Li Auto CEO shared two camouflage-free images of the Li Mega and hinted that the model will have very low wind resistance.
(Image of the Li Mega shared by Li Auto CEO Li Xiang on Weibo.)
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is starting to warm up for the Li Mega MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) as its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) model gets closer to its planned December launch.
Li Xiang, Li Auto's founder, chairman and CEO, shared two images of the Li Mega on Weibo today and asked his followers to guess its wind resistance coefficient, suggesting that the model will have very low wind resistance for better range.
The images shared by Li show the Li Mega without camouflage and are the first time the model's exterior has been shown in its entirety without disguise.
The model looks like a Chinese high-speed railroad locomotive and uses hidden door handles, which may have helped it reduce wind resistance.
It has a bulge at the top, which is supposed to be the same LiDAR as the higher-end versions of the other Li Auto models.
Li Auto is currently offering three models, the five-seat Li L7, and the six-seat Li L8 and Li L9, all of which are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), essentially plug-in hybrids.
The company plans to officially launch the Li Mega in December, and the BEV will be available in stores next January, with deliveries beginning in February, Li Auto announced at the Chengdu auto show in August.
The Li Mega will be the highest-selling model in China priced at more than RMB 500,000 yuan ($68,400), regardless of energy form or body style, the company has said several times.
The Li Mega will be built at a plant in Beijing, where Li Auto is headquartered, and which has launched pilot production, the company said on August 25.
All three of Li Auto's EREV models currently on sale are built at Li Auto's plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.
On September 14, a video circulating on Chinese social media showed what the Li Mega would look like. Several Weibo bloggers at the time said the video was shared with them by Li Auto.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) yesterday released its latest catalog of models that will be allowed to be sold in China for public comment, and the Li Mega has yet to be included.
($1 = RMB 7.3115)
Li Auto's 1st BEV, Li Mega, looks like Chinese high-speed rail train, video shows
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