Li Auto unveils its first fully electric vehicle

The Chinese manufacturer has already begun accepting orders in its home market for the first fully electric model in its lineup. It is the Li Mega MPV, which is expected to reach Chinese dealerships next January, with first deliveries starting shortly after, around late February.

The Li Mega is an unconventional MPV, with an electric motor producing 400 kW that allows it to reach 100 km/h from a standstill in just 5.5 seconds. It also features an 800 V architecture and comes with a Qilin battery pack of 102.7 kWh capacity from the also Chinese supplier CATL. Li Auto further claims that at an ultra-fast charging point it will be possible to add 500 km of range in just 12 minutes.

The Li Mega MPV will have three rows of seats and room for seven occupants. Passengers in the second row will also have a 17-inch screen at their disposal, on which they can view content to make journeys more enjoyable. It is quite a spacious vehicle for its size, measuring 5.35 metres long, 1.96 metres wide and 1.85 metres high, with a wheelbase of 3.30 metres.

An extensive fast-charging network on the way

In addition, coinciding with the presentation of this electric MPV, Li Auto has also revealed its intention to build its own charging infrastructure in the Chinese market. By the end of this year, the company expects to have 300 ultra-fast charging points operational in this Asian country. But that is not all: its plans are far more ambitious, aiming to have nearly 3,000 ultra-fast charging points by 2025. To put this into perspective, today Li Auto’s stations in China with ultra-fast charging points total just 119.

Finally, while, as we have said, Chinese customers can already place an order for the Li Mega MPV, this currently seems a somewhat risky venture, since the manufacturer has not yet disclosed the prices of the different versions available. To clarify things a little, what it has announced is that the most expensive version will not cost more than 600,000 Chinese yuan. That amounts to just over 77,000 euros at current exchange rates.

Li Auto also states that all customers who pay the 5,000 yuan deposit required to formalise a reservation will be able to recover it if they change their mind and do not proceed with the purchase of the vehicle.