On August 30th, the first batch of Ideal L9 vehicles was delivered, and we brought a live broadcast of the first batch of vehicle pick-ups on site.
The next day, Ideal CEO Li Xiang couldn’t sit still and posted relevant information about L8 on Weibo. Below, I will summarize all the current information about Ideal L8 and make reasonable guesses.
A Scaled-down L9
The following picture is Li Xiang’s earlier response to Ideal L8. From this, we can speculate that L8 is likely to be the successor of ONE. Judging from the name L8, it is also likely to be a scaled-down version of L9.
Let’s take a look at the three-dimensional parameters of the current Ideal sales models. The body parameters of Ideal ONE are 5,030mm * 1,960mm * 1,760mm, with a wheelbase of 2,935mm.
The body parameters of Ideal L9 are 5,218mm * 1,998mm * 1,800mm, with a wheelbase of 3,105mm.
The length of Ideal L8 is very likely to be around 5,100mm, between the two cars, which is the size of a medium to large 6-seater SUV. At the same time, as an upgrade and iteration of Ideal ONE, the wheelbase may exceed 3 meters.
From the spy photos of the disguised car that have been exposed so far, L8, as the second X-platform model of Ideal, will continue the design style of L9, and will also use perforated day-time driving lights, roof-mounted laser radar, concealed door handles, and other designs.
However, there is a small difference here. From the spy photos, it is likely that L8 will use fixed pedals, instead of the hidden electric pedals on L9. It should be noted that the electric pedals of L9 require an additional 10,000 yuan to choose, and considering that the height of the car when getting on and off is not high, there may not be many owners who choose this function, so it is entirely reasonable for L8 to use a fixed pedal.Based on Li Xiang’s disclosure yesterday, the proportion of the 5-seater VIP version of the body of the Ideal L8 is more like the Bentley Bentayga rather than having a big back.
The focus of this sentence is not on who the car body proportion looks like, but on the official announcement of the existence of the 5-seater VIP version.
According to previous spy photos, two Ideal L8s appeared with different license plate positions, does this mean that the 5-seater version and the 6-seater version have some differences in appearance?
To help everyone with reference, I will also show you a picture of the Bentley Bentayga.
In terms of interior, according to existing spy photos, it can be clearly seen that the front row of the L8 adopts the same dual-control screen design as the L9. We boldly speculate that the L8 may use most of the interior configuration of the L9, with only some functions being cut.
Power and Suspension Configuration
Earlier, there was news that New Power, the supplier of the L9’s range extender, and Ideal Automotive had established a joint venture to develop a new generation of range extenders for Ideal Automotive. The first phase of the project’s production capacity planning is 200,000 units, and it is expected to have a production capacity of 80,000 units in 2022.
So, will all 80,000 of these 1.5T four-cylinder range extenders be used in the L9? From the fact that the L9 has not yet been delivered, these 80,000 range extenders are unlikely to be used up. In other words, the remaining range extenders are likely to be used in the L8. As for the battery, the L8 is also likely to use a 40-degree battery.
In addition, according to the exposed L8 chassis spy photos, it can be seen that the L8 is also equipped with air suspension.
Advanced Driving Assistance System (ADAS) Capabilities# Li Xiang previously stated that “starting from 2022, all new cars from Li Auto will be equipped with necessary hardware compatible with L4 autonomous driving as standard”.
From this statement, it can be inferred that the Li Xiang L8 will have advanced driving assistance capabilities similar to the L9, such as high-speed NOA and city NOA, as evidenced by the spy shots of the impressive L8 LiDAR. However, it was previously uncertain whether the L8 would still use the dual NVIDIA Orin-X chips for its driving assistance.
Yesterday, Li Xiang finally confirmed that the Pro and Max versions of Li Xiang L8’s driving assistance are available. The Max version refers to the system used in the familiar L9, but what about the Pro version?
As we all know, Li Xiang’s 2021 ONE premiered with the Horizon Journey 3 chip, and Li Xiang’s relationship with Horizon has always been excellent. At the Horizon Journey 5 chip launch event in July last year, Li Xiang auto CEO Li said: “At present, Li Auto has reached a research cooperation based on the Horizon Journey 5, and will accelerate the process of advancing to higher-level autonomous driving. There is a possibility of further cooperation between the two parties.”
So, is the Pro version using the Horizon Journey 5 chip solution? I think that based on the last sentence “AD Pro is the world’s first high-performance new AD chip, with extremely high cost performance”, this possibility should be more than 95%.
Horizon Journey 5 has a single-chip computing power of 128 Tops, which is significantly lower than NVIDIA Orin-X, but the popular self-driving travel company, NV, has previously stated that it will upgrade to dual Horizon Journey 5 chips in Q3 2023 for urban NOA and high-speed NOA. That is to say, if the L8 also uses a dual Horizon Journey 5 chip solution, it can meet Li Xiang’s previous announcement that “new cars will be equipped with necessary hardware compatible with L4 autonomous driving as standard”.
As for perception hardware, I believe that the only difference between the AD Pro and AD Max solutions is that the former may no longer include LiDAR.
When will it be released? What will the price be?Li Xiang himself said on Weibo that L9 delivery and production capacity ramp-up must be completed first, as the current production capacity cannot support the delivery of two models with monthly deliveries of over 10,000 units, while earlier, Li Auto said that it would achieve a monthly delivery volume of over 10,000 for L9 in September. Taking into account Li Xiang’s remarks during the conference call after the financial report, we boldly speculate that L8 is very likely to be released in October.
However, will the 5-seater and 6-seater versions be delivered simultaneously after the release? I think the possibility is relatively low, after all, Li Xiang himself said that it is indeed impossible to achieve the production capacity ramp-up for two new models with a monthly delivery volume of over 10,000 in the first full month. Based on Li Auto’s current user group, I guess it is very likely that the 6-seater version will be prioritized for delivery.
As for the price, Li Auto has mentioned before that the product mix of Li Auto is similar to the strategy of the iPhone. What is the strategy of the iPhone? It is to use the SE series to seize the low-end market, the digital series to occupy the middle and high-end market, and finally use the pro and pro max to meet the needs of two different types of high-end users (it is said that there will be no mini series for iPhone 14).
The current selling price of Li ONE is 349,800 yuan, while the selling price of Li Xiang L9 is 459,800 yuan, so the price of L8 can only be between these two prices. My personal guess is that it is very likely to be in the 36-40 million yuan range, closer to the selling price of Li ONE.
Conclusion
The above are just some predictions we have made based on the current exposure information of Li Xiang L8. There will definitely be some differences when it is finally released. What are your expectations and ideas for Li Xiang L8? Let’s discuss it in the comments.In general, although the product strength of Ideal ONE was strong when it was launched, after two years, it is also time for a major upgrade. As one of the car owners who likes Ideal ONE the most in the company, I am also looking forward to the early arrival of Ideal L8.
The confirmation of the 5-seater version means that Ideal L8 is not only a replacement for L9 and the successor of ONE, but also the “vanguard” of Ideal’s entry into the 5-seater SUV market. If Ideal can provide a set of configurations that are close to L9 and give an “irresistible price” on L8, then L8 will definitely be Ideal’s next explosive product.
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.