Li Auto is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, founded in 2015. This relatively new EV company specializes in plug-in hybrid cars, which can either be powered by gas or electricity. Although not fully electric, this manufacturer is taking a step in the right direction for a greener planet.
The Li Auto company is finding new ways to steer their Chinese audience away from petrol-powered cars, so these vehicles will be highly competitive. Hence, the price should be fairly competitive against similar cars. Will they be? Let's find out.
Let's take a closer look at Li Auto and their first and only car yet, the Li Xiang One SUV.
A History Of Li Auto
Li Auto was founded by Li Xiang, who is now the brand's Chairman and CEO. Since day one, the manufacturer and Li Xiang have been backed by China's biggest consumer service apps, Meituan and Bytedance. Both of which also own TikTok. Thus, Li Auto has secure financial backing.
Speaking of financial security, Li Auto raised over $1 billion on July 30th, 2020, from an IPO, NASDAQ. Now, the company is valued at $10 billion, which is a whopping figure for a five-year-old company.
The company only manufactures plug-in hybrid cars. The aim is to influence and reduce the amount of petrol-powered cars that the Chinese audience use. China has a sparse electric vehicle charging infrastructure, so a hybrid car is more reliable. With minimal charging stations, riders cannot often rely on a 100% electric vehicle. The principle of their hybrids is to use primarily electricity and use petrol power as a backup.
What Are Their Future Ideas?
Li Auto's future ideas target the growing Chinese middle-class market and encourage them to drive cleaner, smarter and larger vehicles.
Its first model was the Li One, named after the founder. This was moderately priced at $46,800 and is a six-seat electric SUV, which sold around 20,000 units.
With Li Auto being the first in China to successfully commercialize extended-range electric vehicles, they are a huge step ahead of the game. They aim to solve the challenges of inadequate charging infrastructure and battery technologies constraints with hybrid models.
Thus, their next plans seem to be focused on manufacturing more hybrid and electric cars to combat the emissions issues.
A Closer Look At The Li Xiang One SUV
The Li One is powered by a 140-kilowatt electric motor and a 40.5-kilowatt battery pack. Both offer rear-wheel drive capabilities that are great for handling and speed, both of which some hybrid or electric rides lack.
As it's a hybrid, there is also a gas-powered motor under its hood. The SUV also has an 11.9-gallon gas tank, which actually generates electricity when it's powered that the car can use and, therefore, boast a longer range.
Both motors together can offer the driver up to 497 miles in range, which is super impressive. This setup also allows the hybrid car to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 6.5 seconds.
Li Auto has fitted the car with a smaller internal combustion engine rather than building a fully-electric vehicle, which is unusual for EVs. This is, so that it's more reliable and usable by the Chinese market.
Additional features that make the hybrid SUV pretty cool include car-cleaning mode, which avoids locking and unlocking while the owner cleans the car. Then, the charging mode allows drivers to change their charging time and mode, which is convenient if you do not have much time.
The Li One offers customers multiple colors, inside and outside. For external colors, the company offers grey metallic, silver metallic, and black metallic. There were 1,000 models made in a baby blue color, which was limited edition and is no longer available. Inside, customers can choose from brown, black, or white leather upholstery.
To pimp up the SUV, you can choose from two-wheel types. There is the option of 20-inch deluxe two-tone wheels and 20-inch sporty black wheels, and sporty grey wheels.
Will They Be A Good Competitor?
Within the global electric car industry, Li Auto may not stand out. Many hybrid competitors are closer to home and easier to purchase. Seeing as the company is Chinese-based, shipping costs would make this ride no longer moderately affordable.
Yet, it will be a tough competitor within the Chinese EV industry. As charging stations are sparse in China, the Li One is a car more reliable and convenient than other models for Chinese customers. The hybridity allows users to use both motors in case a charging station is not nearby.
In summary, it will be interesting to see what future models Li Auto comes out with. The Li One looks pretty promising for a hybrid car. Let's wait and see if they make a fully-electric model in the future and how it will weigh up to their first model.