Electric vehicles may be next for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi as it lines up patents

China’s top smartphone maker Xiaomi may be preparing to move into the electric car industry, at least if its recently filed patents are any indication.

China’s intellectual property office, known by the acronym SIPO, from last month began making public a series of automobile-related patents that Xiaomi had filed earlier in the year. 

These include patents for cruise control, handling, navigation systems, notification systems and numerous other devices related to the functionality of a vehicle.

Although Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun denied during an industry forum in March that he was eyeing the EV market, the rumours have refused to go away. He even went so far as to say Xiami would not target this area for at least the next three to five years. 

“It’s not that we aren’t optimistic” about the prospects of this emerging industry, he said, but “our energy is limited".

If the company were to make a move in this direction, now would be a good time.