Author: DS

On March 16th, the official second wave of spoilers for the IDEAL L9 has been released. Before the arrival of the third wave of spoilers, which will only be released next Wednesday, let’s summarize what we already know about the car.

Naturally, the appearance of the IDEAL L9 comes first, and the biggest difference between the new car and the IDEAL ONE is its front end design. The L9 uses a semi-closed design, rather than the previous “big mouth”, with only the bottom of the front bumper left hollowed out.

The headlights are designed separately and retain the star-ring LED lights from the IDEAL ONE, which makes the car look similar to the Xpeng G9. However, unlike the G9, the star-ring LED lights on the L9 have an additional yellow LED light at each end. It is said that they will light up when the ADAS function is turned on, to warn pedestrians and other drivers.

The “horn” protruding from the center of the roof is the previously announced LiDAR module, which uses the AT128 provided by Hesai Technology, with a laser wavelength of 905 nm. Although it is slightly weaker than the 1550 nm wavelength of LiDAR used in the NIO ET7 and the WeRide R7, the technology is relatively mature, and its maximum detection range can reach 200 meters, with a horizontal field of view angle of 120°x25.4°. This is the best parameter among the currently produced LiDARs with 905 nm wavelength on the market today (most of which have a maximum detection range of 150 meters).

In addition to one LiDAR, the IDEAL L9 is equipped with four 360° surround-view cameras, seven ADAS assistive driving cameras (including front-facing binocular cameras), five millimeter-wave radars, and twelve ultrasonic radars as perception hardware. The final computing and processing will be handled by the latest two NVIDIA Orin X chips, each with a single computing power of 254 TOPS.

The side of the car is still similar in shape to that of the IDEAL ONE, but the introduction of hidden door handles and low-drag wheels has optimized its aerodynamics. This overall square design maximizes the interior space, and the car body does not have too many complicated lines.In terms of size, the ideal dimensions of L9 are 5200/1998/1800 mm (length/width/height), with a wheelbase of 3100 mm, which is directly comparable to large SUVs such as the three-row BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS.

It features 21-inch wheels paired with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires in size 265/45 R21.

The minimalist design of L9 is also reflected in the rear of the vehicle, where the lines of the bumper have been reduced, and the large protection plate from the Ideal ONE model is not used at the bottom of the bumper. The rear wiper also appears to be concealed in the upper spoiler, and a single LED tail light with a one-bar design gives the overall appearance a cleaner look.

In the first wave of “teasers,” Ideal released images of the interior of L9, which differed somewhat from what netizens had previously speculated. L9 did not continue the interior design of the Ideal ONE, but instead adopted a new “5-screen interactive mode,” which includes a vehicle infotainment screen, passenger-side entertainment screen, rear entertainment screen, safety driving interactive screen, and a large HUD.

A small horizontal screen above the center of the three-spoke multifunctional steering wheel reportedly features Mini-LED technology and multi-touch capabilities, and can display basic information such as driving mode, range, fuel level, speed, gear, energy consumption, and driving distance. It also allows for touch interaction with the instrument screen.

Navigation and ADAS information, among other things, are displayed directly on the ultra-large HUD in front of the driver. Although the Ideal L9 no longer has a traditional instrument panel, this type of solution is evidently more adaptable for drivers than that of the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.

The central control screen and the entertainment screen on the co-pilot side are two 15.7-inch car-grade OLED screens, and the horizontal resolution of a single screen reaches the level of 3K. Due to the characteristics of OLED screens, the black display effect is more pure. Therefore, in the black theme mode, it is difficult to distinguish between the two screens and the black boundary in the middle.

The third screen is located in the center of the roof in front of the second-row seats and can be folded completely into the ceiling, making it the favorite of rear-seat children. In addition, the Ideall L9 directly uses two Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips, with built-in 24G of memory and 256GB of storage, and supports dual 5G operator switching, ensuring real-time online access to high-speed networks.

With the help of six microphones and three 3D ToF sensors in the car, combined with Ideal’s self-developed multimodal 3D space interaction technology based on deep learning, interaction can be achieved in the most natural way for humans.

In addition, there are front dual wireless charging panels, rear boss keys, co-pilot rear small table boards, cold and warm refrigerators for placing milk bottles, independent rear air conditioning and other configurations.

All six NAPPA leather seats in the car are electronically adjustable and equipped with seat heating. The front two rows of seats are also equipped with seat ventilation and massage functions, providing full comfort.

In terms of sound system, new-generation car companies are becoming increasingly competitive. The 1000W 7.1.4 Dolby panoramic sound on the NIO ET7 was already amazing enough, but the Ideal L9 has taken it further by using 21 sound units to form a 7.3.4 Dolby panoramic sound. Among them, 7 sets of speakers form a surround sound in the entire car, 4 top speakers form a sky surround sound, and 3 subwoofers form a bass matrix, with a maximum power of up to 2160W.

Finally, there is the power part. The Ideall L9 has replaced the three-cylinder range extender that has been criticized on the Ideal ONE with a 1.5T four-cylinder range extender authorized by BMW and produced by New Power. It is equipped with a 44.5 kWh battery, and the official claimed the pure electric range of CLTC is 200 km, and the fuel-based CLTC endurance is 1000 km. This means that its CLTC comprehensive endurance mileage can reach 1200 km.### Summary

With these official spoilers, we now have a clearer understanding of the overall situation and some detailed configurations of the Ideal L9. As the first flagship SUV of Ideal Automotive, it not only continues the feature of extended-range hybrid cars without range anxiety, but also makes a huge improvement in family-oriented configurations and intelligence.

Do you think it’s worth the 450,000 to 500,000 RMB price tag for such a large SUV? Let’s look forward to the third wave of spoilers next week, and its final appearance at the Beijing Auto Show on April 21.

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.