Good-looking, but also practical.
As someone who couldn’t keep up with even the introductory courses at Art Center College of Design, the prestigious industrial design school that produced design directors like Chris Bangle and current Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen, before the birth of BMW, I don’t have the relevant diploma, but I consider myself quite demanding when it comes to car design.
To be honest, before the ZiJi L7, there was hardly a domestic four-door sedan that could impress me from this angle. The smooth waistline and parabolic roof exuded a modern elegance. Continuing to focus on the rear of the car, the ducktail stylized taillights surround the sides, enhancing the sensory impression of width. Returning to the raised wheel arches, the elegant lines cannot hide the beauty of power.
I want to give a name to the waistline that runs from the A-pillar down to the rear of the car — let’s call it the “Demon Line.” It’s too cool, isn’t it? It’s not a simple single-curve curve, but a flexible line that moves along the surface relation and outlines the full rear profile without losing strength.
Sorry to digress, in plain language, the L7’s lines are not like Kim Kardashian or Liu Wen, but more like Guerlain.
By the way, even the logo is CNC-machined solid aluminum alloy. In the era of chrome-plated plastic parts, it is indeed a breath of fresh air, and the cost is not low.
But is that enough? In this age of intense competition, appearance is only one part of overall strength. The mass-produced version of the L7 is currently driven by the Xavier chip’s visual auxiliary driving system. However, ZiJi has a clever way of doing things and has already reserved an interface to upgrade for free to two Robosense M1 LiDARs + Nvidia Orin X chips at the appropriate time, putting it in the first echelon of the autonomous driving hardware war.In terms of assisted driving, last year, IM has also shown practical tests in Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Guangzhou cities and high-speed road conditions. The IM AD intelligent driving system, which is a lifetime free-of-charge service, directly eliminates the purchase cost of tens of thousands of yuan or the monthly subscription fee of several hundred yuan. Making money is not a problem, but the current practice of charging fees indeed has a taste of exploiting money. At present, when autonomous driving is not yet popular and its ability is still in the dawn period, the free lifetime service is not only generous to users but also responsible for the industry.
Speaking of performance, traditional mechanical performance is still important. This pure electric sedan with dual motors and four-wheel drive has a power of 425 kW and 725 N·m. In addition to the acceleration time of 3.87 seconds and the stopping distance of 32.69 meters per hundred kilometers, it also has a super wide front and rear wheelbase of 1,650/1,660 mm higher than that of BMW M5, which raises the expectation value of driving control. The factors of dual motors, double-wishbone suspension, variable damping suspension, Brembo, etc., are already common in domestic high-end electric cars. The key is how to cook these good dishes into delicacies in a short period of time.
To widen the gap in handling, IM spent millions of dollars to hire the Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). Is the relationship between WAE and Williams F1 as inexplicable as Porsche Engineering and Porsche? To confirm this, I also participated in the test drive event held by IM Automobile at the Tianma Mountain Racetrack in Shanghai.
Electric cars are fast, but it is more important to drive comfortably.
Perfect handling experience
After driving two laps, my mouth turned up. I have to say that the racetrack experience of L7 exceeded expectations. The sensitivity to steering input of the Model 3 Performance, which is generally regarded as a pure electric racing weapon, is wholly non-existent in the stable and reliable IM L7.
The 50:50 weight distribution and 490mm center of gravity effectively counterbalance the cumbersome feeling from the over-two-ton car weight, which is common in many electric vehicles. What is remarkable is that the L7 controls the side tilt very well in the sport mode, further reducing the weight feeling of the car. Hopefully, the official can release a series of speed lap records to show the L7’s strength on the race track.
It seems that the 4,000 CDC shock absorbers and tens of millions of dollars that were scrapped during Williams’ “study” were not in vain, but rather helped L7 earn a lot of profits in handling. It seems that these English guys did not deceive us Chinese people, they are really professional.
What’s amazing is that when L7 is switched to the comfort mode, the chassis noticeably softens and the feeling of going over speed bumps is instantly smoother. There are no annoying front and rear pitching or difficult-to-suppress residual dynamics — in other words, no so-called boat-like feeling.
In addition to the exceptional chassis, tire selection is the part that impressed the tester the most. The front and rear paired tires on this car hardly emit any tire noise on the track; they just silently grip, grip, grip, endlessly. Even when I deliberately added throttle input before completely exiting the corner, only a slight drift of the rear tire occurred, and then the tire friction sound stopped on its own.
In fact, with Williams’ support, the L7 has optimized the tread rubber pattern, the height of the reverse wrap of the cord, the angle of the steel belt, the formula of the tread glue, and the rolling resistance coefficient of the tread pattern. At a time when electric vehicles are squeezing out a slight range from low rolling resistance tires to make their stated data more attractive, this L7 has taken a rare route of seeking high grip by choosing Bridgestone P0 tires with 245/40 R20 in the front and 275/35 R20 in the rear.
High limit, fast response, low roll and neutral handling characteristics are the best sensations that can be conveyed in terms of handling, right? In terms of the chassis, the L7 can be said to be poignant, and almost anyone who drives it can resonate with it. After only two laps, I suddenly had a vision of all the cars under a million yuan gradually becoming a thing of the past. Except for increasingly expensive V8s, I don’t seem to miss anything.
Detailed Materials
On the test track, the L7 carrying one driver and one passenger achieved a real-world acceleration time of 4 seconds per 100 km, while during a single test by Jason xiahei, one of IM’s employees, it even achieved a better time than the official result with 3.8-3.85 seconds (because the resolution is 0.05 seconds). The rear 250 kW flat-wire wound motor is specially designed for this car with a magnesium alloy shell and a black label version. Magnesium alloy, a high-grade material also used in F1 rims, is stronger and lighter than aluminum alloy.
Many people say that electric vehicles are not suitable for the race track because of their limited endurance, but with the construction of a charging network, this problem will be alleviated. The real pain point for electric vehicles, just like for fuel-powered vehicles, is thermal decay. In fact, the heat dissipation requirements for motors during continuous operation at peak power are very high.
In the past, water-cooled motors could only last about 10 seconds in a power “All-In” situation, but IM’s L7 can last for 30 seconds because of its more efficient direct cascade oil cooling heat dissipation technology, which ensures stability and durability during high power output. In fact, during the entire event, the experience vehicle for the 0-100-0 km/h project could last the entire morning with rest breaks only for recharging.
32.69 meters, this is the stopping distance of IM’s L7, currently the peak measured among domestic cars. The configuration behind this data is also top-notch. The front wheels are equipped with Brembo’s exclusive exterior design four-piston calipers paired with 365 mm FNC brake discs developed and used by IM Motors. Many manufacturers will adopt a combination of Brembo calipers and domestically produced discs to reduce costs, but the brake discs of the L7 also come from Brembo.
The rear wheels are also equipped with huge 356 mm ventilated discs and a large single-piston floating caliper frame from mainland China (similar to that on Tesla Model 3 Performance), which integrates an electronic parking function. This type of caliper is not only stronger than ordinary floating calipers, but also has a high aesthetic value, so much so that you may not even be able to tell that they are floating calipers without careful inspection.
You paid 400,000 yuan for a car, can you tolerate brake discs that look like the ones above?
In the upstream part of the braking system, the IM L7 chose the Continental MK C1. This 1-BOX solution fully decoupled brake master cylinder has a triple difference in building pressure speed compared with the traditional hydraulic system, with 150 ms vs. 450 ms. The quick response time of only 300 milliseconds will directly reduce the emergency braking distance in real life.
The swan can swim gracefully on the surface of the water, but it actually crazy flaps its webbed feet under the water. Since we are pursuing elegance, there is no need to let the hard work behind the scenes affect the visual experience. The big advantage of this braking system is that even when the ABS is activated, there will not be any knocking noise caused by the feedback of the ESP pump. Therefore, the sudden vibration caused by ABS during full braking will not scare the driver and make them release the brake pedal.
Snake line maneuver
The strength of air suspension lies in the stability and increasing rigidity under high load and the lifting function. In other words, it does not contribute much to the handling and comfort of the sedan, and this part has a more significant effect on CDC.
Although the trend of air suspension configuration has already emerged in domestic new forces and has been implemented in models priced around 300,000 yuan, the 408,800 yuan L7 Heavenly Wheel version insists on not carrying air suspension. Instead, it adopts the standard rear wheel steering configuration, which is also the first configuration appearing at this price.
The wheelbase of the IM L7 is 3,100mm, but it can make you feel like it has a wheelbase of only 2,580mm or 3,250mm. Moreover, its minimum turning radius is only 10.8 meters, which makes A-class car owners doubt their own lives.
Due to the fully global head-style multi-link rear suspension used in IM L7, it can support larger bidirectional turning angles of up to 12 degrees. (For the specific principle, please refer to my previous article: “IM’s chassis may need to be benchmarked by other automakers.”) The rear wheel steering system makes the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction at speeds below 40 km/h, increasing flexibility; while at speeds above this, they turn in the same direction, increasing stability.
Luxury is an attitude.
Upgrade Configuration
In the era of over-stuffing, users have a more delicate perception of leather grade. While some new and powerful brand still charge extra for Nappa leather, IM Automobiles remains silent. This is because the L7 doesn’t skimp on interior materials, offering a set of German Bavarian semi-Benzeneaniline leather interior. Semi-Benzeneaniline is a grade higher than Nappa leather, and is the standard configuration for Maybach S-Class and S-Class.
The reason why I didn’t feel a distinct new car smell when I got in the car was because of IM Automobile’s exclusive purification workshop. This practice is somewhat refreshing in terms of the industry’s scrutiny of in-car air quality. IM claims that after undergoing a series of exclusive custom processes such as multiple extraction-degradation of formaldehyde-vacuum dehumidification-deodorization-100% full-contact long-term new air exchange, the cabin formaldehyde data of IM L7 at the time of delivery is equivalent to that of the same factory and class of products after 180 days of use.
In terms of glass, IM also spared no expense. Many models of the same or even higher price range usually use double-layer glass only for the front or rear side windows depending on their positioning, but IM L7 has made all the glass in the car double-layer, including the small triangular windows on the rear doors. The coating on the skylight also uses the most powerful heat-insulating silver plating.
On the hardware level of the cabin, the IM L7 has unleashed imagination with the unprecedented two lifting screens totaling 39 inches on the instrument panel, while the 12.8-inch AMOLED 2K central control screen with ultra-narrow bezels is also a significant factor highlighting the luxury. I can already imagine myself playing with the screens and getting funny looks from the salesman, surely it will be entertaining.
The IM L7 undoubtedly competes with NIO ET7 in terms of cabin configuration such as size, performance, intelligent driving and sound power. However, compared with ET7’s more business-oriented attributes, the slightly cheaper IM L7 highlights its sporty positioning, as well as novel features such as DLP projection headlights and ISC intelligent interaction system, creating its own unique selling points.
Do you still crave nostalgia?
To reiterate, the height of the center of gravity of this car is only 490 mm, which is directly 5-6 cm lower than similar-sized fuel vehicles. Traditional fuel vehicles employ various costly tricks such as horizontal opposed and dry sump oil pan, which are immediately outdated in the era of electric vehicles. It seems that sometimes nostalgia is no match for absolute performance.
Moreover, electric cars have a crushing impact on fuel cars in terms of power response. The torque response gap between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles is 60 ms vs 1,200 ms, and the maximum torque can be exerted from a standstill.
However, I still often see questions like this online:
So, why does a large sedan with a wheelbase of 3,100 mm and so many luxury configurations like the IM L7 still need handling?
Actually, a large and fast electric car without handling is the scariest thing. The IM L7 invests so much in driving control, even sending the car to study abroad in the UK at great expense, just to provide a safer and more enjoyable driving experience for this large and fast car, isn’t it?Possibly, IM aims to express a point of view through L7’s product power: luxury electric sedan can have the best of both worlds.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.