The Li Auto i9 starts at 369,800 RMB. It’s cheaper than the L9 and competes with the NIO ES8 and AITO M9.

Li Auto unveiled its new electric flagship, the i9, priced at 369,800 RMB, which is approximately $55,100. This is 90,000 RMB less than the Li L9 and 140,000 RMB less than the MEGA van. It is a 6-seater SUV with a length of 5,225 mm, equipped with a 101 kWh battery and an CLTC range of 705 km.

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On paper, this appears to be an aggressive entry into a segment already occupied by the NIO ES8, Zeekr 9X, and electric AITO M9. The question isn’t whether the i9 is large and well-equipped, but rather where Li Auto cut costs.

Cabine and chassis are the key arguments

Li Auto markets the i9 with the slogan “Home, a flagship that feels more like home.” Product manager Li Xinyang added an image of a “luxury apartment in the city center,” while MEGA Home is positioned as a “suburban villa.” Marketing aside, the facts are concrete.

The car measures 5,225 mm in length, 1,970 mm in width, 1,752 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 3,168 mm. It is therefore slightly smaller than the MEGA and lower than the L9, which helped with interior space optimization. The seat in the third row is 500 mm long. For comparison, Li Auto lists 477 mm for “Competitor A,” referring to the NIO ES8 per Chinese media, and 494 mm for “Competitor B,” referring to the electric AITO M9.

The backrest of the third row is even more interesting. It offers 55 degrees of adjustment. The MEGA has 36 degrees, the ES8 has 40 degrees, and the M9 has 30 degrees. Li Auto even brought out a cutaway model and seated six people from their product team inside it. With heights of around 1.8 meters, the passengers had “two fists” of space for their knees in both the second and third rows. It was a impressive demonstration, though it obviously depends on the passengers’ sizes.

The standard version includes four zero-gravity seats, 11 airbags, a 29-inch 6K display plus a 21-inch 4K display, a 10-liter refrigerator, steer-by-wire technology, a flexible rear axle with a turning radius of 5.3 meters, and a third-generation Magic Carpet pneumatic suspension with CDC. Additionally, Li Auto claims a steering stiffness of 50,000 Nm/degree, a drag coefficient of 0.215, and fuel consumption of 15.1 kWh/100 km. It sounds good on paper.

Where cuts were made and how much the options cost

The biggest reductions are in the assistance systems and audio. The standard i9 comes with one Mach M100 chip offering 1,280 TOPS of computing power and one front lidar. The setup with two M100 chips and four lidars, known from the MEGA Home and L9 models, is available as an option. It currently costs 20,000 RMB, rising to 30,000 RMB later on.

The second upgrade is the audio system. The MEGA Home and L9 come with a 9.3.6 system featuring 33 speakers and 5,440 W of power. The i9 starts with a 7.3.4 system, 23 speakers, and 2,400 W of power. The optional home theater package currently costs 10,000 RMB, rising to 20,000 RMB later, but it still falls short of the brand’s top models. A foldable table between the seats is also not standard and requires an additional 3,500 RMB.

With these options added, the price rises to 403,300 RMB, and after the launch promotion ends, it goes up to 423,300 RMB. It remains lower than the L9 and MEGA, but the gap is starting to become less significant.

There’s also an interesting design detail. The rear bumper integrates the air tank for the pneumatic suspension. Li Auto claims it used its own high-strength aluminum, and the structure is designed to withstand impact energy equivalent to 3.3 times China’s requirement for a rear collision at 50 km/h. The manufacturer admits the component is more expensive to produce but promises repair costs for customers that are similar to those for a regular bumper. This already sounds like a promise the market is eager to verify.

If Li Auto delivers real comfort and practical ADAS at an additional cost, the i9 might stir up more interest with its price than its technology alone. Would you choose such an “apartment” for around 205,000–210,000 zł, or would you prefer NIO or AITO in this class?

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