Li Auto’s Premium EV Push Meets Competition From Nio’s L90, Tesla’s New 6-Seater Model Y

Li Auto has officially opened pre-orders for its first all-electric SUV, the Li i8, aiming to carve out a spot in China’s competitive family EV market. 

The six-seat SUV is priced between 350,000 yuan and 400,000 yuan ($48,760–$55,700), placing it at least 25% above the Onvo L90 from Nio, which starts at 279,900 yuan ($38,988), CnEVPost reported.

The Li i8 is slightly smaller than the Onvo L90 in overall dimensions, but offers a more powerful 97.8 kWh ternary lithium battery with 5C fast-charging and a claimed CLTC range of up to 720 km. 

Unlike Nio’s battery-swap-enabled Onvo, Li Auto is banking on its rapidly growing supercharger network to attract customers. 

The company says it has now built out 2,883 supercharging stations, surpassing its goal of 2,500 by launch.

Those who pre-order between July 17 and July 29 will be eligible for priority delivery. The final pricing will be revealed at the July 29 launch event, with deliveries starting in late August.

Yet, the Li i8 faces stiff competition, not just from Nio but also Tesla, which on Wednesday reportedly filed regulatory documents in China for a new six-seater Model Y Long Range (Model Y L) with a 3,040 mm extended wheelbase, aimed specifically at Chinese buyers. 

Tesla posted about the model on its official Weibo account, suggesting a possible launch this fall, with production expected to take place at its Shanghai Gigafactory.

Tesla’s Model Y was its best-selling model in the second quarter with 86,120 units sold in China, followed by the Model 3 at 48,803 units.

Meanwhile, Nio’s Onvo L90, though larger than the Li i8, comes standard with an 85-kWh battery and a 605 km CLTC range, and supports battery swaps. 

Nio currently operates 3,402 swap stations and nearly 2,900 supercharging stations across China.

Li Auto's i8 is its second battery electric vehicle (BEV) after the Li Mega MPV. 

While the Onvo L90 offers upgrade flexibility through Nio's network and a broader range of battery sizes—65, 85, 75, 100, and even 150 kWh for its premium lineup—Li Auto’s strategy centers on in-house charging access and high-performance hardware.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘neutral’ for Li Auto and Tesla, with message volume ‘high’ for Li and ‘low’ for Tesla.

Meanwhile, sentiment for Nio was ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘extremely high’ message volume.

So far this year, Li Auto is up 22.4%, while Nio has slipped 9.7% and Tesla is down 15.2%.

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