The new IM L6, recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, has just announced its prices in China. The electric car with a range of 1,000 kilometers (with its solid battery) then starts at less than 30,000 euros in its native country. But that won’t be the case with us, and even less so for the version with a 1,000 km range.
Chinese manufacturers are more and more numerous, since we do not count more than 80 automobile brands in the Middle Kingdom. And this is probably not going to stop anytime soon.
A very affordable price
Among them, we obviously think of MG or even BYD, which overtook Tesla at the start of the year. But that’s not all, because another manufacturer will also try its luck in Europe. This is IM Motors, which belongs to the SAIC group alongside MG, whose compact MG4 is still a hit. We were able to approach its two new cars, the LS6 and the L6 sedan during the last Geneva Motor Show.
The latter turns out to be particularly interesting, as it should hunt directly in the territory of the Tesla Model S, the BYD Seal as well as the new Xiaomi SU7. And for good reason, it is quite simply the first production electric car in the world to be equipped with a solid battery. And it will be well marketed on the Old Continent, but we will have to show a little more patience before seeing it arrive here.
In any case, its launch has already started in China, where its prices have just been made official. The specialized site Auto Home indeed gives us more details on this, and tells us that the entry-level version, known as the IM L6 Max Standard Edition, is starting from 230,000 yuan. Which is equivalent to around 29,280 euros. The Max Performance version is priced at 299,900 yuan, or 38,179 euros.
Finally, the Max Lightyear version costs 330,000 yuan, which gives 42,010 euros according to the current exchange rate. Obviously very attractive prices, but which will unfortunately be much higher when the sedan arrives in Europe. Even more so if customs duties continue to increase, which Brussels plans to do to complicate life for Chinese manufacturers.
Several versions in the catalog
As a reminder, the new IM L6 displays generous dimensions, with a length of 4.93 by 1.96 meters wide and 1.47 meters high. Its wheelbase measures 2.95 meters, which guarantees good habitability and also competes with the Zeekr 007, among others. On board, the sedan has a dashboard with two huge screens, as well as a third installed lower, on the central console. We also note the presence of a Yoke steering wheel inspired by Tesla.
The new IM L6 is available in several two- or four-wheel drive versions, with an entry-level variant boasting a power of 216 kW, or approximately 293 horsepower. The most efficient version displays no less than 579 kW, which corresponds to 787 horsepower, distributed between the four wheels. But this is not the most interesting, but rather its semi-solid battery, offered on the most expensive version.
This displays a capacity of 130 kWh and allows you to display a range of 1,000 kilometers according to the Chinese CLTC cycle. Which gives around 800 kilometers in WLTP. Equipped with a 900 volt architecture, the car can charge very quickly, since it is able to absorb a power of up to 400 kW. Only 12 minutes are needed to recover 400 kilometers. Note also that the car offers other packs of 90 and 100 kWh, with an oscillating autonomy between 595 and 654 kilometers WLTP.
Finally, the new IM L6 is also equipped with autonomous driving and had proven itself in the context of a moose test very impressive. The sedan should coming to us from next yearbut we do not know if this will be the case for the solid battery version or if it will come a little later.