Industry dynamics

IM Motors unveils 2nd model LS7 and begins pre-sales with starting price of $50,260

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:27

IM Motors LS7, a mid-to-large-size SUV with a pre-sale price range of RMB 350,000 ($50,260) to 500,000, will officially go on sale in February.

IM Motors, a premium electric vehicle (EV) brand jointly created by China's largest automaker SAIC and e-commerce giant Alibaba, has unveiled its second model, with the official launch set for two months later.

IM Motors unveiled the LS7 and began pre-sales of the SUV at a launch event Tuesday evening, with a price range of 350,000 yuan ($50,260) to 500,000 yuan.

Shortly after the event, IM Motors announced that the LS7 received more than 3,000 pre-orders in one hour.

The vehicle is a mid-to-large-size five-seat SUV with a length, width and height of 5,049 mm, 2,002 mm and 1,731 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 3,060 mm.

The IM Motors LS7 is available in a single-motor rear-drive version and a dual-motor all-drive version, both powered by permanent magnet synchronous motors.

Its rear-drive version is equipped with an electric motor with a maximum power of 250 kW, while the four-wheel-drive version has a maximum power of 175 kW for the front motor and 250 kW for the rear motor.

The 4WD version of the car has a total maximum power of 425 kW and a peak motor torque of 725 Nm, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.

The IM Motors LS7 will be equipped with a ternary lithium-ion battery pack supplied by CATL in two versions, 90 kWh and 100 kWh, with a CLTC range of up to 660 km.

The IM Motors LS7 features a half-spoke steering wheel and a center console with a long, auto-lifting screen that integrates the LCD instrument cluster, center console and passenger entertainment screen.

The car will be on display at IM Motors showrooms in January 2023, with the official launch in mid-February and deliveries starting in March.

IM Motors was founded on November 26, 2020, and is backed by SAIC, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba, with SAIC holding a majority stake.

Its first model, the IM Motors L7 sedan, was available for pre-order during the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2021, and deliveries began on June 18 of this year.

The IM Motors L7 is positioned similarly to Nio's ET7 sedan, which began deliveries at the end of March, although it performed far less well than the latter.

The L7 delivered 816, 1,007 and 1,019 units from July to September, according to data previously released by the company. It did not release delivery figures for October and November.

Nio delivered a record 14,178 vehicles in November, including 3,207 ET7s, according to data it released earlier this month.

IM Motors announced on August 1 the completion of its Series A financing agreement, its first public financing from other investors, at a post-investment valuation of nearly RMB 30 billion.

On November 2, IM Motors officially made the performance variant of the L7 available and began accepting reservations.

The performance version is offered in two options, IM Motors L7 Snake Performance Lite, and IM Motors L7 Snake Performance, with starting prices of RMB 478,800 and RMB 578,800 respectively.