Originally scheduled for March 29th, the launch event of the IM L7 was postponed due to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, IM held a communication meeting through video as scheduled, announcing the release of the L7 Pro model as well as related policies and benefits, making it clear to users the company’s plans and arrangements for the future.
Following the communication meeting, we interviewed IM’s joint CEO Liu Tao in a timely manner, summarizing and generalizing issues related to the rise in raw material prices, the escalation of the pandemic, and vehicle configurations.
About IM L7
Q: Due to the rise in raw material prices, many new energy vehicle models have increased their prices. Will the price of IM L7 rise accordingly?
Liu Tao: Rising battery prices are also a pressure faced not only by new forces, but also by traditional automakers. I think this round of price pressure will definitely continue for a period of time, because it is due to the rise in upstream raw material costs for core batteries, and the increase in price is very large, several times or even dozens of times higher. So this round of price pressure is indeed quite significant.
As for IM, we have two advantages. On one hand, we have a deep cooperative relationship with CATL, including both technical and capital cooperation. Therefore, CATL will provide us with the most advanced battery and battery cell technology. On the other hand, SAIC and CATL have two joint ventures, one for battery cells and the other for battery packs. This way, we have relative advantages in terms of supply chain assurance and price control.
Despite facing such pressure, we have promised that the prices stated in the angel round and A-round funding will not increase and will maintain their original announcements.
Q: What is the role of SOA architecture in IM L7?
Liu Tao: SOA is indeed a core underlying technical capability of IM L7. The first functionalities provided to users include nap mode, changing room mode, and pet mode. This is just the beginning. SOA provides the open source capabilities for most of the in-vehicle ECU controllers of IM L7. In the future, users can control freely according to their own preferences and combine them into their intelligent scenarios. They can even share with other users, which may become a small commercial model.
About user experience
Q: The situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai is quite severe. How can IM ensure the delivery of vehicles?
Liu Tao: Shanghai has been in a severe period of the pandemic since March 13th, and IM’s work park is still in a closed state. Most of our partners are working online. Now, there are still about 200 partners working offline, including our autonomous driving team, who are conducting joint testing and debugging in different hotels in Shanghai.Although Pudong is currently under a 4-day lockdown, SAIC Lingang factory has not stopped production, and the production, delivery, and testing of the IM L7 are proceeding as scheduled, albeit delayed by about two weeks due to the epidemic. However, the overall work efficiency and progress are still very normal.
Q: What is IM’s plan for charging infrastructure deployment?
Liu Tao: Currently, IM has good cooperation with State Grid, SAIC Anyue charging, and other companies, and can provide services for 210,000 public charging piles. SAIC Group’s public charging resources will also be integrated into the IM App.
After picking up the car, users can enjoy access to the 443,000 public charging piles that are part of the cooperation. When using the free charging quota of 3,000 kWh, users can check the current status of the pile through the App and use the integrated payment function, avoiding the need to switch between multiple Apps.
Q: How is user-centric charging achieved?
Liu Tao: Users do not want to be troubled when charging. In a sense, it is not necessary for the charging time to be very short because the vehicle is mostly in a stationary state. Therefore, we provide a solution of wireless charging, eliminating the need to plug in the charging pile or even drive out to replace the battery.
Wireless charging can be delivered and installed as early as Q3 2022 and has a certain waterproof and dustproof performance. It can be used in both indoor and outdoor parking spaces and can withstand normal rainfall. It also has a living body detection and metal foreign body detection capabilities to avoid accidents during charging.
Q: What kind of technical support did Alibaba provide in the partnership with IM, and which experiences did Alibaba provide for our users in experiencing the IM L7?
Liu Tao: The cockpit system installed on the IM L7 is the Zebra system jointly developed by Alibaba and SAIC, which is a new architecture and system that Zebra has not yet commercialized.
A considerable part of our cloud services are deployed in Alibaba Cloud, including Alibaba Cloud services, map services, and service ecosystem services.
About ADAS
Q: Is there an approximate release time for the full-featured ADAS package?
Liu Tao: When delivered, the autonomous driving will have several core capabilities, including ACC (full-speed range adaptive cruise control), DLC (directive lane change), LDW (lane departure warning), and other basic driving abilities, including the basic parking ability of APA (visual fusion parking), which will be delivered to the first batch of users. The more critical NOA (highway pilot assistant) capability will be upgraded via OTA 3 to 6 months after the vehicle’s SOP stage.
About Financing
Q: As a high-end brand of SAIC, will IM further promote financing?### Liu Tao: IM currently does not need to communicate with the outside world, but IM is indeed planning for the first round of public financing. Currently, the first round of financing has three major shareholders, and public market financing is being planned. Specific details will be further announced in the future.
Conclusion
As mid-April approaches, test drives and deliveries of IM L7 will begin. For IM L7, it no longer comes as a surprise that it targets the mid-to-large-sized vehicle market with its high performance and luxury. Its competitors in the same price range also have their own advantages in these two aspects.
Although IM L7 has already achieved high marks in driving pleasure and creating a luxurious ambiance, the true test lies in whether it can truly provide outstanding services after delivery, and whether its navigation assistance and high-precision intelligent parking can offer excellent performance and user experience with the support of Momenta. We will continue to pay attention to whether the performance of IM L7 in intelligence, cabin, assistive driving, and audio can stand firm among new luxury brands.
After the spring blossoms, IM L7 will be officially released on the market, and we can all look forward to seeing how IM L7 will win this battle.
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.