Ideal's Strategic Move: The All-New L9 Hits the Market, Starting at RMB 459,800 | Frontline Report
Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto
The press conference that made Li Xiang go all out to dance for attention was only for the launch of the new-generation Li L9.
On May 15th, Li Auto launched the new-generation Li L9, offering two versions - the Li L9 livis, priced at 509,800 yuan; and the Li L9 Ultra, priced at 459,800 yuan. Moreover, Li Auto provided a first-sale benefit of 20,000 yuan in cash, which is valid until June 30th.
36Kr Auto once reported that Li Auto's primary goal this year is to strengthen the foundation of the extended-range and high-end markets. This year, the company will shift its product focus back to the extended-range market and regain the leading position in the extended-range segment with upgraded products.
The new-generation Li L9 is the first shot.
Before the launch, we experienced the new Li L9 livis. A rather intuitive feeling is that both the exterior and interior textures, as well as the vehicle's performance, have been significantly improved compared to the previous generation.
In terms of appearance, the Li L9 livis adopts a two-tone body for the first time. On the basis of retaining its classic recognition, the front overhang is made shorter and the rear overhang is lengthened, shifting the visual center of gravity backward. The vehicle is 5,255 mm long, 2,000 mm wide, and 1,810 mm high, with a wheelbase of 3,125 mm.
The halo lights on the vehicle's front face have been upgraded to three colors. White represents the normal state, blue represents states such as assisted parking when there is no one in the car, and orange represents states such as voice interaction outside the car.
In addition to retaining the original style, the cabin interior has been upgraded in many places. The models offer both mechanical and electronic door handles inside and outside the car, and the four electric doors are equipped with capacitive anti-pinch strips, providing anti-pinch capabilities.
Moreover, the new-generation L9 is equipped with zero-gravity seats, and the second row is equipped with electric sunshades and multi-level dimming glass with high heat insulation.
Li L9 livis cabin
In terms of intelligence, the front row of the new-generation Li L9 is equipped with a 29-inch 6K integrated ultra-wide panoramic screen, supporting 90Hz high refresh rate. The cabin chip has been upgraded to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8797 chip. The rear cabin is equipped with a 21-inch 4K magic movable screen, supporting 120 mm electric sliding. You can summon the screen to move back and forth with a wave of your hand.
In the field of intelligent driving, the L9 Livis is equipped with two self-developed Maher M100 5nm automotive-grade chips by Li Auto, with a total computing power of 2,560 TOPS. The Ultra version is equipped with one Maher M100, combined with the 3D ViT perception model and the Maher VLA intelligent driving large model. During the actual test drive, it showed stable performance on both highways and urban roads.
The chassis is the biggest upgrade point in the vehicle's performance this time. The L9 Livis is the first to be equipped with a full-fledged wire-controlled active chassis, integrating three core technologies: wire-controlled steering, wire-controlled mechanical braking, and rear-wheel steering. (For a detailed explanation of the chassis technology of the Li L9 Livis, you can refer to “Liu Liguo, the person in charge of Li Auto's vehicle R & D: Saying that Li Auto doesn't value technology is a big misunderstanding” reported by 36Kr before).
During the actual test drive, the new-generation Li L9 can actively control the vehicle's body posture when facing road conditions such as flying ramps, speed bumps, continuous undulating roads, and mountain bends.
In terms of range, all new models are standardly equipped with a 72.7 kWh 5C large-capacity battery, paired with Li Auto's self-developed third-generation extended-range generator. The CLTC pure-electric range is 420 km, and the comprehensive range is 1,650 km.
Li Auto has put a lot of effort into the third-generation extended-range generator, adopting a double active noise reduction silent cabin, more than 150 acoustic packages, and dual active noise reduction for RNC road noise and EOC extended-range generator. During the test drive, even when the vehicle speed reached 80 - 90 km/h, the NVH inside the car was not significantly affected.
According to the official test data of Li Auto, the NVH performance of the Li L9 livis is very close to that of the pure-electric model Li i8.
It can be seen that Li Auto has made a lot of efforts in the new-generation Li L9 models. The official launch price of the L9 livis is 50,000 yuan different from the price previously given by Li Xiang, showing great sincerity to the market. Although the Ultra version priced at 459,800 yuan has some reduced configurations, its price is 30,000 yuan higher than the previous-generation Ultra version, and there is a 50,000-yuan price difference with the L9 livis.
Li Auto's product pricing strategy is changing. It no longer follows the pricing strategy of gradually increasing prices for L6\7\8\9. Instead, models with higher configurations target the high-end market to widen the price gap, while relatively low-priced models are used to increase sales volume, aiming for both price and sales.
Li Auto has made its move. The biggest variable next is the competition with other models in the 9-series, including the AITO M9 and NIO ES9. The prelude to the battle of the 9-series has just begun.