Author: Xiao Dong
Editor: Chris
With the resurgence of the epidemic, it is not good news for the upcoming new cars in 2022.
This may be why Li Xiang and his company Ideal are serializing the new full-size extended-range electric SUV Ideal L9 on Weibo.
The significance of Ideal L9 lies in an interesting proposition: In today’s world, where the strong have abundant resources, how high can Li Xiang’s “making cars for families” concept go?
Now, let’s take a look at the exterior of Ideal L9, which the Ideal official has reluctantly released.
Appearance debut
After a long wait, Ideal finally released the exterior image of Ideal L9 today.
Take a look!
Ideal L9’s overall design style is consistent with that of Ideal ONE, with a Velodyne AT128 LiDAR on the roof, and a similar styling design to the NIO NT 2.0 platform vehicle model.
The front end adopts a seamless star-shaped headlamp, which looks more atmospheric. The sides of the star-shaped headlamp are the width indicator light and ADAS indicator light. The function of the ADAS indicator light is to remind other vehicles when ADAS is turned on, which is an interesting design. At present, few people can understand the ADAS indicator light, so this is undoubtedly a forward-looking design.
The high and low beam lamps are distributed on both sides, which are not as eye-catching as the star-shaped lamps.
In addition, Ideal L9 did not adopt the large air intake grille design like Ideal ONE. This is because the range extender does not actually require a large amount of air intake, which makes Ideal L9 look more electrified. Of course, the lack of a super-large air intake grille may make many people feel that it is not domineering enough, but this is more of a traditional aesthetic inertia for traditional fuel vehicles.
On the side, Ideal L9 adopts full-coverage doors, which will make it more convenient for passengers to get in and out of the car. Starting from the second row, Ideal L9 uses privacy glass. Equipped with 21-inch wheels and 265/45 R21 Michelin PILOT SPORT 4 SUV tires. What I pay more attention to is the area of the headliner on the second and third rows of Ideal L9, but it is still unknown from the picture.
The rear lamp design adopts a through-type tail lamp, and the overall design of the tail is not much different from Ideal ONE.The release of the official appearance basically outsourced the entire intelligent hardware.
As for the smart driving chip, it is a sure thing that the IDEAL L9 uses the Orin-X chip. IDEAL Car CEO Li Xiang made a special response to the delay of the Orin-X meeting earlier this year. So the IDEAL L9 will use two Orin-X chips, with a total computing power of 508 TOPS.
Another hardware that everyone is concerned about is the LiDAR.
So, what is the level of WaySens AT 128 LiDAR used by IDEAL L9? Let’s take a look at the comparison of common LiDAR parameters.
In addition, from the appearance map, we can see that the front camera will use 2 8-megapixel ADS cameras, and there are also two side cameras on the rearview mirror, a total of 7 ADS cameras and 4 panoramic cameras, 1 millimeter wave, and 12 ultrasonic radars.
Interior debut
This is the official L9 interior image shared by IDEAL. Did you notice anything?
First of all, there is a very eye-catching dual-screen, with a 15.7-inch, 3K OLED screen. Considering that the center console screen of the Tesla Model 3 is 15 inches, it can be simply understood as two Model 3 screens side by side. Obviously, compared with the IDEAL ONE, the video and game experience of the L9 co-pilot screen will have a qualitative upgrade.
The instrument panel in front of the driver’s seat has been removed, replaced by a HUD with a huge display area. From the picture, the HUD supports displaying nearly all the information displayed on the dashboard, including navigation, perceptual information visualization, and traditional speed and milestone information.
In addition, the layout of the buttons on the left and right sides of the steering wheel continues the interactive layout of the 2021 IDEAL ONE. An interactive screen for safe driving has been added above the steering column, which is designed to cooperate with the HUD and uses Mini-LED and multi-touch technology. It can display necessary driving information more clearly and allow the instrument screen to achieve touch interaction, making it more convenient to select functions including driving mode. This also means that you can customize functions and set them as needed. And the IDEAL L9 steering wheel supports electric adjustment.
The information layout and UI design on the left side of the central screen have a similar style to the Tesla Model 3/Y series. However, this part of the information overlaps with the driving information presented on the HUD, which seems redundant.
Enlarging the range information on the central screen, the ideal electric range for L9 is 200 km, the fuel range is 1000 km, totaling 1200 km (according to the CLTC standard). Even the barrage messages displayed on the passenger screen have some playful elements from the official.
Compared to the ideal ONE, L9’s black border control has made remarkable progress. However, since it is not a single screen, there will be dual black borders between the two screens, which means that the main color tone of L9’s UI will probably continue with the ideal ONE, with a preference for dark colors.
Furthermore, unlike the ideal ONE, there is no gear lever in the interior of the ideal L9. Therefore, the ideal L9 will adopt the same way of switching gears as in the interiors of Mercedes-Benz and Tesla.
In the central console, there is a wireless charging pad in the front, and there is also a holding handle, which might have a small storage space? Behind it are two cup holders and a large storage space, indicating that it is positioned as a family vehicle. The other interior parts of the front row are still conventional, and no hidden air vents are used.
The most exciting feature is in the second row.
A 15.7-inch 3K OLED screen, the same as the one in the front row, is integrated into the second row and seems to be foldable. The second-row seats are also equipped with leg rests, and the right seat has a convenient small table. There is also a boss button on the front row seats.
Under the cup holders in the second row is the air conditioning control area, with seat heating and one-click seat adjustment function, as well as two Type-C charging ports. The impressive feature is located below the air conditioning control area.It looks like a “small refrigerator”, but it has a heating function besides refrigeration. Two bottles are placed inside according to the official picture, which means it is perfect for dads! The aviation headrest goes without saying; the headrest of Ideal ONE is already very comfortable.
And from the official exposure pictures, the third row space will be relatively spacious. As a full-size SUV, the backseat space of Ideal L9 is undoubtedly better than the current Ideal ONE, which has a wheelbase of more than 3100 mm, nearly 200 mm longer than Ideal ONE. If the third-row space of the 2021 Ideal ONE is still acceptable, it is expected that the three-row space of Ideal L9 will be comfortable.
Also, Ideal uses two panoramic sunroofs for Ideal L9, so the riding experience in the third row should be good. To ensure the normal use of the second-row entertainment screen, Ideal L9 must have put a lot of effort into the panoramic sunroof.
Intelligent Interaction & Configuration
Compared with mainstream competitors such as the Highlander and Touareg, Ideal ONE’s biggest advantage is its intelligent interaction. Obviously, this advantage has been further strengthened on Ideal L9, as it is the flagship smart-family SUV.
Of course, there will be a lot of intelligent innovations in Ideal L9, as officially announced.
The first point of Ideal’s official announcement is “3D spatial interaction“.
Here’s the explanation from the official website:
With six microphones and three 3D time-of-flight sensors in the car, coupled with Ideal Automotive’s self-developed multimodal 3D spatial interaction technology based on deep learning, interaction inside the car will take place in the most natural way possible for humans. From children in kindergarten to grandparents in their seventies or eighties, everyone will be able to enjoy the smart experience of Ideal L9 effortlessly.
3D ToF sensors should be located next to the lighting in the second and third rows. This means that Ideal L9 can perform facial recognition and gesture control for the second and third rows, as well as game interaction and even VR device integration. Moreover, six microphones correspond to six seats, and the interaction function of the third row is also improved.
In addition, the biggest highlight is that Ideal L9’s smart cockpit is equipped with two Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips (The mobile version of Snapdragon 855), with 24 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage space, providing computing power for the car machine, and can support switching between two 5G operators.
This should be the highest-spec vehicle-mounted system exposed so far, as it will take a long time to incorporate the Snapdragon 8195 chip.
Finally, the second part of Ideal’s official information released today is quite astonishing, 21 speakers and a 2160 W stereo system.This audio system adopts a 7.3.4 panoramic sound layout, consisting of 7 groups of speakers for full-car surround, 3 subwoofers for bass matrix, and 4 top-mounted speakers for sky surround using Dolby Atmos technology. The maximum power of the amplifier can reach 2160 W. With larger acoustic cavity volume and dual 8-inch subwoofers in the front, the low frequency can penetrate deeper, and the combination with the high-power subwoofer unit at the rear forms a matrix, evenly distributing the bass in the car. The car has 21 speakers, with aluminum film for high-pitched units, Kevlar material for midrange units, and carbon fiber material for low-pitched units.
How exaggerated is this? The latest ET7 from NIO uses Dolby 7.1.4 audio, with 23 speakers and 1000W power. AITO’s Qianjie M5 has 19 speakers and 1000W power, making the sound effects inside the car very stunning. Bentley Flying Spur comes with the Naim for Bentley car audio system, which has a power of 2200 W. In terms of the sound system, the LI L9 “million-dollar luxury car” really deserves its name 🙂
In addition, the Ideal L9 equips all 6 seats with electric adjustment and seat heating, and the 4 independent seats in the first two rows also have seat ventilation and massage. The seat frame and safety restraint system are of the highest standard. The seat leather is Nappa leather, and the filling is 3D comfort sponge. According to the official statement, this seat is so comfortable that people want to take it home. Can I suggest that Ideal also produces seat perimeter accessories?
With the Ideal L9, every passenger can have an enjoyable riding experience. Li Xiang really embodies the concept of “creating a car for the family.”
Power & Chassis
In the financial report meeting for the second quarter of 2021 released by Ideal, CEO Shen Yanan revealed that Ideal has a 51% stake in the joint venture established with Xinchao Motors, with the purpose of producing the next generation of range extenders for Ideal.
The new generation of range extender used in Ideal L9 is a 1.5T four-cylinder range extender, finally breaking away from the East An’s 1.2T three-cylinder engine. The Ideal ONE also had to use the East An 1.2T three-cylinder engine at that time. So, what is the level of the 1.5T four-cylinder engine in this joint venture with Xinchao Motors?
The new Ideal 1.5T turbocharger, also known as the Prince Engine, is produced entirely within the BMW Prince Engine production system, including production facilities, product quality systems, supply chain systems, and employee teams.
In addition to New Power, Ideal has also invested in two other companies, Changzhou Huixiang and Xingluwuyou. Huixiang’s other investor is Suzhou Huichuan United Powertrain System Co., Ltd. Jiangsu Huichuan United Powertrain’s main business is to provide electric powertrain systems and will be one of the motor suppliers for the Ideal L9.
Xingluwuyou is a 100% subsidiary of Ideal and mainly provides post-sales and energy supplement services. Does this mean that Ideal will launch service-related businesses in the future?
A leaked image at the beginning of this year showed that the Ideal L9 uses the air suspension from Germany’s WABCO. The extreme 001 also uses WABCO’s air suspension. However, the extreme 001 has been restricted in terms of air suspension supply, which has caused delays in delivery. Ideal should have a Plan B in air suspension procurement. It can be confirmed that the Ideal L9 comes with air suspension.
Of course, as the flagship model, the combination of front double-wishbone and rear five-link suspension cannot be avoided. In addition, there is news that the Ideal L9 will also adopt CDC’s active adaptive damping system, providing an exceptional driving experience.
In conclusion, the Ideal L9 once again interprets the positioning of family cars. Ideal officials have also revealed that the price range of Ideal L9 will be in the range of RMB 450,000 to RMB 500,000, depending on the different configurations. According to official statements, the Ideal L9 should have hardware differences, unlike the Ideal ONE, which offered a different color option for an additional RMB 10,000.
What will be revealed next Wednesday? We are increasingly looking forward to it.
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.