Li Auto Unveils Full-Lineup In-House Battery Strategy and Pledges New Car Replacement for Spontaneous Combustion
nashnova research
Li Auto used its Power Day to launch "Lianshan," a full-stack EV technology system spanning batteries, e-drive, supercharging hardware, and a proprietary charging network — and committed to replacing any vehicle with a same-spec new car if its in-house battery causes a spontaneous fire that totals the vehicle, the first such pledge by a Chinese automaker.
Who actually makes Li Auto's batteries?
Li Auto uses a design in-house, manufacture with partners model: it designs the cells, Sunwoda and CALB handle production, and Li Auto builds the battery packs itself.
This means → Li Auto controls the blueprint, not the factory floor — it defines what the cell looks like, then hands manufacturing to suppliers with established production lines.
In plain terms = Li Auto draws the plans, partners run the factories, and the finished cells go into Li Auto's own packs before reaching the car.
President Ma Donghui framed it this way: "We can buy the best components in the world, but we can't buy the chemistry between them."
Where does CATL stand in this picture?
On October 19, CEO Li Xiang said the industry needs to "walk on two legs" — suppliers should understand the product, and automakers should understand core technology.
On September 28, he explicitly rejected the idea of "de-CATLification," calling CATL a "comrade-in-arms."
CATL chief manufacturing officer Ni Jun had earlier remarked: "Knowing how to build a car doesn't mean you know how to build a battery — leave professional work to the professionals."
This reflects a careful line both sides are drawing: Li Auto develops cell designs in-house but has no intention of replacing specialist battery makers on the manufacturing side.
What do the range and e-drive numbers look like?
The new L8, equipped with Li Auto's in-house 5C ternary lithium battery, achieves 430 km CLTC pure-electric range.
The upcoming 2026 i6 two-wheel-drive variant reaches 780 km CLTC range, an 8% improvement over the 2025 model.
On the e-drive side, Li Auto eliminated the high-voltage terminals on the power module — a change it says adds roughly 30 km of range and frees 24 mm of vertical space in the chassis.
In plain terms = one structural tweak delivers both extra range and extra cabin room — fewer parts mean lower electrical losses and a more compact underbody.
How heavy is the manufacturing commitment?
Li Auto began planning its next-generation e-drive platform in 2021, built over 10,000 prototype units, and spent roughly four years on development.
It constructed power-module and e-drive assembly plants in Suzhou and Changzhou, investing RMB 700 million in equipment and production lines alone (excluding building costs).
Its in-house power chips have been in mass production for one year, with 4 million units shipped and installed.
This means → Li Auto's e-drive investment is well past the pilot stage — RMB 700 million in production lines plus 4 million chips shipped is full-scale manufacturing.
What does the "fire = new car" pledge actually cover?
Li Auto promises: if a spontaneous fire caused by a quality defect in its in-house battery totals the vehicle, it will compensate the owner with a same-spec new car.
A second guarantee covers fires caused by collision or underbody scraping: Li Auto will cover the gap between the vehicle-damage insurance payout and the policy's insured amount.
The cell production line is equipped with inline CT — X-ray scanning of each cell's internal structure, paired with AI defect detection — as a final quality gate before shipment.
In plain terms = Li Auto turned "our battery won't catch fire" from a marketing claim into an enforceable payout clause — if it does catch fire, the cost falls on Li Auto.
What does this model mean for the wider industry?
Li Auto's "design in-house + partner manufacturing" split opens a new path for battery makers that have production expertise but limited R&D budgets — they can leverage a customer's cell design to close the gap with industry leaders.
On charging infrastructure, Li Auto has built 4,200 supercharging stations with over 23,000 supercharging stalls, and plans to double its 5C supercharging guns to 8,300 before the 2027 Chinese New Year.
This means → "Lianshan" is not just a technology launch — it is Li Auto's bet on redefining where the automaker ends and the supply chain begins.
Whether this division of labor can be replicated by other automakers is the key variable for judging Lianshan's industry-wide impact.
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