Industry dynamics

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:39

Shanghai (ZXZC)- IM Motor, a joint venture among SAIC Motor, Alibaba and Zhangjiang High-Tech, saw its first production model, the IM L7, formally hit the market on April 17. The model currently comes with two variants—the Dynamic and the Pro, which are priced at 368,800 yuan ($57,900) and 408,800 yuan ($64,160) respectively.

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

IM L7; photo credit: IM Motors

The price and configuration details of the IM L7 Pro were unveiled at the end of March, while the information of the Dynamic version remained covered until last Sunday.

In the meantime, the automaker stated that the IM L7 broke the Guinness World Record for “long-distance drift on wet ground for electric vehicles” previously set by the Porsche Taycan on March 9 this year, refreshing the record from 42.171km to 43.646km. It took the L7 one hour and six minutes to complete the entire drifting process and drift up to 259 laps on the slippery concrete ground.

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

IM L7; photo credit: IM Motors

The IM L7 made its debut as a prototype, the IM LS7 concept, at the Auto Shanghai in April last year. It aims to take on the NIO ET7.

Positioned as a full-sized sedan, the IM L7 measures 5,098mm long, 1,960mm wide, and 1,482mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,100mm. The model comes with a total of 6 body color options, named Pissarro white, Raphael tea, Cezanne black, Rembrandt gray, Diana white and Morandi gray respectively.

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

IM L7; photo credit: IM Motors

The shape of the daytime running lights resembles the symbol “∑”, giving the vehicle's front end a unmistakable appearance. The the fastback-style roofline, the hidden door handles, the active air ducts, and the ingenious design at wheel rims, outside rear-view mirrors and chassis together result in a low drag coefficient of only 0.21Cd. 

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

IM L7; photo credit: IM Motors

The through-the-round taillights improve the trendy essence of the car. It is worth noting that the new car's front and rear lights, which are made up of a 2.6-megapixel DLP (Digital Light Processing) and 5000+ LED ISC pixelized interactive signal lights, have a smart lighting system that can show different light words in multiple settings.

On the top of the roof, there are three 48-megapixel high-definition cameras. One of the biggest selling points of the vehicle is the IM AD upgradable intelligent driver assistant system, which consists of 15 high-definition vision cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, 11 high-definition perception cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars and 2 high-precision positioning units, and supports the upgradability for NVIDIA Orin X (500~1000+TOPS) and 3 LiDAR units.

SAIC-backed IM Motor's L7 hits market, starting at 368,800 yuan

IM L7; photo credit: IM Motors

The IM L7 presents a simple but ingenious interior. The panels for the center console and car doors are made of wood sourced from Lake Como in the Italian Alps. Besides, the cockpit features a futuristic essence thanks to the 39-inch height-adjustable 4K resolution screen across the dashboard, the concealed air conditioning vents, and the removal of physical dials. Besides, armed with a Qualcomm 8155 cockpit chip, the IM OS multi-screen borderless smart interactive system will offer IM L7 users multiple interactive functions.

In terms of power system, the two permanent magnet synchronous motors can continuously drive both axles with a system output of 425 KW / 725 N·m. The IM L7 can sprint from 0-100km/h within only 3.87 seconds.