Li Auto L9 Reeve Challenges Ferrari and Porsche with Advanced Chassis Technology

Li Auto CEO Declares L9 Reeve’s Rivalry with Ferrari and Porsche

Li Auto’s CEO, Li Xiang, made waves in the automotive industry with a bold statement on Weibo: “In terms of ultimate handling performance, our team has set its sights on Ferrari’s FUV Purosangue and the new electric Porsche Cayenne Turbo.” This ambitious claim that the nearly 3-ton family-oriented SUV “L9 Reeve” can compete with European luxury sports cars in handling performance has captured widespread attention.

To bolster his assertion, Li Xiang shared comparison videos between the L9 Reeve and current models. The footage showcases the L9 Reeve’s impressive stability on uneven terrain, with the vehicle appearing to glide smoothly close to the ground. In emergency maneuvers and slalom tests, the new model demonstrated significantly improved body control. In contrast, the 2025 L9 model displayed notable shaking, highlighting the stark difference between the two.

Balancing “Comfort” and “Sportiness” with Wire Technology Chassis

Traditionally, chassis engineers have sought to balance comfort and sporty performance by tuning suspension dampers. High-speed cornering demands rigidity, while vibration absorption necessitates stiffness, yet family comfort calls for softness—a challenge that has historically required generations of refinement and testing by established European manufacturers.

Li Auto addresses this with an innovative solution: an 800V full active suspension system. Unlike passive or semi-active suspensions that react to road impacts, full active suspension calculates forces in milliseconds, actively lifting the suspension on the pressured side. This enables a large SUV to achieve the grounded feel of a sporty sedan.

Moreover, the L9 Reeve’s wire technology chassis integrates rear-wheel steering, wire brakes, and wire steering into a “complete package.” By replacing mechanical connections with electronic signals, vehicle safety has been significantly enhanced. During wet road tests at 60 km/h, the L9 Reeve came to a controlled stop during emergency braking, while older models continued to skid.

Countering Experience with Computational Power

Li Xiang emphasized that the reassurance provided by the wire technology chassis isn’t based on vague marketing claims but on measurable outcomes like reduced braking distances and higher avoidance speeds. Electrical signals transmit far faster than mechanical structures, cutting emergency braking distances by a car’s length and boosting effective AEB and AES avoidance speeds to 130–140 km/h.

This technological breakthrough aligns with the competitive landscape of autonomous driving. As vehicles increasingly rely on system control, even minor mechanical delays can pose risks. According to development benchmarks disclosed by Li Xiang, advanced autonomous driving requires vehicle control systems to respond at least 50% faster than human reflexes. To meet this demand, Li Auto equipped the L9 Reeve with its proprietary Mach M100 chip, featuring 1280 TOPS computational power to oversee chassis operations.

Will History Repeat Itself? Transforming the Market with Technology

In 1998, Ford stunned the industry by integrating multi-link suspension—traditionally reserved for luxury vehicles—into the first-generation Focus, raising the bar for A-class family sedans overnight.

Li Auto aims to create a similar disruption. By standardizing full wire technology chassis and active suspension in a family SUV, the company may force competitors in the same class to abandon passive suspension systems. While Li Auto has priced the L9 Reeve at 559,800 yuan, 120,000 yuan higher than current models, Li Xiang argues that users will recognize its value due to its high utility.

Future Outlook and Pending Verification

Li Auto positions the chassis as a digital asset that evolves continuously, much like in-car screens. Through OTA updates, steering feel, braking strength, and acceleration logic can be optimized, even allowing personalized settings tailored to individual driving habits within a family.

While China’s new energy vehicles have led globally in intelligent cockpits and electric powertrain systems, critics have noted that their chassis tuning has lagged behind that of traditional European manufacturers. Li Auto aims to close this gap using computational power, intelligence, and advanced hardware.

However, whether the L9 Reeve’s driving experience truly lives up to its claims will only become clear after test drives following its May 15 launch event. For now, one thing is certain: reconstructing the chassis through code is becoming an essential path for the automotive industry to reach new heights.