Aito, the automotive brand backed by Huawei and Seres Group, has opened pre-sales for the battery electric vehicle (BEV) version of its M8 SUV, the company said Friday. The vehicle is scheduled to launch officially in August.
The starting price for the Aito M8 BEV is RMB 378,000 ($52,780), according to a post by Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) on Weibo. Customers who place a deposit of RMB 5,000 will receive a discount of the same amount and a complimentary purple exterior option valued at RMB 8,000.
Originally launched on April 16 as an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV), the M8 now adds a BEV variant. The new version will be available in five-seat and six-seat configurations, maintaining dimensions of 5,190 mm in length, 1,999 mm in width, and 1,795 mm in height, with a 3,105 mm wheelbase—identical to the EREV model.
The M8 BEV is built on Huawei’s 800-volt high-voltage platform and comes equipped with a 100-kWh CATL battery pack, offering a CLTC-rated range of up to 705 kilometers. The vehicle also features Huawei’s advanced intelligent driving technologies, including a 192-channel LiDAR system, rear-facing solid-state LiDAR, and five 4D millimeter-wave radars to support active safety and smart parking.
In a Weibo post on July 23, Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, said the Aito M8 BEV would be the first model to debut the Huawei DriveONE seven-in-one electric drive system with dual redundant power supply. “The electric drive can save 30 percent of the cabin and trunk space and support safety redundancy for higher levels of assisted driving,” Yu wrote.
The M8 is Aito’s fourth model, following the M5, M7, and M9. The M5 and M9 are available in both BEV and EREV versions, while the M7 remains EREV-only.
