Li Auto Launches i9 Electric Flagship at 369,800 Yuan With In-House Battery and Chip

Automakers are steadily deepening their move upstream into the supply chain and expanding in-house development and manufacturing. On September 16, 2026, Li Auto launched the Li i9, a new all-electric flagship offered in a single version priced at 369,800 yuan. The Li i9 is the first flagship built on Li Auto's second-generation electric platform, for which annual research and development spending exceeds 10 billion yuan. The i series currently delivers more than 220,000 vehicles a year, accounting for roughly half of the company's total sales.

The Li i9 is the first model to carry four core technologies into mass production together: Li Auto's in-house battery, in-house electric drive, the M100 autonomous-driving chip and the VLA autonomous-driving model. On battery supply, the i9 adopts a phased approach: the first deliveries will use CATL 5C ternary lithium batteries, and once production of Li Auto's own 5C ternary lithium battery ramps up, the Li i9 will switch to the in-house battery. The cells for that battery are produced by Sunwoda on a contract basis, while the battery pack is developed and manufactured by Li Auto itself.

In early September 2026, Li Auto announced it had invested 2.65 billion yuan in Sunwoda Power, giving it an approximately 11.17% stake and making it the second-largest shareholder. Power batteries are an independently supplied industry, and apart from BYD, most automakers do not intervene deeply in underlying definition and manufacturing. For a long time, profit in the power battery supply chain has been highly concentrated among upstream battery makers, steadily squeezing margins in vehicle manufacturing. Recently, the supply chain landscape for new energy vehicles in China has continued to shift, with several automakers adjusting their power battery procurement structures.

Xiaomi Auto has announced it will gradually reduce its procurement dependence on CATL, bringing in multiple battery suppliers including CALB and Sunwoda for several new models, and adopting a model in which the automaker leads battery definition while multiple parties handle contract manufacturing, reducing the risk of reliance on a single supplier. In the past, automakers were accustomed to directly purchasing standardized components, with suppliers defining hardware specifications. As intelligent features deepen, in-house development and manufacturing by automakers, mainly new energy vehicle startups, has become an issue suppliers must confront. Since its founding, Li Auto has insisted on asset-heavy self-built plants and in-house development and manufacturing of core technologies rather than contract manufacturing.