Li Auto expands its own batteries, promises replacement cars for qualifying fires

Lianshan ties batteries, motors and charging to one promise

Li Auto has unveiled an electric technology system covering batteries, electric drives and charging, alongside a promise to replace a vehicle with a new one of the same configuration if a quality defect in its own battery causes a fire and the vehicle meets the standard for scrapping.

At its Power Day event in Beijing on October 20, 2026, the Chinese automaker introduced the system under the name Lianshan. It also announced a second protection measure: when a collision or scrape beneath the vehicle causes its battery to catch fire and the vehicle qualifies for scrapping, Li Auto will cover the gap between the vehicle damage insurance policy's insured amount and the insurer's actual payment.

The announcement brings together technology developed over several years. Li Auto began its project for a 5C battery in 2020, started planning a new electric drive platform in 2021 and began building its charging network in April 2023. Its own batteries entered production deliveries with the new L8 in June 2026 before expanding to the L6 and i8.

Li Auto's network had reached 4,200 charging stations and more than 23,000 charging points by October 20. The company plans to double the number of its 5C charging connectors to 8,300 before the 2027 Spring Festival.

For drivers, the central change is a more closely connected system: the company designing the vehicle also designs the battery cells, controls the battery pack and develops the equipment that charges it. Specialist partners still manufacture the cells.

What the battery protection plan covers

Li Auto presented the two fire compensation measures as lifetime protections for qualifying vehicles equipped with its own batteries. Vehicles already delivered with those batteries are also included. Older vehicles using batteries purchased from outside suppliers fall outside the announced plan.

The two compensation routes address different losses. A qualifying fire caused by a battery quality defect leads to a replacement vehicle of the same configuration. A qualifying fire following a collision or scrape beneath the vehicle leads to a payment that fills the gap left by vehicle damage insurance.

For example, if the insured amount were 300,000 yuan and the insurer paid 250,000 yuan, the second measure would cover the 50,000 yuan difference, subject to the applicable terms. Both routes require the vehicle to meet the standard for scrapping.

Published descriptions list battery modifications, prolonged improper charging, deliberate damage and flooding among exclusions. Complete eligibility rules, exclusions and compensation procedures have not been independently verified. Establishing the cause of a fire and assessing the vehicle's damage will be central to processing a claim.

Ma Donghui, Li Auto's president and chief engineer, described the company's intended responsibility to owners. Speaking in Chinese, he said:

For users, after spending hundreds of thousands of yuan on a car, if something goes wrong, they do not need to worry about exactly which module has a problem. They only need to know that if something goes wrong, finding Li Auto is enough.

Li Auto designs the cells, partners manufacture them

Li Auto's battery strategy divides the work between vehicle engineering and specialist manufacturing. The automaker develops the cell design, while partners including Sunwoda and CALB produce the cells. Li Auto develops and manufactures the battery packs that hold those cells and connect them to the vehicle.

A cell is an individual unit that stores electricity. A battery pack combines many cells with cooling equipment, protective structures and electronics. Decisions about cell size, materials and charging behavior affect how much space the pack needs and how it performs inside a particular car.

Li Auto wants to make those decisions earlier, with the vehicle's range, charging speed and interior space already in mind. It also aims to connect manufacturing records with information collected while vehicles are driven and charged.

Ma explained the integration problem in another statement, translated from Chinese:

We can buy the best parts in the world, but we cannot buy the 'rapport' between those parts.

CATL chief manufacturing officer Ni Jun raised the manufacturing side of the debate at a quality event in September. He argued that knowing how to build vehicles does not automatically mean knowing how to manufacture batteries. Hundreds or thousands of cells can be used in one vehicle, and differences between them affect the performance of the whole pack.

Li Auto founder Li Xiang has argued that specialist suppliers should understand vehicle products deeply, while automakers should understand core technologies. The company's chosen arrangement preserves a role for experienced cell producers while moving more design responsibility to the vehicle maker.

Where the range gains come from

The new L8 equipped with Li Auto's own 5C ternary lithium battery has a stated electric range of 430 kilometers under China's CLTC testing procedure. Ternary lithium batteries use three principal metals in their positive electrode material, with the precise mixture affecting energy storage and other characteristics.

The 2026 i6 is scheduled to launch on October 28 with a maximum CLTC range of 780 kilometers, an 8% increase over the 2025 model. The original announcement identifies that figure with the version using two driven wheels. Deliveries are expected to begin in November.

CLTC is a standardized laboratory driving cycle used in China. It provides a common basis for comparing vehicles; the distance a driver travels between charges varies with speed, temperature, road conditions and heating or cooling use.

Li Auto attributes its improvements to changes in cell materials, more efficient use of space inside the battery pack and adjustments to the vehicle's layout. The company says compatible vehicles can add 500 kilometers of range in 10 minutes of charging under suitable conditions.

The term 5C describes charging power relative to battery capacity. In simple terms, a constant 5C rate would correspond to a full charge in about 12 minutes. Actual charging power changes during a session, particularly as a battery fills, so the useful measure for a driver is how much energy or range can be added during a particular stop.

Winter software targets range and power

Li Auto also outlined changes for vehicles using lithium iron phosphate batteries. Cold weather makes it harder for a battery to deliver and accept electricity, while cabin heating uses energy that could otherwise help move the vehicle.

The company says its ATR battery estimation algorithm keeps the error in estimating remaining charge below 3%. Its APC power control algorithm is intended to improve peak power availability by more than 40% when the battery is cold and has little charge remaining.

Battery heat recovery and air conditioning improvements add an equivalent 30 kilometers of winter range, according to Li Auto. A software update planned for the first half of 2027 is intended to add roughly another 10 kilometers at minus 20 degrees Celsius. The update will be delivered remotely through an over the air system, commonly called OTA.

Li Auto describes a battery design life of eight years and 160,000 kilometers, with battery health above 75%, for relevant vehicles equipped with its own 5C batteries in 2026. Battery health expresses how much energy the battery can store compared with when it was new. At 75%, a battery retains about three quarters of its original storage capacity.

Six safety layers connect production and driving

Lianshan's battery safety approach has six layers: protection against impacts, water entry, liquid leakage and the spread of heat between cells, followed by manufacturing controls and monitoring during vehicle use.

Li Auto says its battery resisted fire and explosion in an impact test equivalent to 500 joules. It also reports IPX8 and IPX9K water protection ratings, covering specified immersion conditions and powerful water jets. A further description of its testing says the pack resisted water entry during immersion at a depth of one meter for 48 hours.

In another test, a single cell was forced into thermal failure at an ambient temperature of 50 degrees Celsius. Li Auto says the pack remained free of fire for 24 hours. Thermal failure means a cell becomes dangerously hot; pack protection aims to contain that heat and slow its spread to neighboring cells.

Manufacturing lines use CT scanning to inspect internal cell structures, with artificial intelligence helping identify defects. Li Auto says uniform checks extend from raw materials and cell production to battery pack assembly.

Each cell's production records can be traced for 20 years, according to the company. Its monitoring system combines information from the vehicle, charging equipment and cloud computing services, and is designed to issue warnings as much as 72 hours before a battery risk develops.

Smaller electric drives aim to waste less energy

Li Auto has put two integrated electric drive designs into production: a system combining five functions and a high voltage system combining three functions that uses silicon carbide power electronics. These electronics regulate electricity flowing from the battery to the motor.

One structural change removes high voltage terminals from power modules and shortens the route electricity travels to the chips. Li Auto attributes about 30 kilometers of additional range and 24 millimeters of extra vertical packaging space to the design.

The company says it spent four years developing the associated technology and precision welding process, producing more than 10,000 trial units. It invested 700 million yuan in equipment and production lines for power module and electric drive factories in Suzhou and Changzhou, excluding factory building costs.

A separate motor improvement uses Li Auto's CAR119 cast aluminum rotor material. The rotor is the motor's rotating part. The company says the change adds more than 15 kilometers of urban electric range and more than 8 kilometers on highways for the new L9 and L8.

Li Auto says four million of its own power chips were installed in vehicles during their first year of mass production, with no failures recorded. Each electric drive passes 93 quality checkpoints, and test records are retained for 15 years. The company has also analyzed more than 100 million hours of drive operation from 230,000 delivered vehicles.

The i8 and its powertrain appeared on the opening 2026 issue of the German automotive engineering journal MTZ. Li Auto's next development targets include newer silicon carbide chips and three dimensional power packaging to improve efficiency and power delivery.

Charging expansion focuses on highways

Li Auto's 4,200 stations cover 25 national highway corridors and 138 routes intended for long distance scenic travel. The company plans to reach an average spacing of one station per 100 kilometers on national highway trunk routes by the end of 2026.

More than 95% of its highway charging stations are inside service areas, according to the company, while more than 99.8% of its charging locations allow users to avoid parking charges during charging. Charger equipment availability exceeds 99.9%, and charging can begin as quickly as 13 seconds after connection.

The network's more than 23,000 charging points are a broader total than its 5C connectors. The plan to double 5C connectors to 8,300 before the 2027 Spring Festival concentrates on expanding access to the fastest charging capability.

Vehicles can plan charging stops along a route and warm the battery before arrival. Drivers can also start battery warming remotely by phone. Preparing a cold battery before charging helps it accept electricity faster.

Li Auto plans to introduce designated 5C priority charging spaces during the fourth quarter of 2026. Further software releases are expected to add more than 10 functions, including a map travel assistant. Construction plans also include scenic charging routes along the G219 and G331 national roads, while fully automated charging remains under exploration.

The rollout extends beyond Power Day

Li Auto's expansion follows a sequence stretching from early battery development to model deliveries and charging construction. Its next steps combine vehicle launches, factory production increases and software updates.

• 2020: Li Auto starts its own 5C battery project and cell development.
• 2021: Planning begins for a new electric drive platform.
• April 2023: Construction of the company's charging network begins.
• June 2026: The new L8 begins production deliveries with Li Auto's own battery.
• September 7, 2026: Li Auto announces broader battery deployment, including a switch for subsequently confirmed MEGA orders.
• October 20, 2026: Lianshan and the battery protection plan are presented in Beijing.
• October 28, 2026: The 2026 i6 is scheduled to launch, with deliveries expected in November.
• By the end of 2026: Li Auto targets average charging station spacing of 100 kilometers on national highway trunk routes.
• Before the 2027 Spring Festival: The company plans to reach 8,300 5C connectors.
• First half of 2027: A planned software update targets further range gains in extreme cold.

The MEGA, i9 and L9 are expected to move progressively to Li Auto's battery technology as production increases. The company intends eventually to cover its entire lineup. The presentation concerned vehicles and charging infrastructure in China.

For suppliers, this approach creates a possible division of labor: automakers provide cell designs linked to particular vehicles, while battery companies provide manufacturing expertise and capacity. Li Auto has also been reported to have invested 2.65 billion yuan in Sunwoda Power, strengthening a relationship that combines design control with outside production.

Li Auto is pursuing similar control elsewhere through its Mach M100 intelligent driving chip and a range extender that it develops and manufactures itself. A range extender generates electricity from fuel to support an electric drivetrain. Across these projects, the practical ambition is the same: make the vehicle's major systems work together while keeping responsibility for the finished product with the automaker.

Key Points

• Li Auto launched Lianshan on October 20, 2026, connecting batteries, electric drives, charging equipment and its charging network.
• Qualifying fires caused by defects in its own batteries carry a promise of a replacement vehicle with the same configuration.
• A second protection measure covers the insurance payment gap after qualifying battery fires caused by collisions or scrapes beneath the vehicle.
• Li Auto designs battery cells, specialist partners manufacture them, and the automaker develops and builds the packs.
• The 2026 i6 is scheduled to launch on October 28 with a maximum stated CLTC range of 780 kilometers.
• The company plans to double its 5C charging connectors to 8,300 before the 2027 Spring Festival.