A Chinese electric vehicle has achieved something no car has done before. The Xiaomi YU7 GT completed the first-ever driverless lap of Germany’s famous Nürburgring race track, creating an entirely new category in automotive history and highlighting the rapid advancement of autonomous driving technology.
The vehicle completed the 20.8-kilometer circuit in 10 minutes and 29.483 seconds without any human intervention behind the wheel.
A New Milestone for Autonomous Driving
Automakers have long used the Nürburgring to test performance and durability. Records exist for the fastest production cars, sedans, and electric vehicles. Until now, however, no vehicle had completed an official lap without a driver.
The record-setting Xiaomi YU7 GT used the same 1,003-horsepower powertrain available to customers. The vehicle offers a top speed of 186 mph, accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 2.92 seconds, and delivers a range of 705 kilometers on a single charge.
“The fact that the lap was completed at all is the biggest achievement,” the report noted.
Self-Driving Technology Prioritizes Safety
While the accomplishment was historic, the lap time itself was not record-breaking. The vehicle’s self-driving technology took a conservative approach around the demanding circuit, finishing more than three minutes slower than the same vehicle driven by a human.
With a driver behind the wheel, the Xiaomi YU7 GT previously completed the track in 7 minutes and 22.755 seconds.
The difference highlights how current advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) continue to prioritize safety over outright speed.
Electric Vehicles Push New Boundaries
The Nürburgring is widely considered one of the world’s most difficult race tracks due to its sharp corners, blind turns, steep elevation changes, and long layout.
For years, completing a lap in under 10 minutes was considered impressive. Today, competition among high-performance electric vehicles (EVs) and sports cars has dramatically raised the benchmark.
Xiaomi’s achievement suggests the future of autonomous driving may extend beyond public roads and into high-performance testing environments.
Read also: Xiaomi trials humanoid robots in EV factory as automation push intensifies
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