Li Auto Li 6 Review

​Introduction 

For the uninitiated, Li Auto is the largest carmaker in China, by volume. Don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of them either, until I was invited to take their Li 6 for a spin around Paris. If, like me, you were unfamiliar with Li Auto, that’s about to change because when the highest volume automotive brand in China sets its eyes on a new territory, we tend to notice.

That’s right, Li Auto is coming to Europe and the UK, with their first offering, the Li 6 (known as the Li i6 in China). I was allowed to take the Li 6 for a short drive while I was in town for the 2026 Paris motor show. The route I was given only lasted around 20 minutes, so this serves more as my initial thoughts than a fully fledged review. 

Regardless, I spent enough time with the Li 6 to get a feel for the interior, infotainment system, and ride, considering the variable paving of Paris roads. Read on to see what I learned, and what I’d love to find out when we get a chance to drive the Li 6 for a little longer.

Range, battery and charging 

The Li 6 features a usable capacity of 96kWh from its NMC battery pack. That grants it a maximum WLTP range of up to 397 miles (640km). I wasn’t able to get any meaningful efficiency figures on my short drive but we’ll update you once we’ve had a go in one for a little longer.

What we do know is that the Li 6 has a drag coefficient of just 0.218 thanks to its sleek, teardrop-shaped body. That’s lower than a Renault Twingo, which should help it get better efficiency on the motorway, where EVs tend to be less efficient.

It's the charging tech that really impresses on the Li 6. Thanks to its 800V architecture, the Li 6 can charge at a rate of up to 500kW - provided you can find a charger powerful enough to support those sorts of speeds! You may struggle in the UK, as most services have 350kW chargers these days - or 450kW if you're lucky. But 500kW chargers aren't really a thing over here, yet. Even so, that’s enough for a 10-80% charge time in just 10 minutes, or at one of the common 350kW rapid chargers it'll take more like 20 minutes.

While that’s not quite as crazy as BYD’s Flash Charging tech, which can reach peak speeds up to 3x faster than the Li 6, it’s still more than fast enough for you to pop into a service station for a pee and a coffee, only to realise you’ve been charged for hogging the charger after reaching 100%. So plenty fast enough for us!

Practicality and boot space

• Dimensions (L/W/H): 4.95m / 1.94m / 1.66m

Practicality is certainly one of the Li 6’s strong suits. Its large size means, logically, there’s a lot of space on offer inside. Not only is the Li 6 the best part of 5m long, but its 3m wheelbase means there’s enough room for the cabin to feel truly commodious. With the driver’s seat in my 6’3” (191cm) driving position, there was acres of space in the seat behind me. 

There’s also a really solid amount of interior storage on offer, with space in the doors, and a large storage bin beneath the central arm rest. You also get a choice of two wireless charging pads in the centre console and two cupholders large enough to accommodate big drinks bottles easily.

Despite the Li 6's generous length and interior space, it only features seating for five. For context, the Hyundai Ioniq 9 is only 11cm longer and seats up to seven! That means that the Li 6 has enough space for five fashionistas and their massive suitcases or, to be more precise, there's a 720-litre boot (that's bigger than the VW ID.7's boot!) and an impressive 91-litre front storage compartment under the bonnet which is charmingly opened electronically with a “knock-knock”. No punchline here. 

Interior, design and technology 

Apparently, the exterior design of the Li 6 is inspired by the look of a Shark. Perhaps its pointy, low-slung front end is what it inherits from the apex predator but beyond that and a general stealthiness, I’m not sure I see it. At least the Li 6 would be rather stealthy, had it not been specced in the rather fetching Aurora Mauve of the example I drove.

That’s not to say that the Li 6 is a bad looking thing, just that it flies under the radar. It blends the upright stance of an SUV and the elongated look of an MPV or people carrier while its tinted windows and black roof give it a two-tone look.

On the inside, things are incredibly plush. The first thing I noticed sinking into the heated, cooled, and massaging seat was the headrest cushion, a trend that’s fallen out of favour in recent years but was once only seen in the highest-end limousines. Personally, it’s a trend I’d like to see brought back - my head has scarcely known such pillowy bliss.

Seats aside, the rest of the interior feels nicely put together but heavily reliant on the massive. 29-inch panoramic display that spans the dashboard. Li Auto has even gone as far as to integrate things like air vent control into the central display - a move that was almost universally panned when Porsche tried to pull it off in the Taycan. Here, it takes a couple of taps to adjust but it still just isn't as easy to use as an old-fashioned, manually adjusted air vent.

There’s no dedicated driver screen, either, unfortunately. Key information has been relegated to the driver’s side of the main display. I'm not so keen on that - I prefer a proper display behind the steering wheel, even if Tesla and Volvo have made it seem okay to do away with it!

At least there is a very impressive, full colour head-up display with the ability to show camera feeds and project augmented reality directions onto the road ahead.

In the back, there’s a 21-inch screen that drops down from between the two sunroofs to display entertainment content for the rear passengers - or front passengers when the car is stationary and the front seats have been folded flat to act as foot rests!

We don’t yet have final word on UK specs for the Li 6, but if even half of the features available in the Chinese market make it to Great Britain, the Li 6 will be a fun place to spend time.

Motors, performance and handling 

Power: Up to 536hp (est)

0-62mph: Up to 4.5 sec (est)

Powertrain: RWD/AWD

Again, we don’t know exactly what a UK market Li 6 looks like in terms of performance, but the Chinese i6 features options for single motor rear-wheel drive, and dual motor all-wheel drive powertrains with 340hp and 536hp respectively. That’s enough for a 0-62mph sprint of 6.5 seconds in RWD cars and 4.5 seconds in an AWD Li 6.

What I can tell you for sure is that the Li 6 features dual-chamber air suspension that helps it glide over the cobblestone backstreets of Paris without so much as a creak. I can also tell you that Li Auto has tuned the Li 6 specifically for European roads. How exactly they’ve altered it over its Chinese counterpart, the folks on the ground couldn't disclose. Nor can I tell you which European roads they’ve tuned it for because anybody who’s driven on the continent can tell you that the roads over there are much smoother than our own.

Whether it was tuned for Belgian pave or the glassy smoothness of the German Autobahn, the Li 6 I drove was cloud-like in its composure. Being a city drive, I couldn’t test the car at higher speeds so those concerned about neck-breaking acceleration or motorway wind noise may have to wait a little longer.

At low speeds however, the Li 6’s steering was direct, if a little numb. While the car’s eagerness to turn did make it feel more nimble than its bulky dimensions might suggest, it was still difficult to ignore just how sizeable the body really is. It could have been because of the nerves associated with driving in a new city, but I found myself applying an abundance of caution when navigating tight back roads and busy boulevards alike.

Beyond that, the Li 6’s active noise cancellation and double-layered side windows kept the chaos of the outside world from perturbing my driving experience very effectively, I just can’t wait to see how it handles London streets and undulating British roads.

Running costs and pricing 

Here’s another question mark for the Li 6. UK and European pricing hasn’t yet been confirmed and neither has a concrete release date. Deliveries in the Netherlands and Norway are forecasted to begin in the first quarter of 2027, though, so hopefully we won’t be far behind!

Even in those countries though, pricing is not yet confirmed. But if the pricing of the Li i6 in China was to be adjusted for the UK, we’d expect it to start around the £46,000 mark.

Verdict

While I can’t, in good conscience, pass a proper verdict on the Li 6 until I’ve driven it for a much longer period of time, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed by my short time with it.

From the plush interior, to the cossetting ride, the Li 6 has a lot to offer the luxury market. There’s so much comfort and entertainment-enhancing tech in play, it could all be argued to be a bit too much for some. However, there isn’t much you’re forced into using if you don’t really want to, besides the head-up display and massive front infotainment display.

However, I’m not a fan of the en-screen-ification of essential controls. In fact, it’s my most disliked trend in modern car design. Volkswagen and others have tried it before, only to hear the outcry from consumers and back track into using good old buttons again. It appears Li Auto has missed the memo in that regard.

Li Auto still has a little bit of work to be done before they’re ready for prime time in the UK, but their confidence of letting journalists take their pre-production Li 6 for a spin was far from an overconfident move. I, for one, can’t wait to spend more time in it.

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