Over the past couple of years, many Chinese automakers have rushed into the segment of luxury and expensive minivans. The young company Leading Ideal, which has proven itself thanks to a successful range of crossovers, did not stand aside either. Moreover, the freshly baked minivan Li Auto Mega has already become the second attempt to make a similar car. The first one was undertaken back in 2017 with an eye on the taxi and carsharing market, but the project had to be closed without completing it. The new car has a completely different target audience.
Mega is not just a single—volume version of branded crossovers. The new business shuttle has an outstanding appearance: according to the developers, it is inspired by Chinese bullet trains and combines conciseness and functionality. The family design features of the brand are not forgotten either: single stripes of marker lights in front and rear, as well as a functional area in the form of an inverted bracket, including air intakes and main headlights.
Mega has an uncharacteristic drop-down roof line for minivans. Such a design is not just spectacular, but also effective. The aerodynamic drag coefficient of this large minivan is only 0.215, that is, it surpasses even the indicator of the thoroughbred Porsche Taycan sports sedan (0.22)! The length of the Mega is 5350 mm, the width is 1965 mm, the height is 1850, and the wheelbase is 3300 mm.
The interior has not yet been declassified, but it is expected that it will be made in the style of related crossovers. This means the presence of a large “TV” on the front panel, separate screens for the driver and passenger, a projection display and a compact digital “dashboard” on the steering wheel. The rich configurations will be equipped with the Horizon Journey 5 autonomous driving system, powered by an advanced Nvidia Orin-X chip and armed with lidar.
The layout of the Megi cabin is quite typical for such cars: the landing formula 2+2+3 and folding seats of the third row. Even behind the third row there is a luggage compartment with a length of 680 mm, and if the gallery is folded, you can count on 1066 mm of loading length. The elongated stern has another non-obvious, but important advantage: safety for riders when hitting from behind. The manufacturer declares the presence of an energy-absorbing zone in the back with a length of as much as 800 mm!
If Li Auto crossovers have a sequential hybrid system, then the minivan is fully electric. It has an 800-volt electrical system and two electric motors with a total output of 544 hp and 542 Nm. Acceleration to 100 km/h takes only 5.5 seconds. Mega is equipped with a CATL Qilin 5C traction battery, which allows charging power up to 550 kW! In just 12 minutes, you can replenish the charge for a throw of 500 km. During factory tests, charging from 6% to 80% took 11 minutes and 2 seconds, during which time the battery took 77.3 kWh of electricity. Thanks to excellent aerodynamics and optimization of power electronics, it was also possible to obtain an excellent energy efficiency indicator at the level of 15.9 kWh / 100 km. For such a large minivan, this is a very good result.
The preliminary price of the Li Auto Mega minivan in the top version of the Max will be 600 thousand yuan, that is, 84 thousand dollars. The final price list and other details will be published in December at a separate presentation of the model. And the first cars will arrive to customers at the end of January next year.