Li Auto L9

In short

• Six seats in three rows; range-extender layout with a 1.5-litre turbo generator engine that does not drive the wheels.
• First generation (2022–2025): front motor 130 kW, rear motor 200 kW; 0–100 km/h in 5.3 s; battery 42.6 kWh, from 2024 52.3 kWh.
• Chinese claims: 215 km electric and 1,315 km total range on the NEDC cycle.
• Second generation (from May 2026): 72.7 kWh battery, charging at up to 420 kW, up to 340 km electric WLTP range.

Li Auto L9 at a glance

How the range extender works

Unlike in a parallel plug-in hybrid, the L9's petrol engine is never connected to the wheels. The two electric motors always drive the car, and the 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder runs as a generator that keeps the battery charged when it runs low. The driver can also plug the car in: on a fast charger the battery reaches 80 % in about 40 minutes, while a full charge on a domestic supply takes about six hours, according to Wikipedia EN.

Li Auto's Chinese figures are given on the NEDC cycle: 215 km on electricity alone and a total of 1,315 km with a full tank and battery. These are much more generous than real driving or the European WLTP cycle, so they work better for comparing Chinese models than as an everyday guide.

First generation (2022–2025)

The L9 was unveiled online on 8 March 2022 and launched on 21 June 2022. Li Auto ended production of the Li One in October 2022, a few months after the L9 arrived. In 2022, its first part-year, 38,973 L9s were sold in China.

The front motor gives 130 kW and the rear motor 200 kW. Wikipedia EN states the combined system output as 330 kW and 620 Nm in its data table, while its text gives 240 kW and 530 Nm; the catalogue uses 330 kW. The 0–100 km/h time is 5.3 seconds.

The original battery was a 42.6 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt pack weighing 254.3 kg. In 2024 Li Auto replaced it with a 52.3 kWh pack of the same chemistry, weighing 282.3 kg. With the bigger battery the fuel tank shrank from 65 to 55 litres.

The 2025 update

Li Auto revealed an updated L9 on 8 May 2025, opened orders the same day and began deliveries the following week. Most changes concern electronics and comfort:

• A new lidar from ATL, 60 % smaller and using 55 % less power, with a detection range of up to 200 m.
• Pro trim: a Horizon Robotics Journey 6M chip with 128 TOPS; Ultra trim: an Nvidia Thor-U chip with 700 TOPS.
• Emergency braking for stationary traffic at night from up to 120 km/h and emergency steering around a child on an unlit road from up to 130 km/h, according to Li Auto.
• Retuned air suspension with 24 % less body roll and 12 % less pitch; a moose-test speed of 80.34 km/h.
• A 21.4-inch 3K rear-seat screen, 86 % larger than the previous 15.7-inch screen, and a digital rear-view mirror with a 4K camera.

Second generation (from 2026)

The second-generation L9 was unveiled on 6 February 2026, together with a more upmarket L9 Livis. The Livis appeared in public at the Beijing motor show on 24 April 2026, and both went on sale in China on 15 May 2026, with deliveries from the same day.

The new car is larger in every dimension and has a longer wheelbase, but Wikipedia EN does not give the figures. The much bigger battery turns the L9 into a car that can cover most daily driving on electricity, with the petrol generator kept for long trips.

Where the L9 is sold

The L9 is built for the Chinese market, and the sources give no official European prices or Euro NCAP result. At a results call in May 2025, chief executive Li Xiang said that any future saloon would depend on demand in overseas markets.

Who the L9 suits and comparable cars

The L9 suits families who want three rows of seats and electric driving most of the time, without depending on fast chargers on long trips. For another approach to electric driving with a petrol back-up, see the Chevrolet Volt. Large electric SUVs of similar size include the BMW iX and the Rivian R1S. The compare section puts large SUVs side by side, and Li Auto's models are listed in the Li Auto catalogue.

Photo gallery