Nobel Laureate Doesn't Buy BBA, Yet Spends Millions Choosing an Avatr 07?

July 9, 2026, Singapore, Avatr store, a car key was handed to a scholar wearing a shirt and sporting a beard — Konstantin Novoselov, 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, and one of the discoverers of graphene. He officially became the Avatr 07's 100,000th owner.

This is interesting. A top physicist who won a Nobel Prize for "tearing single-layer graphene using tape" did not choose a Silicon Valley star car, but instead cast his vote for a Chinese brand. Why?

Two months ago, Novoselov went to Chongqing for business and took the Avatr for a test drive along the way. His original words were: "Unique design, elegant, full of future sense; the cockpit has a strong tech feel, smart interaction seems emotional." He also added: "This is my first Chinese car, both the innovation strength and luxury quality surprised me."

You should know that cars sold in the Singapore market do not have the concept of "cheap". The Avatr 07's starting price in the local market exceeds 1 million RMB, directly competing with traditional luxury brands. In the first quarter of 2026, pure electric vehicles accounted for 57.6% of newly registered cars in Singapore — this means, to stand in this mature high-end market, it relies not on price tags, but on solid product power.

The Avatr 07 is equipped with Huawei Qiankun ADS 4 and HarmonyOS Cockpit 5. Intelligent driving, chassis tuning, and safety configurations are all stacked to the forefront of the industry. From the 70,000th unit to the 100,000th unit rolling off the line, in less than a year, this shows indirectly that the market is voting with its feet.

But what is more worth pondering is the meaning behind this choice.

In the past we were used to saying "Chinese cars going global", the subtext was often "exchanging cost-performance for market". But when a Nobel laureate, a world-class materials scientist, puts Chinese cars into their daily life, this narrative is subverted — he chose not "enough", but "good enough to be worth it".

Currently Avatr has entered 43 countries and regions, planning to cover over 110 by 2030. Like Thai Vice Premier, King of Bhutan, Qatar royal family members, etc., have long become its users.

So, back to the question at the beginning: Why does a Nobel laureate not buy Tesla, but choose a Chinese electric car?

The answer might not be complex — relying on it being good enough. Good enough to make a person who deals with "future materials" every day willing to treat it as today's daily travel tool. This is more convincing than any ad slogan.