Li Auto has relaunched its best-selling model. The new-generation Li Auto L6, a mid-size all-wheel-drive range-extender SUV, went on sale in China on July 16, 2026, replacing the Pro/Max lineup that helped move nearly 400,000 units since 2024 with a single, better-equipped Ultra trim. The headline changes are a much larger 51 kWh battery, a jump to Li Auto's in-house Mach M100 assisted-driving chip, and a redesigned cabin built around a 29-inch 6K panoramic display, all while the starting price stays flat at RMB 249,800 (about $36,900). It is aimed squarely at Chinese family buyers who want a roomy, tech-heavy SUV without range anxiety, and it is the first time freshmotors.net has covered the L6 nameplate.
Performance & Specs
The new Li Auto L6 Ultra pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder range extender (113 kW/151 hp, 245 Nm, used purely as a generator) with a front-and-rear dual-motor electric all-wheel-drive system. The front motor produces 130 kW (174 hp) with 220 Nm, the rear motor 170 kW (228 hp) with 309 Nm, for a combined system output of 300 kW (402 hp) and 529 Nm of torque. That is enough for a 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.4 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 180 km/h. Li Auto also reworked the chassis for this generation: an all-aluminum front double-wishbone and rear five-link suspension, new dual-valve continuously variable dampers (up to 100% more usable compression damping than the old single-valve units), and a 13.5% quicker steering ratio.
| Powertrain | 1.5T range extender + dual-motor AWD (EREV) |
|---|---|
| Power | 300 kW (402 hp) |
| Torque | 529 Nm |
| 0–100 km/h | 5.4 s |
| Battery | 51 kWh LFP |
| Range | 300 km EV (CLTC) / 1,250 km combined |
| POWERTRAIN TYPE | EREV (range-extended electric) |
|---|---|
| HORSEPOWER | 300 kW (402 hp) |
| ACCELERATION | 5.4 s (0-100 km/h) |
| TOP SPEED | 180 km/h (limited) |
| DRIVETRAIN | Front + rear dual-motor AWD |
| BATTERY | 51 kWh LFP |
| ELECTRIC RANGE | 300 km (CLTC) / 234 km (WLTC) |
| COMBINED RANGE | 1,250 km (CLTC) |
Dimensions & Practicality
| Length | 4,935 mm |
|---|---|
| Width | 1,960 mm |
| Height | 1,735 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,920 mm |
| Curb weight | ~2,340 kg |
Li Auto kept the L6's overall footprint unchanged from the outgoing car — short front overhang, long rear overhang, 2,920 mm wheelbase — while redesigning the front and rear fascias for a more upscale look. Inside, the front seats are full-size, zero-gravity-capable buckets rated for people up to 1.8 m tall, with an available 18-point kneading massage function. The second row reclines up to 140 degrees on a 535 mm cushion, both figures Li Auto claims are class-leading, with dedicated side-window privacy screens and its own climate zone. Non-flush, non-hidden door handles are standard across all four doors (ahead of a 2027 Chinese regulation change) with a mechanical backup release, and every door gets a power-assisted soft-close function.
| LENGTH | 4,935 mm |
|---|---|
| WIDTH | 1,960 mm |
| HEIGHT | 1,735 mm |
| WHEELBASE | 2,920 mm |
| SEATING | 5 |
| CURB WEIGHT | ~2,340 kg |
Charging & Battery
The new L6 switches to a 51 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery built specifically for range-extender duty, up from 36.8 kWh on the outgoing car — a roughly 39% capacity increase. That lifts CLTC-rated pure-EV range from 212 km to 300 km (234 km on the stricter WLTC cycle), enough for most Chinese owners to go about a week of daily commuting between charges. Peak DC charging power is rated at 260 kW, taking the pack from 20% to 80% in around 12 minutes. Li Auto says the cells are rated to retain over 80% of their capacity after 3,000 full supercharging cycles, equivalent to more than 500,000 km of driving, and the company now operates over 4,100 of its own Supercharging stations across China, which it calls the largest automaker-built ultra-fast charging network in the country.
| BATTERY | 51 kWh LFP |
|---|---|
| AC CHARGING | 11 kW (standard onboard charger) |
| DC FAST CHARGING | 260 kW peak |
| DC 10-80% TIME | ~12 min (20-80% quoted by Li Auto) |
Design & Interior
Exterior changes focus on the nose and tail rather than the car's overall proportions. The front end gets a smaller trapezoidal grille shape, a sportier lower lip, more high-gloss black trim, and new side "wind blade" surfacing. At the rear, the license plate moves up above the tailgate to visually stretch the lower body, and a new suspended, cut-crystal light bar replaces the previous taillight design. A UWB near-field sensing system takes over parking-sensor duties from traditional ultrasonic sensors, letting Li Auto delete the visible sensor holes from the bumpers for a cleaner look. Buyers get seven exterior colors, including two new shades (Dune Yellow and Wind Purple) plus a new all-black "Obsidian" trim package with gloss-black window surrounds, mirror caps and wheels.
Inside, the two-tone cabin is built around soft leather-wrapped touch surfaces, dark chrome accents on the wheel, vents and door pulls, and a choice of three color schemes (Snowfield White, Wilderness Brown, Amber Orange). The dashboard is dominated by the new 29-inch 6K panoramic display, which spans from the driver's instrument cluster across to the front passenger's zone in a single glass unit. A first-of-its-kind feature for the segment: Li Auto co-developed a dedicated in-car mount and app with Insta360, letting the rear-view-mirror area accept a quarter-inch camera thread and USB-C power feed so families can shoot and immediately review 360-degree footage of a road trip on the big screen. A new in-car "walkie-talkie" mode lets a convoy of L6s talk to each other and see each other's live location over the mobile network, aimed at group road trips.
Technology & Features
The cockpit chip moves from the previous Snapdragon 8295 to Qualcomm's newer Snapdragon 8797, which Li Auto quotes as delivering 1.8x the CPU performance, 2.6x the GPU performance and 3.5x the NPU (AI) performance of the outgoing chip. Driver-assistance duties are handled by Li Auto's own Mach M100 chip, a 5nm part the company describes as the world's first mass-produced AI chip built on a "dynamic dataflow" architecture, with 1,280 TOPS of compute and over 82% real-world utilization. Buyers who want more can spec a dual Mach M100 package for 30,000 yuan (about $4,420), which adds a second chip for 2,560 TOPS combined and three additional solid-state, variable-focus LiDAR units on top of the standard forward unit, plus power-folding front doors. A four-point Road Noise Cancellation system uses active noise algorithms on top of double-layer acoustic glass, a double-layer sound-insulating panoramic roof and dedicated quiet tires to cut cabin noise on rough pavement.
Safety & ADAS
The standard sensor suite — one forward ATL-P LiDAR, seven 8-megapixel cameras, four 3-megapixel surround cameras and a UWB near-field radar array — feeds Li Auto's Mach VLA (vision-language-action) driving model for L2+ assisted driving on both highways and city streets. Late July 2026 software updates promised faster, more decisive green-light pull-away behavior, a choice between an "efficient" driving profile for daily commuting and a "comfort" profile for family trips, and improved automatic parking that can recognize open parking areas as usable spots rather than requiring marked lines. The optional dual-chip package adds redundant compute and extra LiDAR coverage for owners who want a higher ceiling on assisted-driving capability as Li Auto rolls out further OTA updates.
| ADAS LEVEL | L2+ (Mach VLA driver model) |
|---|---|
| ADAS FEATURES | Highway & city NOA, AEB, automatic parking, 360° camera, LiDAR-assisted object detection |
Available Versions
| VERSION | POWER | TORQUE | 0-100 | TOP SPEED | DRIVETRAIN | BATTERY | EV RANGE | COMBINED RANGE | PRICE | KEY DIFFERENCES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra | 402 hp | 529 Nm | 5.4s | 180 km/h | AWD | 51 kWh | 300 km | 1,250 km | $36,900 | Only configuration; single Mach M100 chip, standard LiDAR, 29-inch 6K display |
Pricing & Availability
The new-generation Li Auto L6 Ultra launched in China on July 16, 2026 at a unified nationwide retail price of RMB 249,800 (about $36,900) — identical to where the outgoing 2024 L6 Pro started, despite Li Auto absorbing over 14,000 yuan per car in added memory-chip and lithium-carbonate costs. Deliveries began on July 20, 2026, within a week of the reveal. Buyers who place an order by August 31, 2026 at midnight qualify for a limited-time launch package worth 28,000 yuan, including the front zero-gravity massage seats, any of the four premium paint colors free of charge, and the Obsidian black exterior trim package at no cost. Optional extras include a 10,000-yuan rear entertainment package (21-inch 4K rear screen, ceiling-mounted vanity mirror, streaming rearview mirror and center speaker), a 20,000-yuan front massage-seat package, the 30,000-yuan dual Mach M100 chip package, and a 6,000-yuan factory tow hitch.
How It Compares
At essentially identical money, the Li Auto L6 comfortably out-powers all three of these in-house-catalog rivals, with 402 hp against the AITO M7 REV's 200 hp, the XPENG G7's 276 hp and the AVATR 07 REV's 338 hp. Its 1,250 km combined range also lands mid-pack, beating the AITO M7 REV's 1,000 km but trailing the XPENG G7's 1,300 km. Where the L6 pulls ahead is in brand momentum and dealer-network scale — nearly 400,000 units of the outgoing generation were sold in under two years — plus its standard LiDAR and Mach M100 chip, features some rivals at this price still treat as optional extras. Buyers who prioritize outright EV-only range over total system power may still want to cross-shop the XPENG G7's larger pure-electric buffer before committing.
- 402 hp and 529 Nm from a dual-motor AWD system that undercuts or matches every similarly-priced in-house rival on power
- 51 kWh battery and 260 kW peak DC charging meaningfully close the range/charging gap with the outgoing car
- Standard LiDAR, 1,280 TOPS Mach M100 chip and a 29-inch 6K display at a price unchanged from the previous base trim
- 300 km CLTC (234 km WLTC) pure-EV range is still modest next to newer EREV rivals with 400+ km electric-only buffers
- Single Ultra trim only — no lower-cost entry configuration for budget-conscious buyers, unlike the old Pro/Max split
The redesigned Li Auto L6 is a smart, low-risk refresh of China's best-selling mid-size SUV rather than a radical reinvention, and that is largely the point — Li Auto is fixing the exact three complaints its own owner surveys flagged (thin EV range, slow charging, so-so assisted driving) without raising the price a single yuan. Families cross-shopping this segment get a genuinely quicker, longer-range, better-equipped SUV for the same RMB 249,800 that bought the old entry trim. The trade-offs are real: a single trim removes the budget on-ramp, and its EV-only range still lags some newer rivals. For buyers sold on Li Auto's brand, dealer network and range-extender formula, though, this is an easy recommendation.
