Author: Knight of the Waves
If we talk about the brands that currently have extremely high popularity, then we cannot ignore IDEAL. Despite the fact that the delivery of the Ideall L9 has just started, and the frequent “accidents” of the car in the recent past have put the vehicle and the brand in the spotlight, it seems that the trust of the Ideall fans has not been affected. Perhaps IDEAL is the next NIO, always able to let people who like it go and support it unconditionally. As for how this kind of magic comes about, let’s put it aside for the moment, because today there is something more important to talk about, that is, the information about IDEAL’s next new car.
Recently, IDEAL’s CEO Li Xiang revealed the brand’s latest product plan on social media, and the third car in the lineup will be named IDEAL L8, which will have two seating layouts: 6-seater and 5-seater, and provide Pro and Max models depending on the different configurations of assisted driving, and intelligent cabin hardware and software.
Regarding the difference between the Pro and Max models, Li Xiang also made relevant explanations on social media: “The Pro model corresponds to the combination of AD Pro and SS Pro, and the Max model corresponds to the combination of AD Max and SS Max. AD Max has a dual Orin X+LiDAR+full safety redundancy. AD Pro is the global debut of a high-performance new AD chip, with extremely high cost performance.” In other words, in addition to the number of seats, the performance of the automatic driving system (AD) and intelligent space (SS) will become the second criterion for dividing IDEAL L8 configurations.
However, it should be noted that although IDEAL is trying to separate the AD and SS configuration modules and give them independent names, in fact AD and SS are fixed combinations in the L8’s car configurations, and cannot be combined freely. With the simplest understanding, either it is the Max model (AD Max+SS Max), or it is the Pro model (AD Pro+SS Pro), and there will be no configuration such as AD Pro+SS Max. Therefore, some people speculate that currently, there is only one model of L9 named L9 Max, and in the future, L9 Pro model will also be added.
The software and hardware configuration of Ideal L8 Max car model is probably two Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips in the cockpit and two NVIDIA Orin X chips for ADAS, with a total computing power of 508 TOPS, one LiDAR, and six 8 million pixel cameras. The new AD chip used by the Pro model is probably a chip from Horizon.
In addition, back on August 15th, Li Xiang had already said on social media to not buy ONE at this stage when waiting for L8. This seems to suggest that Ideal L8 might replace Ideal ONE, as both its turbocharger and its chip and LiDAR technology have already become somewhat outdated compared to L8. It would only make sense for L8 to become the next model in line after ONE. However, after the release of L8, the second-hand car market for Ideal ONE is likely to be severely impacted.
From spy photos and other related promotional materials, it is clear that Ideal L8 will be developed on the same platform as L9, so its design will be modeled heavily after L9. The 6-seater model will be slightly smaller than L9, designed as a family car, while the 5-seater model will be designed for VIPs seeking ample room in the back. In addition, Ideal L8 will not continue to use Ideal ONE’s three-cylinder engine as a turbocharger, and instead will be equipped with a 1.5L four-cylinder engine like L9.
Official information on the size of L8 has not yet been released, but it will likely be positioned as a mid-size SUV with a length of over 5 meters. Based on Ideal ONE’s previous practice of raising prices with upgrades, the price of L8 may be slightly higher than that of the latest Ideal ONE. It would be wise to prepare for this possibility.
According to Li Xiang’s previous response, Ideal L8’s release schedule will be very fast, faster than the time between the launch and delivery of L9. Therefore, Ideal L8 will probably be officially released later this year.
In addition to the Ideal L8, Ideal will launch another large 5-seater SUV next year, tentatively named “Ideal X03”. Regarding this car, Li Xiang said: “It is much larger than the Q7 and can refer to the rear space of the latest Stellantis Teng Yue L 5-seater version”, “The X03 also surpasses the Koleos in terms of rear passenger space and comfort”.
As expected, this is still our familiar way of speaking.
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.