Li Auto boss likens second-gen Mega MPV to the original iPhone ahead of September 2 debut

Li Auto founder and CEO Li Xiang has compared his company's second-generation Mega electric minivan to the original iPhone, writing on Weibo that the MPV market has hit a turning point. In his view, fuel-burning minivans have long made do with the poorest suspension hardware, degrading the experience for everyone on board, while a pure-electric platform finally makes a clean-sheet approach possible. Sales of the new Mega start on September 2.

The hardware list backs up the rhetoric: an 800V active suspension with anti-roll bar technology, steer-by-wire, and rear-wheel steering. Li Xiang says the van handles as "agile" as the smaller L6 and i6 crossovers, which implies a turning circle of roughly 5.8 meters. He cast the vehicle as a redefinition of the product category, much as the iPhone overturned the Nokia-era phone market.

Expectations are high because the first attempt fell short. The original Mega went on sale in March 2024 and accumulated just 32,508 deliveries, according to China EV DataTracker, and was later swept into a recall covering about 11,000 units. The outgoing model is priced at 529,800–559,800 yuan (78,760–83,220 USD).

The second-gen car keeps the first model's shape, with tweaks such as semi-hidden door handles, and measures 5,355 mm long on a 3,300 mm wheelbase. Seven seats are arranged in a 2+2+3 layout. A dual-motor AWD powertrain produces 413 kW (553 hp), drawing from a CATL-supplied 108 kWh ternary NMC battery rated at 710 km of CLTC range. Four LiDAR sensors and a pair of in-house Mach M100 chips delivering 2,560 TOPS handle the driver-assistance compute.