China’s Li Auto delivers electric minivan with fridge and sofa to lure wealthy families from General Motors’ petrol MPV

The US$77,764 Li Mega, Beijing-based Li Auto’s first pure-electric model, has a range of 710 kilometres

Sales of minivans, also known as multipurpose vehicles, grew 15.9 per cent year on year in 2023 to 1.09 million, most of which were petrol-powered

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The Li Mega is a seven-seat fully-electric minivan developed by Beijing-based Li Auto. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:51pm, 1 Mar 2024

Li Auto has priced its multipurpose vehicle (MPV) at 559,800 yuan (US$77,764), nearly double the price of market leader General Motors’ petrol-powered competitor, the GL8, as the nearest rival to Tesla in mainland China vies for a bigger share of the country’s premium electric vehicle (EV) market.

Beijing-based Li Auto said on Friday that the fully-electric minivan, known as the Li Mega, will better cater to the travel demands of rich families because it is fitted with a refrigerator and a sofa, making it a “mobile home”.

“We believe Mega will be our next hit product,” Li Xiang, co-founder and CEO of Li Auto, said at a ceremony on Friday in Shanghai as the company started deliveries of the new van. “It will prove that a pure-electric MPV can be a good choice for families.”

The seven-seat MPV comes in only one edition, which can go as far as 710 kilometres on a single charge.

Robots perform welding on cars at a facility of Li Auto in Changzhou, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, on January 10, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

MPVs are generally viewed as commercial vehicles in China. The models that are configured for passenger use normally target wealthy households with more than one child.