Huawei's Aito M8 EV flies through 15,000 orders in just 72 hours after pre-sales open

The Huawei Aito M8 EV has taken China’s electric vehicle market by storm, racking up over 15,000 pre-orders in just three days.

Launched on July 25, the fully electric SUV drew massive attention from buyers, thanks to its sleek design, cutting-edge tech, and generous incentives.

This comes on the heels of the wildly successful Huawei Aito M8 EREV (extended-range EV), which set similar records earlier this year.

Huawei’s rapid rise in the automotive world proves it’s no longer just a telecom giant, but a serious EV contender.

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China’s new potential ‘Tesla killer’

The new Huawei Aito M8 EV is a pure-electric version of the brand’s flagship SUV, with a starting price of RMB 378,000 ($52,670).

When footage of the car was released earlier this year, many netizens were impressed, with some even saying that it makes Tesla look ‘outdated’.

Within just eight hours of pre-sales opening, more than 10,000 units were reserved, and that number soared past 15,000 within 72 hours.

The M8 EV is built on an 800-volt architecture, equipped with batteries from CATL, the company that recently debuted EV batteries that can be swapped as quick as filling up at a gas station.

It also boasts a refined design, including a new front bumper and aerodynamic styling upgrades over the EREV version.

Buyers who placed a $700 deposit also received perks like a matching $700 discount and a free Night Violet exterior upgrade.

The Huawei Aito M8 EV is not alone in its success

This launch builds on the success of the M8 EREV, which reached 28,000 orders in just 12 hours back in March, and later surpassed 100,000 pre-orders within a month.

While these are some impressive numbers, Chinese EVs are no stranger to receiving huge orders in a short period of time.

Just a month ago, the new Xiaomi YU7 sold an astonishing 200,000 units in just three minutes, highlighting the crazy demand for EVs in China.

It’s not just pre-order hype either; sales of BYD’s cheapest EV recently crossed the one-million mark in just over two years, which is about half the time it took for the Toyota Corolla and the Tesla Model 3.

Both variants are part of Aito’s partnership with Chinese car manufacturer Seres, through Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance.

Shared features include Huawei’s ADS 3.0 driver-assist system, lidar, and advanced radar sensors.

While the Chinese EV market is undoubtedly making a big splash in the car world, with BYD most noticeably leading the charge by surpassing Tesla in the global EV market, it’s not all good news.

While there has been an explosion of EV companies based in China, not all of them are expected to thrive, with experts predicting that only 15 of the 129 Chinese EV brands will survive by 2030.

They also need to ensure that they do not rest on their laurels.

Tesla recently took on a series of advanced driver-assistance system challenges in China, and beat out many of its Chinese competitors, showing that the American EV giant is not out of the game yet.

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