Xiaomi made its name in cars with performance figures and lap times. Its new Sky Nomad N90 throws that script out. Host Elliot Richards frames the whole video around one idea: this is a car built for the people in the back, not the driver. The N90 is a large three-row SUV, over 5.2 metres long with a wheelbase just over 3 metres, and it is a hybrid rather than a pure EV, which is a first for the company. The video quotes a 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, a choice of 52 kWh or 76 kWh batteries, 464 km of pure electric range and 1,700 km combined on the CLTC cycle. There is also a smaller five-seat N70 shown alongside it, sharing the same powertrain.
The interior is where Xiaomi is spending its energy, and the timing tells you why. The video is candid that Xiaomi is late to China's three-row hybrid SUV segment, naming established rivals like Li Auto's L9 and the Aito M9, so it cannot win on novelty alone. It is part of a wider pattern worth flagging: several Chinese brands that launched as EV-only are now adding engines back in as range-extenders or hybrids to chase buyers who want long trips without charging stops. Two things follow for anyone watching from outside China. This is a home-market car with no Western launch stated in the video, and the host argues the real reason to buy it is not the hardware everyone else also has, but Xiaomi's software ecosystem, which is the one thing rivals cannot copy.
Inside, the N90 leans hard into living space. Richards demonstrates a lounge mode where the front seats rotate to face the rear, the second-row backs fold, and a table slides out on one of six seat rails, turning the cabin into a room. He shows an official Xiaomi table accessory that clips into the cup holders with a metal clasp, and separate modes that lay the seats flat into a bed or recline them into a zero-gravity position. He points to a fridge with heating and cooling, a third row he says has proper legroom and headroom plus two ISOFIX points, and 577 litres of boot space with all three rows up, expanding past 1,800 litres folded. The host frames this as the founder's brief for a car you can work, sleep and live in, not just drive.
On the hardware around all that, the video is more measured. Richards calls the exterior design deliberately safe rather than radical, with dragonfly-style headlights carried over from Xiaomi's EVs, frameless mirrors, and a pebble-shaped roof sensor. He offers a personal opinion that the rear styling resembles the Zeekr 9X, which he raises as his own observation. Doors open to 90 degrees and close electronically, which he says makes fitting a child seat unusually easy, and the whole centre console slides back on its rails. The video reports acceleration under six seconds to 100 km/h and CDC adaptive dampers, but the host is upfront that he could not properly test the drive. A smaller five-seat N70 sits alongside it, sharing the engine and battery on a shorter wheelbase and expected to cost less, though its interior was still under embargo at filming.
Bottom line: If the pitch is "your family will never want to get out," the Sky Nomad looks like it delivers, and the rotating-lounge party trick is genuinely clever. But a car that admits it is more interesting parked than moving is making a bet that buyers value the cabin over the drive. In China's crowded three-row market, Xiaomi's real weapon is its software, not its seats. Watch whether that ecosystem is enough to pull sales from Li Auto and Aito, because on paper alone this one arrives late.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.