CINEVE | Beyond Bigger Screens: Decoding the Fundamental Redesign Logic Behind Xiaomi’s Smart Cabin

As competition in smart cabins gradually falls into an arms race over screen size and the number of displays, Xiaomi Motors has introduced an alternative technological approach through its Pengcheng series — focusing on spatial reconfiguration to transform the SUV cabin from a fixed passenger compartment into a flexible mobile living space that can adapt to different needs. Built upon three and a half years of underlying research and development of the Kunlun architecture, the Pengcheng series combines a flat floor design, ultra-long sliding rails, and multi-degree-of-freedom seat mechanisms to enable flexible switching between 18 different scenario modes, providing a new reference paradigm for the interior design of family SUVs.

1. Architecture-Native Design: The Flat Floor Is Not “Carved Out” — It Requires a Complete Hardware Reconstruction

The foundation of a variable cabin is a fully continuous flat floor without any interruptions. The reason traditional seven-seat SUVs struggle to achieve this lies in the conflicting layout requirements of their underlying chassis hardware: battery packs create raised sections, rear electric drive systems occupy valuable cabin space, and fuel tanks require dedicated installation areas.

With these factors combined, the second and third rows of traditional SUVs typically feature steps and height differences in the floor structure. As a result, seat rails can only be arranged in separate sections, completely disrupting the continuity and flexibility of the interior space.

Xiaomi’s solution is to rearrange all core components from the underlying architecture level, achieving a complete flat-floor cabin space through three key optimizations:

• Adopting a highly integrated coaxial rear electric drive system with the electronic control unit positioned at the front, directly reducing the floor thickness in the electric drive area by 145 mm;

• Relocating the battery pack control module from the top to the front and rear areas of the vehicle body, further lowering the floor height by 180 mm;

• Integrating a 60L fuel tank within the gap between the battery pack and electric drive system, maximizing space utilization without occupying cabin space or compromising driving range.

After these three optimizations, the total thickness of the rear floor is reduced to only 298 mm, up to 200 mm less than mainstream SUVs in the same segment. This ultimately creates a continuous flat-floor layout with a total length of 2.9 meters and an inclination angle of only 2.95°, providing 4.4 square meters of usable floor area inside the cabin.

The intrusion of the rear wheel arches has also been optimized simultaneously. Through a spring-damper separation design combined with the relocation of the rear air-conditioning ducts to the sides, the third-row seating area is no longer significantly restricted by the wheel arches. This provides the fundamental foundation for the N90 Max to adopt a 2+2+3 seven-seat layout — ensuring sufficient lateral seating space for three passengers in the third row and eliminating the common “bench-like” cramped experience found in traditional seven-seat SUVs.

2. Six-Rail Linkage System: How Xiaomi Solves the Industry Challenges of Long Sliding Rails

If the flat floor is the stage, the sliding rail system is the core actuator that enables spatial transformation. Although some vehicles in the industry have attempted to introduce long sliding rail designs, they generally face three major challenges: insufficient structural strength, looseness and abnormal noises, and poor long-term durability. As a result, many concepts have remained limited to the prototype stage.

The Pengcheng N90 Max integrates six ultra-long sliding rails inside the cabin, with each rail reaching a maximum length of 1,938 mm. The system covers the second- and third-row seats as well as the central armrest island, allowing the seats to achieve a sliding range of up to 900 mm. By comparison, the seat rail travel of most conventional family SUVs is typically only within the range of 200–300 mm.

To address the engineering challenges of long sliding rails, the entire system has been strengthened to meet automotive-grade standards, from materials selection to validation testing:

• The sliding rail structure adopts 7-series reinforced aluminum alloy, with tensile strength increased by 9% compared with conventional 7-series aluminum alloy. The locking strength reaches 54,000 N, while the maximum peel strength reaches 57,000 N, meeting collision load requirements;

• The system has completed 15,000 reciprocating sliding cycles under a wide temperature range from -20°C to 60°C, ensuring no abnormal noise or looseness throughout the vehicle’s entire service life.

The daily maintenance cost is basically on par with conventional sliding rail systems, eliminating users’ concerns about dust accumulation and future repairs.

The freedom-of-movement design at the seat level also reflects careful engineering trade-offs. The front driver and passenger seats support 180° electric rotation, which has been validated through 5,500 durability tests. However, the function is only available when the vehicle is in P (Park) mode. Instead of adopting the more expensive ABTS (Active Belt-in-Seat) integrated seat belt solution, Xiaomi made a precise judgment based on domestic regulatory requirements: since seat rotation is prohibited during driving, there is no need to pay additional costs for a low-frequency scenario.

Combined with the forward-and-backward sliding center armrest island, the cabin can be transformed into a multifunctional tea table by moving it rearward. It comes equipped with cup holders and a wireless charging panel, and can also be connected with an external folding table board. The second-row independent seats support lateral movement. When moved closer together, they create a private two-person space; when separated, they leave a central passageway for easier access to the third row. The third-row seats support electric forward movement and backrest folding, allowing users to flexibly expand the trunk capacity according to different needs.

The final space utilization figures are as follows: In the standard seven-seat configuration, the trunk offers 577L of cargo capacity, enough to accommodate seven 20-inch suitcases. After moving the third-row seats forward, the capacity expands to 1,351L. With both the second and third rows moved forward and folded down, the maximum cargo volume reaches 1,831L, creating a fully connected flat loading space.

3. Scenario Integration: From “Hardware Stacking” to “Delivered User Experience”

The ultimate value of spatial mechanisms lies in the actual user experience they create. Xiaomi has designed 18 cabin scenarios for the Pengcheng series, covering diverse needs such as commuting, social interaction, relaxation, entertainment, and storage. All modes can be activated instantly through voice commands, with the seats, center island, air conditioning, ambient lighting, and sunshades working together through synchronized adjustments — eliminating the need for users to manually configure each function one by one.

Among these, the most frequently used scenarios include: In the face-to-face meeting mode, the front seats rotate and the center island moves backward, creating a four-person conversational space. In the large four-seat mode, the second-row seats slide to the rear and recline into a zero-gravity position, providing rear legroom comparable to an MPV. In the bed mode, the seatbacks fold down to create a continuous flat sleeping surface, combined with sunshades and air conditioning to meet resting needs during parking. Other scenarios include office mode, family mode, and maximum storage mode, adapting the cabin to different family usage scenarios.

The interior details are also designed around a home-like experience. The cabin’s high-contact areas feature extensive soft-touch materials, with fabrics that have passed OEKO-TEX baby and infant safety certification. The dashboard adopts hidden mechanical air vents and expandable threaded interfaces. The N90 Max is equipped with four zero-gravity seats, a 21.4-inch rear entertainment screen, and a 9L independent compressor refrigerator. Combined with dual-zone physical sunshades and digital light curtain ambient lighting, these features further enhance the cabin’s privacy and comfort.

cage body structure uses high-strength steel and aluminum alloys accounting for 90.4% of the body, with critical areas reinforced by 2,200 MPa ultra-high-strength steel. The connection points between the seat rails and the vehicle body have also undergone dedicated reinforcement. During cabin scenario transitions, the system is equipped with 39 anti-pinch detection points and obstacle recognition functions to ensure safe operation. The all-directional crash testing standards exceed both Chinese and U.S. regulatory requirements. The rear-impact test was conducted at a speed of 92 km/h, with collision energy 238.6% higher than the national standard, demonstrating the vehicle’s strong safety performance under extreme conditions.

Xiaomi’s Pengcheng smart cabin design is, at its core, a redefinition of the value of automotive space.

Over the past decade, competition in smart cabins has largely focused on “visible hardware” — larger screens, more powerful chips, and more functions. However, as all brands continue competing on the same track, the differences perceived by users are becoming increasingly smaller, while the marginal benefits of experience improvements are rapidly declining.

The Pengcheng series has chosen a different path: returning to the most fundamental “spatial attribute” of automobiles. Through architecture-level engineering optimization, it unlocks the physical boundaries of cabin space; through precision mechanical design, it gives the space greater flexibility; and ultimately, through a scenario-based system, it completes a closed-loop user experience. It is not simply adding more features to an existing cabin — it is reconstructing the underlying logic of cabin value from the ground up. From “installing components” to “creating space,” a new round of technological evolution in automotive interior design has already begun.