s own new platform.
Written by Alius Noreika
