Li Auto to debut flagship i9 electric SUV on September 16

A six-seater with swivelling face-to-face seats, a 120 kWh pack and 800+ km of range — plus a definitive break from CATL cells

Li Auto has locked in September 16 for the public unveiling of the i9, its newest flagship battery-electric SUV. Ahead of the event, CEO Li Xiang has teased a cabin whose seats can swivel into a face-to-face lounge layout. The i9 will be only the second vehicle in the company's "Home" family, joining the Mega Home.

Regulatory filings sketch out the hardware: a six-seat EV stretching 5,225 mm long and 1,970 mm wide on a 3,168 mm wheelbase. Twin motors — 150 kW at the front axle and 250 kW at the rear — handle propulsion, while a 120 kWh ternary pack built from CATL and Sunwoda cells is expected to clear 800 km on the CLTC cycle, equivalent to roughly 648 km WLTP.

The bigger story may be the battery supply. Li Auto is phasing out CATL cells in favour of batteries it develops in-house, to be manufactured by Sunwoda and CALB. The i9 will follow the same rollout playbook as the new-generation Mega: CATL-equipped cars ship first, with Sunwoda-branded versions arriving later.

That sequencing is born of hard lessons. The i8 shipped with randomly assigned CATL or Sunwoda packs at identical prices until buyer backlash forced Li Auto to scrap the Sunwoda variant, and even a free 3,999-yuan (about $600) extended warranty could not lure i6 customers away from the long queues for CATL cars. With the i9, the choice is being removed entirely.