A 1,526bhp Chinese EV has smashed the four-door Nürburgring record*

A four-door car with 1,526bhp worth of electric horsepowers has managed to lap the Nürburgring in 6m 46.874s, making it not just the fastest four-door car to have done so, but the fastest electric car full stop.

Except, it sort of also hasn’t, because the four-door car in question was but a prototype. And a fully stripped-out one at that. Which means the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT’s time of 7m 07.55s set earlier this year – and the Rimac Nevera’s 7m 05.298s just about holds. For now.

It’s a whopper of a gauntlet to have thrown down, mind: a gauntlet in the shape of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, a car with “two V8s” and “one V6s”. Sadly, this does not mean what you and I think it means.

Instead, it means electricity, and lots of it. There’s a triplet of e-motors, to produce what Xiaomi is calling its ‘HyperEngine V8s’, able to spin right up to 27,200rpm, powered by a very powerful battery and able to generate that colossal horsepower figure.

It will be, says Xiaomi, enough to propel the SU7 Ultra for two full-bore laps around the ‘Ring without break, though your internals might need one. Because this car’s been thoroughly, exhaustively set up to perform at specifically this place.

They’ve driven 3,000km across six weeks earlier this year honing the acceleration, cornering, braking and suspension, in preparation for a proper production version of the SU7 Ultra to have a crack at the ‘Ring at some point in 2025. Which is when you’ll be able to buy one for 814,900 yuan (just under £90k).

And it looks… good. The body’s been honed for max aero of course, able to generate 285kg of downforce which Xiaomi tells us is “comparable to that of a supercar”. Lots of it is made up of carbon fibre, and all of it is able to get a real move on when necessary: 0-62mph (with a one-foot rollout) takes a claimed 1.98s, 0-124mph takes just 5.86s, and it’ll top out at 217mph.

There are big fat brakes. Dual chamber air springs. “High performance continuous damping control” or the option of Bilstein coilovers. In short, it’s a thoroughly serious bit of kit.

So reckon Porsche, Tesla and Rimac should take this four-door car with 1,526bhp worth of electric horsepowers very seriously too? Have a watch of the video below and let us know...