MG’s parent company, SAIC’s Australian-bound IM brand is about to release an electric sedan in China with over 1,000 km of range on a single charge.
Reports from CNC show that the IM L6 Light Year Edition’s regulatory approval documents in China claim the new sedan will feature a 123.7 kWh semi-solid state battery pack, allowing the car to travel 1,002 km on a single charge when measured on the CLTC cycle.
That’s pretty impressive for a car which starts at $A74,400 and is expected to feature a dual-motor AWD system with a total of 540 kW of power.
This is split thanks to a rear motor providing 350 kW and the front having 190 kW of peak power up its sleeve.
Fast charging the large semi-solid state battery pack is also pretty impressive with 12 minutes of charge having the potential to add 400 km of range. That’s around 40% of the charge in 12 minutes, which is comparable to some other EVs in the Chinese market.
This semi-solid-state battery pack was developed by Qungtao Energy and has received investment from SAIC itself.
SAIC is now incorporating the batteries developed by Qungtao Energy into its production vehicles like the IM L6.
Looking at other key specifications, this model will have a length of 4.93 metres and weighs around 2,330 kg, with the 123.7 kWh battery pack making up 621 kg of it.
The outside shows a sleek large sedan with a coupe-like rear, which should help with the car’s aerodynamics.
Inside the car, there is a large horizontal driver display with a yoke steering wheel in front of it. The centre screen is more rectangular, which has not yet been seen on any SAIC product from MG in Australia.
On the inside, the car appears to have a premium fit and finish, with many soft-touch areas around the cabin.
The IM brand’s plans for Australia are not yet clear, but reports this year have suggested that MG will likely bring it to our market in 2025.
In recent months, MG’s electric car sales have taken off, thanks to aggressive pricing, which has seen MG4 sales reach 6,080 in the first 11 months of the year.
At the same time, the company hasn’t stopped with another electric model evaluation vehicle spotted in Victoria in October. That’s the MG S5, which is expected to replace the affordable MG ZS EV.
The IM L6’s upcoming Lightyear Edition shows that the Chinese EV brands aren’t sitting still when trying new battery technologies.
With semi-solid-state batteries now going into production cars on the roads in the coming months with over 1,000 km of range, the advancements in battery technologies continue towards a potential solid-state future.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.