Li Auto Is Taking Battery Development In-House Across Its Lineup
Li Auto plans to expand its internally developed 5C batteries across every model, starting with upcoming versions of the Mega, i9 and i6.
Li Auto is making a bigger move into one of the most difficult parts of the electric-car business: developing its own battery cells.
The Chinese automaker said on September 7 that its internally developed batteries will expand across its full vehicle lineup. The rollout includes the new-generation Li Mega electric MPV, the upcoming Li i9 electric SUV and a refreshed 2026 Li i6, according to CnEVPost’s report on the company announcement.
This is not an immediate break with CATL, one of the world’s largest battery suppliers. Early Mega and i9 production will still use CATL cells. Li Auto is instead building a dual-track strategy: keep a major supplier in the loop while gaining tighter control over battery design, software integration, charging performance and eventually cost.
That makes the announcement more consequential than a routine model-year update. Li Auto wants to own more of the technology that determines how its EVs charge, age and perform—and it is preparing to put that work into customer vehicles at meaningful scale.
Which Li Auto Models Are Getting The New Batteries?
Li Auto says its in-house batteries are already used in the Li L6, Li L8 and Li i8. The next phase will extend the technology to the rest of the lineup.
The new-generation Mega initially launched with CATL-supplied 5C ternary-lithium batteries. Li Auto says orders exceeded its expectations and that the available CATL battery inventory for the current configuration is nearly exhausted. Customers locking orders from 3 p.m. Beijing time on September 7 will move into the in-house-battery production group, with deliveries expected to begin in November.
The forthcoming six-seat Li i9 will follow a similar path. Initial vehicles will use CATL 5C ternary-lithium cells, before production switches fully to Li Auto’s internally developed battery once manufacturing ramps up. The i9 is scheduled to be revealed in mid-September.
The refreshed 2026 Li i6 is the clearest expression of the strategy. Li Auto says the five-seat battery-electric SUV will combine its own 5C battery with its internally developed Mach assisted-driving chip. Pre-orders are due to open in late September, followed by deliveries in early November.
Li Auto has not yet published a complete specification sheet for the updated i6, so questions remain around usable battery capacity, range, charging curves, pricing and whether every version will receive identical cell chemistry.
What A 5C Battery Claim Means
The “5C” label describes a battery’s theoretical charge or discharge rate relative to its capacity. In simple terms, a 5C-capable pack is engineered to accept energy much faster than a conventional battery under the right conditions.
That does not mean every charging session will run at five times the battery capacity. Real charging speed depends on the pack’s temperature, state of charge, charger output, thermal management and the vehicle’s software. Peak power also matters less than how long the battery can sustain a high charging rate.
Li Auto’s existing i-series vehicles already use a high-voltage battery-electric platform built around 5C charging. The company describes the current i6 as a five-seat electric SUV with an integrated battery, electric-drive and thermal-management system. Its official product information also emphasizes battery longevity and coordinated charging control rather than treating the cell as an isolated component.
Bringing cell development in-house could let Li Auto tune those systems together more closely. A vehicle maker that controls the cell, pack, battery-management system, charging network and vehicle software has more freedom to balance charging speed against heat, degradation and cost.
The difficult part is manufacturing consistency. Designing an impressive prototype cell is not the same as producing large volumes with stable quality and predictable life. Li Auto’s gradual switch from CATL supply suggests it understands that production ramp risk.
Li Auto Is Not Actually Building This Alone
“In-house” can sound as though Li Auto is replacing the battery industry with a wholly owned factory. The reality is more collaborative.
Li Auto began developing cells in 2020 and says its work now covers 5C cells, battery packs and battery-management systems. At the same time, the company has strengthened its manufacturing relationship with Sunwoda.
CnEVPost reported on September 4 that Li Auto plans to invest in Sunwoda’s EV battery subsidiary, taking a direct 8.79-percent stake. The companies also established a 50-50 joint venture in 2025 to manufacture batteries developed by Li Auto.
That structure gives Li Auto more influence over the product without forcing it to recreate every part of the supply chain alone. It is a familiar direction in the EV industry: automakers want proprietary chemistry, packaging and software, but battery production still benefits from specialist manufacturing expertise.
CATL remains part of the plan as well. Li Auto explicitly says developing its own technology does not diminish CATL’s position as a leading battery company. The staged Mega and i9 rollout shows the supplier can provide launch capacity while Li Auto prepares its own system for broader production.
Why This Matters Beyond Li Auto
Batteries shape more than an EV’s range number. They affect charging time, curb weight, cabin packaging, cold-weather behavior, warranty exposure and one of the largest costs in the entire vehicle.
For Li Auto, deeper battery control also fits a broader vertical-integration push. The company has developed electric-drive hardware, vehicle software, charging infrastructure and assisted-driving technology. Pairing an internal battery system with the Mach chip in the 2026 i6 turns the refresh into a test of whether more proprietary hardware can improve the product and the economics behind it.
Cost pressure makes that especially important. CnEVPost says Li Auto’s vehicle margin fell to 9.4 percent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 19.4 percent a year earlier. Management has pointed to integrated design, internally developed technology and supply-chain optimization as ways to control expenses without simply passing every increase to buyers.
There is no guarantee that in-house cells will be cheaper at first. New production can be expensive, yields can take time to stabilize, and a leading supplier may still hold scale advantages. But if Li Auto can improve pack integration while reducing long-term purchasing costs, the strategy could support both better vehicles and healthier margins.
The first real proof will arrive quickly. Mega customers receiving the new battery from November will provide an early read on manufacturing quality. The i9 will test the technology in a new flagship SUV, while the refreshed i6 will put Li Auto’s own battery and computing hardware together in a higher-volume electric model.
Li Auto is not abandoning suppliers. It is trying to become a more capable one itself—and batteries are the biggest test yet of whether that ambition can survive mass production.