Deliveries of the regular variants of the IM L6 will begin at the end of May, while deliveries of the variant with semi-solid-state batteries are expected to begin in October.

(Image credit: IM Motors)

IM Motors, the electric vehicle (EV) arm of SAIC Motor Corp, has officially rolled out its new electric sedan, the IM L6, which will compete with models including Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model 3 and Xiaomi's (HKG: 1810, OTCMKTS: XIACY) SU7.

IM Motors made the IM L6, its fourth model and second sedan, available at a launch event yesterday evening.

IM Motors has set a starting price of RMB 219,900 ($30,400) for the model, but is offering a limited time offer of RMB 20,000, bringing the actual starting price down to RMB 199,900.

The IM L6 is available in five variants with starting prices of RMB 219,900, RMB 259,900, RMB 275,900, RMB 305,900 and RMB 345,900 respectively.

The model is an all-electric mid-to-large-size sedan which measures 4,931 mm in length, 1,960 mm in width and 1,474 mm in height with a wheelbase of 2,950 mm.

Its lowest priced variant is built on the regular 400 V voltage platform, the RMB 259,900 variant is based on the 800 V platform and the other versions are based on the quasi-900 V platform.

After discounts, the starting prices of the five variants of the IM L6 are RMB 199,900, RMB 239,900, RMB 255,900, RMB 305,900, and RMB 325,900 respectively.

For comparison, Xiaomi's first EV model, the SU7, offers three versions with starting prices of RMB 215,900, RMB 245,900, and RMB 299,900, respectively.

The Tesla Model 3 also offers three versions in China, with starting prices of RMB 231,900, RMB 271,900, and RMB 335,900, respectively.

IM Motors started pre-sales for the IM L6 on April 8. It said yesterday that orders for the model exceeded 29,000 units.

Deliveries of the IM L6 will begin at the end of May. However, the variant with semi-solid-state batteries won't allow customers to lock in orders until September, and deliveries are expected to begin in October.

The specification sheet for the IM L6 on the IM Motors website currently only shows four variants excluding the semi-solid-state battery version, and they include three single-motor rear-wheel drive versions and a dual-motor four-wheel drive version.

The model's single-motor version is equipped with motors up to 216 kW, while the dual-motor four-wheel drive model is equipped with motors up to 200 kW and 379 kW respectively.

The IM L6 can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.74 seconds at the fastest, while the other three variants are 5.6 seconds, 4.6 seconds and 4.6 seconds respectively.

Its entry model is powered by a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack with a capacity of 75 kWh, while the other three regular variants are powered by Li-ion ternary batteries with a capacity of 83 kWh, 100 kWh, 100 kWh, respectively. They have a CLTC range of 650 km to 850 km.

The semi-solid-state battery version of the IM L6 has a capacity of 133 kWh and a CLTC range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

The semi-solid-state battery is a first-generation product developed by IM Motors with SAIC-backed startup QingTao Energy Development.

The pack supports quasi-900 V ultra-fast charging, which increases range by 400 km in 12 minutes of charging, IM Motors said.

The regular version of the IM L6 can gain more than 610 kilometers of range in as little as 15 minutes of charging, with a 10 percent-80 percent charge time of as fast as 16.8 minutes.

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

In June 2022 IM Motors began deliveries of its first model, the IM L7, the mid to large-size all-electric sedan that is a Nio ET7 rival.

IM Motors' other two models, IM LS6 and IM LS7, are SUVs.

IM Motors has had a weak sales performance over the past 2 years and often does not publish monthly figures.

($1 = RMB 7.2329)

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