Li Auto i9 Home: spaceship with a range of 705 kilometers and 4-lidar ADAS

The Li Auto i9 Home is a new SUV with six luxury seats and a range of 705 kilometers. It features a new ADAS system with four lidars, along with China’s largest refrigerator and an audio system rated at 4960 watts.

The Li Auto i9 Home: the name.

Previously, Li Auto used “Home” to denote the top version of a model. But the brand abandoned that approach. Nowadays, Li Auto offers most models in just one fully equipped version, which is also called Home. As a result, “Home” has evolved from a trim level to a model name.

The design

The Li Auto i9 Home resembles more of a spaceship than a traditional SUV. Li Auto deliberately chose this unconventional design. The manufacturer calls it a “New Form SUV,” intended to combine the space of an MPV, the visibility and ground clearance of an SUV, and the driving characteristics of a sedan.

The streamlined droplet-shaped body has an air resistance of only 0.215 Cd. The nose is short and low, with the headlights practically invisible as they are integrated into the black openings. The front overhang is extremely short, but the rear one is relatively long.

The window line is low and runs straight back, while the roof line slopes smoothly backward. The i9 Home features 22-inch wheels with aero-blade light alloy rims. At the rear, the SUV has a large roof spoiler and a wide light bar.

The interior of the Li Auto i9 Home

The dashboard is largely composed of a huge 21-inch 6K infotainment screen. The driver has an AR-HUD but no traditional instruments. Even the typical Li Auto mini-screen on the steering wheel is gone in the i9 Home.

Passengers in the back can watch cartoons on a 21-inch 4K fold-out screen. The infotainment system is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8797 cockpit chip with 320 TOPS of computing power.

The Li Auto i9 Home features a total glass area of 7.5 square meters, including all windows and panoramic roofs. Chinese car brands often use the total glass area as a marketing advantage, especially for large SUVs and MPVs.

The SUV has a flexible interior. The front seats can rotate 180 degrees for comfort or meetings, with a large table in the center. The middle front seats and the middle rear seats can also be folded flat entirely for a camping or lounge atmosphere.

The Li Auto i9 Home comes equipped with a 10-liter fridge, a new record in China. It’s apparently large enough to hold 12 Mövenpick Ice cups (with spoons inside).

The i9 Home also features an impressive audio system with 29 speakers and 4960 watts of power. It may not hold the record, but it does rank second. Only the Li Auto MEGA Home MPV has a more powerful system with 33 speakers and 5440 watts. Other brands fall far short, typically staying around 2500-3000 watts.

The trunk capacity is 565 liters. The third row of seats can be folded flat, but Li Auto does not specify the volume in liters. The i9 Home has a frunk area, but again, there are no official details on its size. Li Auto only states that the frunk is large enough for one 20-inch suitcase.

Technical specifications of the Li Auto i9 Home

The Li Auto i9 Home is built on Li Auto’s Second Generation EV Platform, featuring an 800 V architecture. Its dimensions are 5225/1970/1752 mm, with a wheelbase of 3168 mm. The curb weight is 2745 kilograms, which is low compared to other SUVs in this segment.

The i9 Home features an AWD dual-motor powertrain with 400 kW of power and 660 Nm of torque. This enables the massive SUV to accelerate from 0-100 in 4.9 seconds. The top speed is limited to 200 kilometers per hour.

Beneath the floor lies a CATL NMC battery with a capacity of 101 kWh. The energy consumption is 15.1 kWh/100 kilometers, resulting in a CLTC range of 705 km. The i9 supports 5C fast charging, with a 10-80% charge time of approximately 10 minutes.

No other engines or batteries are available.

The i9 Home has steer-by-wire and rear-wheel steering, with a maximum steering angle of 7 degrees.

ADAS: 4 lidars

Li Auto develops its own ADAS and ADAS chips. The Li Auto i9 Home is equipped with the new L2.5 Mach VLA ADAS. This system uses 11 cameras, 1 millimeter-wave radar, 8 UWB radars, and 4 lidars.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) radars replace traditional ultrasonic sensors and are primarily used for parking and maneuvering, obstacle detection around the vehicle, and Sentry Mode. The detection range is about 6 meters, the minimum distance is only 10 cm, and the update interval is roughly 40 ms.

UWB uses radio waves instead of the sound waves from ultrasonic sensors. It offers a greater range, more accurate positioning, and a higher update frequency, while being less sensitive to weather conditions.

The Li Auto i9 Home has four lidars: 1× Hesai Technology ATL lidar on the roof and 3× Hesai Technology FTX lidars: 2× on the sides in the front screens and 1× at the back in the bumper. These are different types of lidars—the ATL can see up to 200 meters ahead, while the FTX lidars cover the blind spots on the sides and behind the vehicle.

With so many sensors, a high level of computing power is required. That’s why the Li Auto Home features two self-developed Mach M100 Ultra chips, delivering a combined computing power of 2560 TOPS. This sets a new record for the Chinese automotive industry.

The Li Auto i9 Home comes equipped with NOA (Navigation on Autopilot), allowing it to essentially handle an entire journey independently, from one parking spot to another (point-to-point assisted driving), including parking and reversing. In this regard, the system is comparable to Tesla’s FSD.

Price of the Li Auto i9 Home in China

Chinese consumers can now purchase the Li Auto i9 Home at Li Auto dealerships, experience stores, or online. There is one trim level, two interior color combinations, and eight exterior colors: Amethyst Grey, Aurora Silver, Diamond Black, Ebony Gold, Mist Sea Blue, New Elephant Grey, Pearl White, and Quantum Titanium.

There is only one version, so the Li Auto i9 Home always costs 369,800 yuan, which is approximately 48,000 euros. Examples of direct competitors include cars such as the Aito M8, NIO ES8, Voyah Taishan X8, and Xpeng GX.

Li Auto has plans to enter Europe. The official launch is scheduled for the Paris Motor Show in October. The first model Li Auto will sell there is the smaller i6. It is not yet known whether the i9 will also come to Europe.