Li Auto's i6 Electric MPV Hits 811 km in Real-World Range Run

Li Auto has a new electric people mover on its hands, and the range numbers are worth a second look. The i6 is officially rated at 780 km (485 miles) on China’s CLTC cycle, but a company livestream showed the car covering 811 km (504 miles) before the battery read zero.

That run wasn’t a hypermiler’s stunt on a closed track. Li Auto took the i6 around Lake Tai in the Yangtze Delta with four people aboard, their luggage and another 50 kg of gear. Air conditioning stayed on for the full 18 hours.

What the test actually looked like

Ambient temperatures sat between 13 and 20°C, and the route was mostly urban, with limits ranging from 40 to 80 km/h. That pace flatters any EV — a highway slog at higher speeds would have drained the pack sooner. Still, the setup was closer to daily life than most range stunts.

One caveat: the run ended when the display hit 0%, not when the car stopped moving. Li Auto never explored the buffer below zero, so the true ceiling remains unknown.

Key Specs: 96 kWh battery · 780 km CLTC rated range · 811 km logged in livestreamed drive · 11.8 kWh/100 km consumption

The efficiency figure — 11.8 kWh per 100 km — is what makes the distance possible. The i6 has a 96 kWh pack, and Li Auto says a redesign of the battery layout freed up room for an extra 3 kWh of cells.

A battery strategy shift away from CATL

The bigger story sits under the floor. Li Auto has moved away from CATL cells for this model, using in-house packs built with help from CALB and Sunwoda. The unit is branded Lian Shan and supports 5C charging.

Li Auto also claims revised current paths in its latest SiC power modules cut operating losses and add roughly 30 km of winter range. Those modules are expected to spread across the existing lineup, and the Lian Shan pack probably will too.

• Safety pledge: Li Auto says the packs will not self-ignite or combust in a collision
• Backing it up: Buyers would get a free new car if a pack ever did catch fire, a promise Xiaomi has made with its Dragonscale batteries
• Charging: 5C capability on the Lian Shan pack

The styling is its own talking point. The i6 leans into the MPV silhouette that sells well in China and barely exists elsewhere — the kind of shape that looks borrowed from a sci-fi set rather than a dealership lot.

For European and American readers, the i6 is a reminder of how differently the Chinese market treats the family EV. Three-row practicality, big batteries and fast charging are table stakes there now. Whether that formula travels beyond China is a separate question, and Li Auto hasn’t answered it with this car.

What the livestream does prove is narrower: in mild weather, at city speeds, with a full load and the AC running, the i6 can beat its own official rating by about 30 km. That’s a useful data point — and a rare one, since most range claims never get tested in public.