We’ve reached 5,000 models on Autocade, after 16 years. The 5,000th model entry was for the Xiaomi SU7, the first car from the Chinese cellphone brand. This wasn’t random: when I realized we had hit 4,999, I thought about what we could mark the 5,000-model milestone with. The most aerodynamic electric production car in the world (Cd at 0,195) with a brand that has done very well in the cellphone world (I own one) seemed a fitting choice.
We don’t know how well Xiaomi will fare in the car business, though the SU7 has been under development for at least three years. The CLTC has the range at 830 km for the Pro model—even if it’s not accurate, then, say, a potential 600 km is very impressive. The Pro can also crack 100 km/h from standstill in 2·78 s.
Right now, the car business looks less certain than it ever did as we transition from internal combustion engines, so something that represents the brave new world seems perfect. Can Xiaomi even extend its brand into cars? Early waiting lists suggest they can.
The oldest model shown on the oldest home page (March 12, 2008) stored at the Internet Archive was the Renault Mégane II. It probably was the first car I entered on to the database; the history page shows it went up on March 9, 2008. Some of the oldest image files on the site have been deleted in favour of better-quality ones, so this isn’t something we can reveal using an image search.
We’ve come a very long way since then, with 36 million page views and a print Yearbook. I’m truly grateful for all the encouragement and support I’m getting out there. Thank you.
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