Xiaomi has released an electric car that is $4,000 cheaper than Tesla Model 3

The Chinese company Xiaomi has started selling its first electric car for much less than the Tesla Model 3.

Here's What We Know

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said that the standard version of the SU7 will be sold in China for 215,900 yuan ($30,408), which means that each car will make a loss for the company.

The Tesla Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan in China.

According to Lei, the standard version of the SU7 outperforms the Model 3 in more than 90% of its features, except for two aspects in which he said Xiaomi may need at least three to five years to catch up with Tesla. He also added that the SU7 had a minimum range of 700 kilometres, compared to the Model 3's 606 kilometres.

The company said that orders exceeded 50,000 vehicles within 27 minutes of the start of sales.

Deliveries will begin by the end of April. The CEO noted that Xiaomi's car factory, in which all "key" stages are fully automated, can produce an SU7 every 76 seconds.

Source: CNBC