Li Auto Addresses Battery Brand Controversy for the First Time: No Matter Which Supplier's Battery It Is, Li Auto Will Take Full Responsibility

Image source: Visual China

The power battery has always been a high - frequency battlefield for competition in the new energy vehicle industry.

It usually accounts for 30% - 40% of the BOM (Bill of Materials) cost of a new energy vehicle. Meanwhile, as the heart of an electric vehicle, it directly determines the core experiences such as range, charging efficiency, safety, and lifespan. It is one of the few components that can simultaneously affect product strength and cost structure.

This means that the competition around power batteries has never stopped between car manufacturers and suppliers, and even within the battery industry. In the past few years, whether it's Tesla, BYD, Geely, or the leading domestic new - force car manufacturers, they have all successively moved towards self - research or self - production of batteries.

Li Auto is no exception. With the launch of the new Li L8, the "Li - branded battery" has also been officially installed in the vehicle. Li Auto responded for the first time to the thinking behind the layout of the "Li - branded battery".

As new energy vehicles have become more popular, exceeding a 60% penetration rate, battery manufacturers have become a crucial decision - making factor for consumers when buying a car. CATL, following the example of Intel, has started to invest heavily in building brand influence at the consumer end, aiming to gain higher premium capabilities.

For car manufacturers, they need to have their own battery brands to gain more control over costs. Therefore, battery brands of various car manufacturers have emerged. Huawei's Hongmeng Zhixing has launched the "Giant Whale Battery" externally. Li Auto also established a joint venture with Sunwoda in 2025 to create the self - developed "Li - branded battery".

Liu Zhimin, the senior director of Li Auto's battery department, said that for users, there are basically three core concerns about batteries: first, the product performance brought by technical strength; second, the product quality determined by production control; third, the sense of trust brought by brand endorsement.

A new round of competition is inevitably unfolding between the supply chain and car manufacturers regarding the brand recognition of core components. Liu Liguo, the senior vice - president of Li Auto's vehicle electrification, frankly said that CATL, as a To B enterprise, has achieved great success in To C brand building, which has promoted the public's understanding of new energy batteries.

But he also said that car manufacturers are the biggest responsible parties for the overall vehicle operating conditions. No matter who produces the battery, it must be Li Auto that ultimately guarantees the user experience and safety. "We dare to promise that the battery health will not be less than 75% after 8 years and 160,000 kilometers. This is our greatest confidence in our self - developed technology and quality control."

Liu Liguo introduced that in the actual vehicle development process, such as the in - depth integration of the battery and the chassis, the calibration of the vehicle - battery thermal management strategy, and the cloud - based safety early warning throughout the life cycle, these core tasks that determine the final experience are all led by Li Auto.

Li Auto's battery research and development can be traced back to the self - developed SEV battery PACK in 2015. In the past five years, Li Auto has cumulatively invested more than 500 million yuan in the research and development of 5C ultra - fast charging batteries and has assembled a core battery R & D team of nearly 300 people.

The "Li - branded" battery jointly launched by Li Auto and Sunwoda is a more complete implementation of Li Auto's self - research capabilities in batteries.

Liu Zhimin said that from the R & D level, Li Auto completely defines the products of its self - developed batteries. All the underlying development from the cell level (including material formula and structural system) to the entire battery Pack and BMS (Battery Management System) is led by Li Auto. The industrialization of the battery is jointly completed by both parties.

"The Li Auto team serves as the chairman of the joint - venture company. The overall R & D design, manufacturing process, and quality standards are all uniformly regulated and required by Li Auto."

When asked whether self - developed batteries are for cost reduction, Liu Liguo said: "Li Auto's self - research on batteries has never been for cost reduction."

"Our battery is definitely not a 'standard product'. It has a very high degree of coupling with the vehicle's chassis architecture and thermal management system. When there is no ready - made product in the industry that can meet our extreme requirements, we have to get involved ourselves and conduct full - stack self - research from the underlying materials, cell design to the system architecture." Liu Liguo said.

However, striving for the right to speak in products, technology, and brands has always been a common strategy for car manufacturers to seek cost control. 36Kr Auto learned that for lithium iron phosphate battery packs with the same power, the quotes from second - tier battery manufacturers such as CALB, Gotion High - tech, and Sunwoda to car manufacturers are about 3% - 10% lower than that of CATL.

Although the self - developed "Li - branded" battery has been officially installed in the vehicle, Li Auto will not interrupt cooperation with other battery suppliers. Liu Liguo said that the self - research battery team must compete with battery suppliers such as CATL and be screened based on product strength, safety, quality, cost, and delivery (P - S - Q - C - D).

"Whoever performs better comprehensively can get a share of the vehicle models."

On the day of the launch of the Li L8, 36Kr had an exchange with Liu Liguo, the senior vice - president of Li Auto's vehicle electrification, and Liu Zhimin, the senior director of Li Auto's power battery department. The following is the edited conversation content:

Question: Currently, consumers generally recognize CATL's batteries. If Li Auto installs self - developed batteries, how will it dispel consumers' concerns?

Liu Zhimin: For us, CATL is an excellent and trustworthy partner. In the development of each of our products, Li Auto defines the requirements and product solutions in the early stage. We have two models: one is to jointly create with suppliers, and the other is to conduct self - research and development ourselves.

For users, there are basically three core concerns about batteries: first, the product performance brought by technical strength; second, the product quality determined by production control; third, the sense of trust brought by brand endorsement.

From a technical perspective: For each generation of Li Auto's products, the battery performance is defined by Li Auto. No matter which supplier we choose, whether it is through the application of platform technology or self - research and self - construction, the relevant R & D is actually led by Li Auto.

From a quality perspective: No matter who produces the battery, it must meet Li Auto's extremely strict unified standards before leaving the factory. This ensures that the performance, safety, and lifespan presented to users are exactly the same. The final quality experience is guaranteed by Li Auto.

Liu Liguo: Let me add one thing. When consumers buy a whole vehicle, if there is a problem with the car's battery, who will the user think of first?

Definitely the car manufacturer. So, no matter who manufactures the battery on behalf of Li Auto, it must be Li Auto that ultimately guarantees the user experience and safety. We dare to promise that the battery health will not be less than 75% after 8 years and 160,000 kilometers. This is our greatest confidence in our self - developed technology and quality control.

Question: Does CATL's To C brand building have an impact on Li Auto?

Liu Liguo: For automobile products, although the battery is a core component, what is ultimately delivered to users is a complete vehicle. Users buy the comprehensive experience of the whole vehicle, not just a single battery.

In the actual vehicle development process, such as the in - depth integration of the battery and the chassis, the calibration of the vehicle - battery thermal management strategy, and the cloud - based safety early warning throughout the life cycle, these core tasks that determine the final experience are all led by Li Auto.

So, we don't think this is an impact. Excellent suppliers provide a good foundation, and Li Auto focuses its energy on technological innovation at the vehicle level. No matter which excellent supplier is used, Li Auto will always be the first responsible party for the safety, performance, and after - sales service of the whole vehicle.

Question: Li Auto has now launched the "Li - branded battery". The outside world is curious about why you choose to self - research batteries. Is it for cost reduction?

Liu Liguo: Li Auto's self - research on batteries has never been for cost reduction. If it's just for the sake of being cheap, it's the easiest to directly buy "standard products" on the market.

The core reason for our choice of self - research is that we need to solve the real pain points of users, and there is no ready - made perfect solution on the market.

This means that our battery is definitely not a "standard product". It has a very high degree of coupling with the vehicle's chassis architecture and thermal management system.

When there is no ready - made product in the industry that can meet our extreme requirements, we have to get involved ourselves and conduct full - stack self - research from the underlying materials, cell design to the system architecture. We do self - research to deliver value (performance, safety, lifespan) that exceeds users' expectations into their hands.

Question: How much has Li Auto invested in self - developed batteries?

Liu Zhimin: Our self - research is highly focused on the development of 5C ultra - fast charging batteries. In the past five years, we have made a large amount of investment, and the fixed investment in the battery R & D platform has exceeded 500 million yuan.

Li Auto has a dedicated battery R & D team of about 270 - 280 people. At the same time, we conduct joint R & D with top domestic research institutions such as Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. We have also established a post - doctoral workstation to conduct in - depth layout of the most cutting - edge battery technologies.

Question: What will be the proportion of self - research and external procurement?

Liu Liguo: As for the proportion of self - research and external procurement, Li Auto will not set a fixed proportion.

We will decide through an internal competition mechanism. We will establish a healthy dual - line competition relationship based on the P - S - Q - C - D mechanism (i.e., Product strength, Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery).

We also don't want our internal self - research team to lose the pressure of external competition. Therefore, whoever performs better in the comprehensive dimension of the product can get a larger share of the vehicle models.

Question: How is the division of labor in the joint - venture company between Li Auto and Sunwoda?

Liu Zhimin: Our cooperation with the joint - venture company is divided into two levels: the first is R & D, and the second is manufacturing.

From the R & D level, Li Auto completely defines the products of its self - developed batteries. All the underlying development from the cell level (including material formula and structural system) to the entire battery Pack and BMS (Battery Management System) is led by Li Auto. In some links, we will jointly conduct R & D with the partner's team, which requires industrial collaboration.

From the manufacturing level, in the joint - venture company, we have a complete set of operating mechanisms. The Li Auto team serves as the chairman of the joint - venture company. The overall R & D design, manufacturing process, and quality standards are all uniformly regulated and required by Li Auto. In the specific manufacturing execution links, we will share the partner's mature manufacturing platform and divide the work according to the respective strengths of both parties.

Question: Why did you choose to cooperate with Sunwoda?

Liu Liguo: What we core value is its founder, the overall values, and the situation of its investment in technology. This includes its accumulation in the cell chemical system and supply capacity, the experience of supplying star products, and its future investment in power batteries. These are the reasons why we value Sunwoda.

Liu Zhimin: Let me add the logic behind choosing Sunwoda. First, when we started the project development with Sunwoda, our most important goal was to develop 5C ultra - fast charging. Sunwoda is the world's largest supplier of HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) lithium - ion batteries. The charge - discharge performance of HEV batteries, especially the charging performance, can reach 80C. So, we value Sunwoda's underlying technical foundation.

Second, Sunwoda is a core battery supplier for Apple. The cooperation with Apple has brought a lot of experience in collaborating with customers.

Question: With the self - research of batteries, will there be more self - research and self - production of key components?

Liu Liguo: When choosing between in - depth self - research and in - depth cooperation, Li Auto has an internal "technology life - cycle curve" judgment standard. When entering an industry, if we think that a certain technology is the future trend but the mature technology in the market at the current stage is not strong, we will guide and drive this industry. If there is no good ready - made product in the current market, we will choose self - research.

Question: Li Auto is also involved in fields such as embodied intelligence and humanoid robots. Is there any layout for power batteries in this regard?

Liu Liguo: Embodied intelligence involves many core self - research modules, including vision, algorithms, motors, and the three - electric system. The battery system of robots has its own characteristics. It doesn't have a strong demand for fast charging. Its core requirements are high energy density, light weight, and low cost. Currently, a small team is supporting the early - stage demand exploration.

However, a lot of the technology and early - stage reserves we have accumulated in the development of automotive power batteries can be seamlessly transferred to robot batteries in the future.

Question: Has Li Auto conducted pre - research on solid - state batteries?

Liu Liguo: Li Auto actually started to layout relevant technical points of solid - state batteries in 2019. Around 2020, it invested tens of millions of yuan in pre - research with universities and partners.

From scientific problems to engineering problems and then to industrialization, solid - state batteries need to go through a long cycle, and there are still many technical bottlenecks in the middle.

Solid - state batteries involve a lot of details, including production processes, system structures, energy density, and fast - charging performance. From our industry understanding, even by 2030, if the market share of all - solid - state batteries in the entire automotive industry can reach 5%, it will already be a very big leap.