Jia Haonan Posted from Co-driver Temple
Smart Car Reference | AI4Auto Public Account
The ideal smart extended-range electric car L9 does three things:
Luxury, luxury, and luxury.
As Li Xiang said:
“We’re not afraid to compare it with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which costs 5 million CNY. Bring your friends and take a test drive with the Cullinan, the Range Rover, and the Mercedes-Benz GLS to see if I’m telling the truth.”
And he promised that no mass-produced car could match the luxury and comfort configuration of the L9.
The national uniform price is 459,800 CNY.
We are most concerned about the intelligence aspect, and the L9 from Ideal equally keeps up with its competitors in both software and hardware, and promises immediate delivery upon payment.
Li Xiang also said:
“No mass-produced car can do what L9 does in terms of intelligent driving.”
So, what kind of car is the L9 that just came out tonight? Let me tell you quickly.
Li Xiang: No mass-produced car can do what L9 does in terms of intelligent driving
In terms of intelligence, we look at three levels: intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, and underlying architecture.
Intelligent Driving
The Ideal L9 is equipped with the self-developed full-stack AD MAX intelligent driving system.
In terms of hardware, L9 is equipped with a 128-line lidar mounted on the top of the car; six 8-million-pixel cameras covering a 360° view of the car’s surroundings; and one forward millimeter-wave radar and twelve ultrasonic radars.
In terms of underlying computing power, it is equipped with two NVIDIA Orin X chips, with a computing power of 512 TOPS, which is already at a high level among mainstream intelligent cars.
In terms of specific capabilities, the L2 assisted driving package is definitely standard.
In addition, the high-speed navigation assistance already achieved on the Ideal ONE won’t be absent.
The official also promises that the future L9 will definitely upgrade its city navigation assistance function through over-the-air updates.
With this, at least on the books, the Ideal L9 achieves a “parking, high-speed, and city” three-domain integration, and there is no difference in the new forces’ competitors.
As for how exactly it performs, Ideal gave this example:
A precise identification of abnormal objects, such as overturned accident vehicles:
Li Xiang said that no mass-produced car can do this, and it is standard for immediate delivery.
Intelligent Cockpit
The screen is more, the interaction is more, and the computing power is greater.
Remember these three things, and that is enough.There are a total of 5 screens in the car, including a driver’s head-up display (HUD) that can display complex information such as intelligent driving, navigation, and driving information.
Above the steering wheel, there is also an interactive screen that displays brief information about the vehicle.
The central control screen and the passenger screen are both 15.7 inches and have a 3K resolution.
In the backseat, there is a large screen for passenger interaction. As mentioned earlier, this screen is not just a TV, but is connected to the car’s cameras and microphones, allowing for interactive control based on passengers’ gestures and voice commands.
This is Ideal’s self-developed “3D spatial interaction” feature, which we focus on emphasizing.
The large screens and complex functions require high computational demands. The Ideal L9’s solution is to use dual Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 cabin chips.
This is currently the most luxurious intelligent cockpit configuration in mass-produced cars.
In addition, the Ideal L9 is equipped with 21 speakers throughout the car with a total power of 2160w. According to Li Xiang, the founder of Ideal, the effect is like having a 4D home theater system, and the price of five Ideal L9s can’t match it if replicated in a residential setting.
Furthermore, it is said that this audio system is self-developed by Ideal, and many acoustic engineering talents were recruited for it.
Architecture
Ideal has not provided extensive information on this topic, but we have found some unique points.
The Ideal L9 is controlled by a central unified controller.
According to Ideal’s official introduction, the central controller installed on the L9 can control various functions such as range extension, air conditioning, suspension, seats, and thermal management.
This means that in terms of electronic and electrical architecture, Ideal has at least consolidated several hundred MCUs found in traditional cars onto a single board.
The next step is to pursue a centralized integrated electronic and electrical architecture that combines control, intelligent cabin, and intelligent driving. This indicates that Ideal has attempted to define and shape its own intelligent car from the ground up and that chip and sensor products from suppliers must serve Ideal’s vision of intelligent functionality and form.
This is fundamentally different from “seamstress” car manufacturers who have the ability to fully self-develop intelligent cars versus those who procure from multiple suppliers and buy turnkey solutions.
Where is the luxury in the Ideal L9?# Vision L9’s Full Configuration
After taking a closer look at the intelligent features, let’s quickly establish a complete understanding of the Vision L9 from three aspects of basic configuration, luxury configuration, and core.
Basic Configuration
The Vision L9, the company’s second car, is positioned as a mid- to large-sized SUV.
At 5218mm long and with a 3150mm wheelbase, this gives us a concept of size that is comparable to models such as the Land Rover Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz GLS, and BMW X7.
The entire L9 series comes standard with 3 rows of 6 seats, with all three rows of seats being electrically adjustable and heated. Each seat also comes equipped with cup holders and storage compartments. The front two rows of seats are ventilated, and the second-row boss seat also comes with a four-way electric leg rest.
Furthermore, the car is equipped with 6 Type C interfaces, 2 12V power supplies, and 2 15W wireless charging plates.
L9 Luxury Configuration
The configuration of the second and third-row seats mentioned previously is actually part of the luxury package.
Even with 3 rows of seats, Vision promises that the seating space and comfort of the last row far surpasses that of Toyota’s most well-known MPV, the Alphard.
In addition, even with all three rows of seats upright, the L9’s trunk still has a depth of 540mm.
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In addition to the above, the L9 also provides you with:
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A panoramic sunroof and electric sunshades;
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Rear seats that can be adjusted to form a small resting place or even a large bed;
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256 colors of ambient lighting;
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Double-layer laminated glass for the windows and sunroof, and electric door suction;
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An 80mm adjustable air suspension.
Of course, being a car for dads has always been the biggest feature of Vision.
This time, the L9 takes this characteristic a step further.
First, the car’s roof features a separate entertainment screen for passengers in the second and third rows that is connected to the car’s sensors and can be controlled by voice and gesture.
In addition, the rear of the car is equipped with a refrigerator/warmer with a relatively large capacity that can directly heat or chill bottles and drinks, unlike other cars that use air conditioning to adjust the temperature.
Lastly, the vehicle also comes with a 3.5kW external power supply function. This power output is pretty impressive as it can simultaneously power a sound system, a movie, or even an induction cooker for hotpot.
In summary, Vision considers the L9’s configuration to be a new high in the mid- to large-sized luxury SUV market, with no other car providing the same amount and depth of features as the L9.
Moreover, all of these configurations are standard and not optional.
Vehicle Core
The Vision L9 is still an extended-range vehicle with a charging port that can be used for city driving on electricity and long-distance driving with gasoline.The power system is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharger jointly developed with BMW, and it is a four-cylinder engine that discards the three-cylinder turbocharger used in the ideal ONE.
At the same time, it is equipped with a 44.4kWh battery from Great Wall Feiteng Energy. Ideal claims to always maintain 12% of the battery capacity for safety, which means the actual available capacity is 39.2kWh.
With this battery capacity, the ideal L9 pure electric vehicle has a WLTC cruising range of 215km and a CLTC cruising range of 180km. Li Xiangyan said, “Commuting 180km in the city is not a problem.”
It has front and rear dual motors with a total power of 330kW and 620Nm of torque.
What level of power is this?
Generally speaking, for large and tough off-road vehicles of the size of Tank 500, a total power of 300kW and a maximum torque of 500N·m are more than enough.
Therefore, the official power data for the ideal L9 is:
0-100km/h acceleration in 5.9 seconds.
And judging from the size of the vehicle, the weight of the L9 should easily exceed 2.2 tons.
Therefore, even for such a luxury and family-oriented super-daddy car, the power is far superior to its peers in the same level.
However, it can be inferred that such a level of power can only be achieved when the battery level is high.
In terms of vehicle safety, the ideal mainly emphasizes that the L9 has achieved a G excellent level in the central insurance research and the 25% offset collision test of CNCAP.
And the battery uses flame retardant materials with thermal runaway protection, which ensures absolute safety of the battery.
Ideal established its brand awareness with a luxury and family-oriented positioning to penetrate into the medium and large SUV market with the ideal ONE.
However, “intelligence” has never been an obvious label or strength of Ideal. Has the L9 made up for the deficiency?
One more thing
This is the basic information about Ideal’s new car L9. How do you feel about it?
Do you think the price of 459,800 yuan is reasonable for this configuration?
No matter how you look at it, at least during the press conference, Ideal’s official app was already jammed by pre-order users:
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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.