After a decade of building cars, new energy vehicle makers have generally moved from lightweight engineering models to more technically integrated vehicle platforms. Li Auto is trying to make that shift explicit.
The company has declared an ambition to become an “embodied intelligence company” while building more of its whole-vehicle technology stack in-house. Over the past four years, it has rebuilt much of its chassis system, working with suppliers to co-develop three major technologies: electromechanical brake-by-wire, 800-volt active suspension, and steer-by-wire.
Li Auto is also expanding in-house battery production. In range extension technology, the system that underpinned its early success, the company has moved further into internal R&D and production. Its latest-generation range extender, effectively the engine, is now produced by Li Auto itself.
Those capabilities will be concentrated in its latest flagship vehicle, the Li L9 Livis.
For Li Auto, the new Li L9 is also intended to mark the starting point for its next generation of vehicle technology.
