Today, the Ideal L9 was officially released, with the sale price of 459,800 yuan for the L9 Max version.
As the heaviest product of Ideal in 2022, L9 is regarded by many as a high-end model to enhance the brand image and not to sell in large quantities. However, Li Xiang, the founder of Ideal, predicted on Weibo that this model could achieve a monthly delivery volume of over 10,000 units in September this year.
Throughout the entire automobile market, there are only a few models with a price of around 450,000 yuan and a monthly delivery volume of more than 10,000 units. After experiencing it in person, my conclusion is: on the functional level, I found a long-lost freshness in this car; on the experiential level, I felt the difference between “having” and “good” in this car.
Ideal L9 is not just targeting users in the price range of 450,000-500,000 yuan, but aims to cover the entire market through extreme cost-effectiveness and product competitiveness, by competing against full-size SUVs and MPVs that cost more than 450,000 yuan, and making many users with a budget of about 400,000 yuan interested in buying.
Because there are many details worth discussing about Ideal L9, this article is quite long and will be divided into five parts to introduce it. In theory, after reading this article, you can have a very comprehensive understanding of L9.
Part One: Exterior and Lighting
Part Two: Cabin and Space
Part Three: The Three Electrics and Chassis
Part Four: Driver Assistance and Safety
Part Five: Summary
Exterior Introduction: Full-size Body and Future-oriented Design
When Ideal L9 unveiled its exterior design in March of this year, this brand new design caused quite a controversy. The core of the controversy was the front face. L9 adopted a fully enclosed front face, while in Ideal ONE, everyone was already accustomed to the design of a huge air intake grille, so the first impression might be a bit uncomfortable.
Whether it looks good or not can be discussed in the comments. I can share three pieces of information with you:1. When I first saw the pictures, I also felt very uncomfortable, but after seeing the actual car, the front face became more and more pleasing to the eye, especially in the green and blue versions. Starting tomorrow (June 22nd), Ideaauto will also hold 14 L9 roadshows in 12 cities. It is recommended that everyone go to the nearest store to see and feel the real car.
- At the design stage of the L9 appearance, there was actually a version with an air intake grille inside, which would look more pleasing at first sight. However, Ben, the designer of the L9, believes that a closed front face is the future design. Since it has been determined that this is a design of the future, it is better to make a resolute decision and choose a closed design.
- After the photos were released, the reaction was mixed, so Ideaauto launched Plan B. Compared to Plan A, the difference is that the curvature of the closed front face is greater, which reduces the visual impact of the front face.
In addition, since the front face is designed to be closed, a new problem needs to be solved for a vehicle like the L9 equipped with a range extender-the arrangement of the intake system. The L9 still uses an active intake grille, which can improve vehicle thermal management efficiency and reduce wind resistance to improve energy efficiency in winter or EV mode. The intercooler is located on both sides of the active intake grille.
Translate the following Chinese Markdown text into English Markdown text in a professional manner, preserving the HTML tags inside the Markdown and outputting only the results:
Finally, let’s take a look at the appearance of the BMW X7 and the Mercedes-Benz GLS. Everyone can compare their visual effects.
Body size
In terms of body size, the L9 is positioned as a full-size SUV with dimensions of 5,218 x 1,998 x 1,800 mm (length x width x height) and a wheelbase of 3,105 mm. The length is the same as the Mercedes-Benz GLS, while the wheelbase is the same as the BMW X7. Compared to the GLS, the L9 is 30 mm shorter, and visually does not look as large as the X7 and GLS.
Because the L9 uses a concealed luggage rack buckle and does not have an external luggage rack, the overall height of the vehicle is also about 30 mm lower than that of the X7 and GLS. Considering that the height of a city parking garage is generally limited to about 1.8-2.5 m, the pressure on the L9 when parking in an underground garage will also be slightly lower.
Headlight configuration
The front headlights of the L9 use an integrated LED lens headlight for both high and low beams, with a second layer for steering auxiliary lights, the bottom first beam for intelligent driving auxiliary lights, and the second beam for turn signals.
According to the official data from Ideal Auto, the brightness of the headlight in the low beam state of the L9 is 25% higher than that of the BMW X7 within a range of 10-40 meters. Specific effects cannot be tested due to site restrictions. We will also provide you with real nighttime high-speed driving footage during the test drive phase in July.
The intelligent driving assist light will light up in a submarine blue color when the vehicle enters the assisted driving or automatic parking state, indicating to the outside world that the vehicle is in the assisted driving state. There are a total of 5 such lights on the L9, with 4 located at the front of the car and 1 in the center of the rear of the car. The small lights on both sides of the star-ring light are yellow width lights when not in assisted driving mode.
As the ability of assisted driving becomes stronger and the covered scenarios become wider, it is necessary to tell others your current state through indicator lights when there is a mixed flow of human and assisted driving, which is similar to turn signals and brake lights in function.
In the “Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment for Motor Vehicles and Trailers” (draft for soliciting opinions), it is also mentioned that vehicles that realize higher-level automatic/assisted driving in the future will need to be equipped with autonomous driving indicator lights.
In addition, the Ideall L9 continues the design of the Ideall ONE star-ring light, which is also the familial design of Ideall.
It is worth mentioning that, in order to create this uninterrupted star-ring light, Ideall Motors invested 200 million yuan to develop this 2-meter-long light strip together with the supplier. The visual effect is very outstanding, and the light strip is pure, without any granular feeling even when viewed up close.
Wheel Configuration
The Ideall L9 series is equipped with 21-inch wheels as standard, with two color options of silver-gray and black-gray. The tire size is 265/45 R21 Michelin PS4 SUV tires, and the version with a quiet sponge is sold for around 2,000 yuan.
Highlights of L9 Doors
L9 doors feature hidden door handles design. In unlocked state, the door handles remain popped out, which helps to avoid situations where elderly or children may not know how to use hidden door handles, and also prevents accidental finger injuries caused by automatic expansion of door handles in the unlocked state.
In addition, L9 comes standard with electric suction doors, which I found to be of exquisite quality in actual experience. The closing quality of L9 doors is outstanding even without the electric suction doors, there is no difficulty in closing doors as in the 2020 IDEAL ONE.
Cabin Introduction: Quality shift from quantitative innovation.
Cabin is the biggest highlight of IDEAL L9. IDEAL L9 raised the bar for visual and interactive experience within the cabin to a whole new level. There are some innovation in the cabin internal interaction, but they are still in the trial and error stage. The other aspects of IDEAL L9 are improvements over IDEAL ONE from “good” to “excellent.”
These incremental improvements in detail have brought a cohesive and quality experience that will definitely stretch the idle usage time of the cabin.
Interior Design
In terms of interior design, IDEAL L9 continues with the simple design of ONE, without complicated line decorations or solid wood panels to demonstrate luxury, which some may find appealing, while others may find it plain.
Regarding the cabin’s main feature, two large screens dominate the interior. It requires a balance between design and practicality. A larger screen provides better visual experience but takes away the space for design.
Clearly, practicality is IDEAL’s choice.The almost all touchable areas in the interior are covered in soft materials.
There are three options for the interior color: black and white, black and brown, and black and orange.
About the Seats
First Row
Seats are the foundation of cabin comfort.
In the 2020 version of the Ideal ONE, the seats have a hard feel and average comfort, while in the 2021 version, the upgraded seats have improved comfort. With the Ideal L9, the seats have been upgraded again.
The Ideal L9 has 6 seats in total, all of which have a 2cm thicker 3D comfortable sponge and are made of Nappa leather, which feels very soft. When you first sit down, you can feel a certain degree of sinking, but the seats provide sufficient support, and are highly fitting for the back.
In terms of comfort, it is on par with the BMW X7 and superior to the Mercedes-Benz GLS.
In terms of functionality, it supports ventilation, heating, and massage. It’s worth mentioning that this massage feature is a genuine 10-point massage, which is essentially different from the seat massage of the 2021 Ideal ONE.
As far as we know, although the seat is provided by a supplier, Ideal Auto has also participated in deep research and development. The seat has been modified more than 50 times, only by Li Xiang himself.
Second row
The measured length of the rear seat cushion is 50 cm, the same as that of the BMW X7. However, due to the battery beneath the floor, the floor is slightly higher, and the height from the seat cushion to the floor is 36 cm, slightly inferior to the 38 cm of the BMW X7. But with no drive mechanism, the floor is a flat structure, which is better than the X7.
The seat’s configuration is slightly higher than the front row. In addition to ventilation, heating, and massage, it also has a 4D vibration function, which we will discuss in the audio section.
The right rear seat has an additional legrest and small table. If you want to fully extend the legrest, you need to adjust the front seat to the farthest position.
The thickness of the rear small table board is 25mm and the maximum load is 25kg. Compared with most small table boards, it is thinner and takes up less space, making it very stable and without any looseness or shaking.
The third row
The third row is the focus of this car and also the area where the Ideal L9 differs from other full-size SUV models.
First of all, the stuffing of the third-row seats is also very soft, and the seat cushion is 48cm long, which is longer than the 45cm of BMW X7 and the 41cm of Mercedes-Benz GLS, and is very close to the length of a regular second-row seat cushion.
Secondly, the third-row seats of Ideal L9 also support electric adjustment. The adjustment range is between 18-33°, and as a reference, the rear seat angle of BMW X5L is 31°. When adjusted to 33°, the passenger can obtain a posture that is close to semi-recumbent.
Regarding the space, under the condition that I sat comfortably in the first row, and the second row has 2 fists of legroom, there are still 3 fingers of space in the third row. However, under the same condition, BMW X7 can only accommodate children, while Mercedes-Benz GLS cannot accommodate adult passengers.
The core reason why the Ideal L9 maximizes the space of the third row is that it uses a 1.5T four-cylinder transverse turbocharger, which is different from the longitudinal six-cylinder engines of the X7 and GLS. By releasing more space in the front cabin, the Ideal L9 achieves larger space. As for its performance, we will discuss it later.
Regarding the seat height, it is restricted by the chassis battery pack and the height is only 31 cm, which is similar to BMW X7 and lower than Mercedes-Benz GLS.
In terms of actual riding experience, the comfort of the seats in the Ideal L9 is close to that of an MPV, and due to its large side windows and panoramic sunroof that extends to the third row, there is no sense of oppression when sitting in the third row.
In terms of configuration, both seats in the third row are equipped with the following functions:
- Adjustable electronic backrest
- Type-C charging port
- Seat heating
- Microphone
- Phone storage compartment
- Cup holder
- Child safety seat interface
From a configuration perspective, it can be said that this is the most thoughtful third row designed to care for passengers.
About the trunk space
According to our test data, the Ideal L9 achieves the same trunk space as the GLS with a larger third row. Under normal third-row use, the Ideal L9’s net depth of the trunk is 54 cm, and a 20-inch suitcase can be laid flat or a 28-inch suitcase can be stored vertically.
This trunk space is insufficient for the supplies of six people on long trips. From this perspective, it is apparent that Ideal has chosen to focus on the third-row space for the Ideal L9, including the trunk space and third-row experience.It should be noted that the topic of “supplies for 6 people on long-distance trips” only becomes valuable once the comfort level of the third row is up to standard.
On the functional level, the L9’s trunk supports 5 opening methods including button, key, kick, screen, and voice commands, and the third-row seats can be electrically folded.
Additionally, thanks to the L9’s air suspension, the rear suspension can be lowered an extra 10 mm in loading mode while being at its lowest level (standard level -50mm), thereby improving the convenience of handling heavy cargo.
In the standard state, the ideal minimum ground clearance of the L9 is 17 cm, and the air suspension can be adjusted within a range of ±40 mm. After opening the convenient entry and exit function, the height of the vehicle will automatically decrease by 40 mm to 13 cm when parked. Compared to other vehicles in the same class, it is lower.
After our actual testing, the minimum height of the ideal L9’s trunk platform is 77 cm, which is lower than the 80 cm of the BMW X7 and the 82 cm of the Mercedes GLS.
It is worth mentioning that the L9’s suspension rises and falls very quickly, and it takes about 15 seconds from the highest position to the lowest. The trunk’s lowering speed is also very fast, greatly enhancing the applicability of this feature.
An area for improvement is that the sound of the air compressor working during the lifting process in loading mode is slightly noticeable and needs to be optimized.
About the Infotainment System
The infotainment system is a major focus of the L9’s cabin, and the hardware parameters are as follows:
- 11.3-inch HUD
- Mini-LED safety driving interactive screen
- 15.7-inch central control screen (3K OLED)
- 15.7-inch co-pilot screen (3K OLED)
- 15.7-inch rear entertainment screen (3K OLED)
- Dual Snapdragon 8155
- Dual 5G from China Unicom and China Mobile.One of the 8155 chips is used for the front control screen, copilot screen, and HUD, while the other one is used for the processing of the rear entertainment screen, projection and AR/VR device information.
Let’s talk about the actual experience one by one.
A 13.35-inch HUD with Mini-LED
On the L9, the instrument panel was boldly removed and replaced by a 13.35-inch HUD with a large projection area for displaying rich information in addition to basic information such as gears, speed, and navigation. It can also display visual information for ADAS.
Whether this HUD can completely replace the instrument panel will be determined after we experience it ourselves.
A Mini-LED interactive safety driving screen
There is a MacBook Touchbar-like area on the steering wheel of the Ideal L9, and the screen is made of Mini-LED material with support for multi-touch.
In terms of functionality, it can display synchronized information such as speed, gears, range, mode, and energy consumption. When you get on the car, this screen will also prompt you whether you need to turn on the seat ventilation or heating function according to the environment.
In terms of ease of use, it is convenient to operate either by placing your hand on the steering wheel and adjusting it with your thumb or by placing your hand on top of the screen. Therefore, there is no problem with the ease of use of this screen.
The only problem is that if the vehicle frequently makes high-speed turns and the steering wheel remains in an angled position for a long time, the readability of this screen may be compromised.
As far as I know, the HUD will take over all the functions of the instrument panel, while this interactive safety driving screen is more for meeting legal requirements.
A 3K OLED 15.7-inch large screen
HardwareThe central control screen, co-pilot screen, and rear entertainment screen of Ideal L9 have identical hardware specifications, all featuring 15.7-inch 3K OLED screens.
As soon as you step into the car, the screen’s outstanding qualities become evident: ultra-narrow borders, slim body, delicate images, smooth animations – the effects are no less impressive than what can be seen on an iPad, and even outperform many tablets.
The supplier of this screen is Samsung, which ensures that it meets the requirements of automotive standards, including undergoing long-term exposure without affecting fluidity or brightness – this is the basic requirement for automotive standards.
Before the rise of new forces, hardware such as screens and chips in the automotive industry were typically two to three generations slower than those in consumer electronics. However, with the increase in demand for the cabin from new forces, in 2022, automotive-standard screens finally caught up with their consumer electronic counterparts.
Ergonomics
In terms of ergonomics, the location of this screen is very reasonable – it no longer causes the steering wheel to interfere with the instrument panel, unlike what happened with Ideal ONE.
Furthermore, the screen is closer to the passengers, making operating it much more convenient. When seated properly, you no longer need to strain your arms to reach the entire screen and navigate the controls.
Functionality
The functionality of the Ideal L9’s infotainment system, like that of Ideal ONE, supports popular functions such as QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Gaode Maps.
UI Design
With the L9, Ideal has eliminated most of the physical buttons, including the in-car control screen that was present on the ONE. All functions are now integrated into the central screen. In order to ensure a good user experience, a superb UI design is especially important.
The home screen of the Ideal L9 can be divided into three areas: left, bottom L-shaped dock bar, top information display bar, and the middle function display area.
The vertically arranged L-shaped dock bar contains commonly used functions, allowing for quick switching between them. The horizontally arranged bar contains vehicle-related settings such as air conditioning and driving modes. The top information display bar is used to display basic information such as time and network status.
The middle information display area has a card-style design that can be horizontally dragged. This design is very similar to Apple’s recently launched CarPlay, which reduces the difficulty of subsequent application adaptation.
It is foreseeable that more and more applications will be added to the car, and this layout has already left room for third-party applications.
In addition, each card is almost the size of an iPhone 12 Pro Max, allowing for multitasking and customization of the order of different function cards based on individual needs. If you feel that a single card’s area is not large enough, music and navigation functions can be displayed in full screen.
One absolute advantage of the Ideal L9 is that third-party apps such as QQ Music and Netease Cloud Music have all been adapted to the car’s UI, so there is no sense of disconnection between the UI.
In addition, the Ideal L9 car machine UI has three additional highlights:
- The overall design consistency of the UI is very high. All sections are uniform rounded rectangles, and the animation process is also very delicate, providing an excellent comprehensive experience.
-
The size of all buttons is relatively large, which greatly reduces the risk of accidentally touching them while driving;
-
Although the Ideal L9 car machine is very feature-rich, all settings are placed in 2nd level menus, ensuring ease of modification.
The Passenger Screen
The passenger screen is a popular feature that has received high praise on the ONE platform. With the L9, there is no compromise on this screen, which uses the exact same panel as the central control screen, significantly improving the passenger’s viewing experience.## Second-row Entertainment Screen
The size of the second-row screen is the same as two screens in the front row, both are 15.7 inches. As for viewing angle, this screen is not particularly awkward, and the viewing posture is still relatively natural.
Secondly, although this screen supports touch operation, it is located on the roof of the car. Therefore, it is not convenient for passengers in the back row to click when they are in a half-lying position.
The second interaction mode is voice. Passengers can use it, but the premise is that you are good at using voice. For friends who are not good at using voice, it is ideal to prepare the third interaction mode-gesture.
On the roof of the second row, the LI L9 is equipped with a 3DToF sensor, which can recognize the posture and motion trajectory of the hand. Therefore, moving the cursor and clicking can be achieved by moving the palm left and right, making a fist, or opening the hand. The overall experience is somewhat similar to playing VR devices.
However, the actual sensitivity can only be considered enough, and it is not handy enough. According to Li Xiang’s disclosures, Qualcomm only developed the interface between the 8155 chip and the 3DToF sensor three months ago, so LI’s software department only adjusted it for three months.
The 3DToF sensor is a new attempt by LI L9 in spatial interaction. If it is done well, it will bring a brand-new interactive experience to the cabin. If it is not done well, the outcome may be similar to the gesture recognition of the BMW X5. From the current experience, it has completely surpassed the experience of the BMW X5. However, we will also continue to observe the subsequent capability iterations.
In addition, there are 2 Type-C interfaces in the rear of the LI L9, with a charging power of 60 W, which can meet basic office needs. At the same time, these two Type-C interfaces also support screen casting, which can not only connect mobile phones and tablets, but also game consoles such as Switch and PS5.
In short, you can treat these three screens of the LI L9 as display screens. As long as the device can transmit information through a data cable, it can be cast.
About the Sound System
Let’s first look at the parameters of this sound system:
- 21 speakers
- Maximum amplifier power of 2160 W
- Use Dolby panoramic sound technology
- 7.3.4 sound layout for panoramic sound
- Standard across all modelsThe Ideal ONE L9, just like the NIO ET7, did not adopt OEM audio. However, according to information we obtained from the supplier, the audio system of the L9 was manufactured by Shangsheng Electronics, which also manufactures high-end brands such as B&O.
It is easy to understand that the 21 speakers refer to 21 sound-emitting units. Compared with NIO ET7’s 23 speakers and the 26 speakers in the Mercedes-Benz GLS 480 Maybach model, Ideal ONE L9 does not have an advantage in terms of quantity, but in terms of power, it reaches 2160W.
The amplifier is responsible for amplifying the sound signal into audible air vibrations. A higher power not only makes the sound louder but also provides more energy reserves to ensure that all the rich details can be reflected in the vibration of the speakers.
The 7.3.4 panoramic sound refers to the 7 groups of speakers forming a surround sound system inside the whole vehicle, 3 subwoofers forming a low-frequency matrix, and 4 top speakers forming sky surround sound.
As we know, Ideal’s audio team was the first tuning team in China of Dirac, which was responsible for Volvo Bowers & Wilkins audio system.
In previous articles, we mentioned several times that audio will become the core force point of the new era cockpit.
From knobs to screens, the automotive cockpit has completed one round of evolution, but before achieving full autonomous driving, drivers cannot truly liberate themselves from driving. Therefore, the only thing that can be done during the driving process is listening, so enhancing the auditory experience will be the core force point of every automaker’s cockpit experience.
In practical experience, Ideal ONE L9’s audio effect is enough to refresh most people’s perception of music.
It should be noted that the overall effect of playing Dolby sound source media is better than that of ordinary sound source media. Although there are not many Dolby sound-effect music sources at present, there are plenty of Dolby sound source movies. With two 4D seats in the back, the auditory effect of watching a movie in the car with Ideal ONE L9 is even better than that in a regular cinema.
This is also what I mentioned at the beginning. With the increase in cabin experience, such as the improvement in seat comfort, screen viewing experience, and auditory experience, these quantitative changes have led to the index of the cockpit experience.
On the Ideal ONE, I only hope to have a good cabin experience while charging or waiting for someone, while on the L9, I would proactively think about coming into the car to watch a movie.
Other configurations
Refrigerator
There is a space under the central armrest of Ideal ONE L9, which supports heating and cooling functions. Interestingly, the L9 places this space under the armrest.
I believe that everyone wouldn’t mind having a refrigerator in the car, but nobody wants to sacrifice trunk space or folding rear seats to make room for a refrigerator.
It’s worth mentioning that the refrigerator space of Ideal L9 is very cleverly designed – the height is just enough to accommodate canned drinks, with a total capacity of 10 cans of coke, and the depth is also enough to hold a bottle of champagne.
In terms of functionality, the L9 uses a compressor refrigerator, which has stronger performance compared to thermoelectric refrigerators and supports refrigeration at 0-7℃ and heating at 35-50℃, so it’s no problem to store iced drinks or warm milk.
Steering Wheel
The steering wheel of Ideal L9 is equipped with electric adjustment as standard, supporting four ways of adjustment for height and distance. With electric adjustment, the comfort entry function is also supported. During the getting on and off process, the steering wheel will automatically adjust to create more space.
The airbag cover of the steering wheel of Ideal ONE has been criticized for its subpar material, but it has been optimized and replaced with genuine leather material for the L9.
Regarding the turn signal, the L9 no longer uses the two-stage turn signal but adopts the automatic resetting turn signal lever, the same as the Model 3. In short, after turning on the signal, the lever will return to the original center position.
This setting may take some time for many people to adapt, but it’s a design for the era of auxiliary driving. It eliminates the need to manually reset the turn signal lever when using the signal for automatic lane change.
NVH
In terms of NVH, the four doors of Ideal L9 are equipped with double-sided laminated glass as standard, and the sunroof also uses double-sided laminated glass. From a static experience, after closing the car door and entering the L9, there is a quiet and secluded feeling.
#### Ambient Lighting
For ambient lighting, the IDEAL L9 has upgraded single-color ambient lighting on the IDEAL ONE to 256-color ambient lighting, while still maintaining a simple and warm visual experience.
Fragrance
Here’s a little surprise for everyone: the IDEAL L9 has a fragrance function with three fragrance jars placed in the glove compartment, which is currently an important method for enhancing the cabin atmosphere. As for the fragrance itself, we highly recommend that you personally visit the showroom and experience it.
External Power Supply
The IDEAL L9 has a 1.1 kW socket inside the car that can perfectly meet the entertainment needs of plugging in a PS5 power supply, or the needs of a dad to heat up baby food with an electric rice cooker.
Outside the car, the IDEAL L9 also supports external power supply through a slow charging port. However, the discharge power has been increased from the IDEAL ONE’s 2.2 kW to 3.5 kW, making outdoor power supply more sufficient.
As shown from the actual photos of the car, the L9 supports forced battery charging through a range extender.
Air Conditioning
As for air conditioning, the IDEAL L9 is still using the PTC + range extender residual heat heating method, with a front power of 7 kW and a rear power of 2.5 kW.
Electronic Child Lock
The IDEAL L9 comes with an electronic child lock as standard.
Small Battery
The IDEAL L9 is equipped with a small lithium battery, which has better performance and longer life than traditional lead-acid batteries.
Powertrain and Chassis
The core parameters of the powertrain are as follows:# Markdown Text Translated to English
With the extended range powertrain form that has been gradually recognized by all through the Ideal ONE model, Ideal has equipped the L9 with a larger battery, a four-cylinder range extender, and a larger electric motor.
CLTC range of the Ideal L9 reaches 215 km, which also means that users with a charging station at home can drive in all-electric mode for city commuting.
It’s worth mentioning that the range extender (New Power), battery (CATL), and five-in-one electric motor (Huichuan) on the Ideal L9 are all joint ventures or production lines between Ideal and these suppliers. This has two advantages:
- In case of shortages of raw materials, parts supply can be better guaranteed;
- Ideal has stronger control over the whole vehicle’s BOM cost.
In terms of chassis, the Ideal L9 adopts a front double-wishbone and rear multi-link suspension form, with air suspension and CDC shock absorbers as standard.
The air suspension supports ±40 mm height adjustment, with a vehicle’s lowest ground clearance of 17 cm in the standard state. After the convenient enter and exit function is activated, the vehicle’s height will automatically lower by 40 mm to 13 cm in the parking state, which is slightly lower than the same level of models. In the off-road recovery mode, the suspension will increase by 40 mm to reach 21 cm.
At the same time, the Ideal L9 will also support an optional electric pedal. As a family car, with the electric pedal and air suspension, the ease of getting in and out for the elderly and children will be greatly improved.
As for the driving experience of the L9, we will share it with everyone after our test drive in July.
Advanced Driving Assistance and Safety
The core hardware for the Ideal L9’s advanced driving assistance is as follows:
- 1 128-line lidar- 4 360° surround view cameras (2 million pixels each)
- 7 auxiliary driving perception cameras (6 of 8 million pixels and 1 of 2 million pixels)
- 1 millimeter-wave radar (forward-facing)
- 2 NVIDIA Orin X processors (508 teraoperations per second computing power)
- 5 intelligent driving assistance lights
- Capacitive steering wheel
- Full-stack self-developed
We have already analyzed the interpretation of this hardware capability in detail in a previous article. Interested friends can review it. Here are three new pieces of information:
-
Ideal L9 eliminated 4 millimeter-wave radars at the corners, leaving only one forward-looking millimeter-wave radar. In an environment where everyone is increasing hardware crazily, Ideal and Tesla are subtracting. This also means that Ideal L9 will be the second car model to achieve NOA navigation assistance driving by pure vision after Tesla.
-
Ideal officially stated that during the delivery phase in August this year, NOA high-speed navigation assistance driving function will be synchronously launched, which means that Ideal L9 will be the first car model based on NVIDIA Orin-X chip to achieve NOA navigation assistance driving function.
-
Ideal stated that after adding lidar, Ideal L9 can recognize vehicles with various posture rolls, reduce speed, and even stop at speeds of up to 100 km/h.
“Ideal L9 adopts a double aluminum alloy anti-collision beam on the upper and lower floors. The Ideal official stated that L9 can obtain G excellent results in the off-center collision 25% to the left and right in the China Insurance Research Institute’s test.”
Conclusion
I have already stated the conclusions about this car at the beginning. It is too early to judge that this car will definitely sell well or beat BBA based on static experience alone. However, looking at the L9 cabin experience, this car already has the potential to become popular.In terms of mechanical qualities, the hardware of the L9 has shown its sincerity, and as for the actual experience, we will disclose it after test driving.
We also hope that the epidemic can end soon, so that we can drive the L9 to pursue poetry and distant places.
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.