Li Auto, which once quickly gained a firm foothold in the market relying on extended-range electric vehicle technology, is now taking the initiative to reshape its extended-range brand label through a blitz expansion of charging infrastructure. In just 2 years and 8 months, Li Auto has exceeded 20,000 self-operated ultra-fast charging piles and built 3,600 charging stations covering 279 cities nationwide, ranking first among all automakers in the number of ultra-fast charging piles.
As 2025 draws to a close and major carmakers showcase their annual achievements, Li Auto has delivered an unconventional performance report. Within 2 years and 8 months, its self-operated charging stations have expanded to 279 cities across China, forming a national expressway ultra-fast charging network structured as Nine Vertical and Nine Horizontal Corridors. Stretching south to Haikou, north to Harbin, west to Urumqi and east to Shanghai, the network covers China’s 18 busiest expressways, with one Li Auto ultra-fast charging station available on average every 141 kilometers.
Li Auto’s transformation into an infrastructure building powerhouse began to show results as early as June this year. Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, posted publicly that with 2,500 5C ultra-fast charging stations in operation, the brand had surpassed Tesla in the number of ultra-fast charging stations.
When it comes to why Li Auto has become the fastest-expanding carmaker in charging station construction over the past two years, while Li Xiang attributes it solely to "optimizing user travel experience", industry insiders familiar with Li Auto’s product line see it differently. As Li Auto advances its dual layout of extended-range + pure electric vehicles, the brand urgently needs to rebuild core competitiveness in the pure electric vehicle market. Among all strategic layouts, the energy replenishment system stands as one of its key moats in the pure electric sector.
Li Auto’s Original Market Moat Under Siege
Since the start of 2025, discussions about Li Auto’s growth slowdown have been widespread online. Its Q3 financial results reflect mounting operational pressure. After 11 consecutive quarters of profitability, Li Auto recorded operating revenue of 27.365 billion yuan in Q3 2025, a year-on-year decline of 36.2%. Its automotive gross profit margin stood at 16.3%, down 5.2 percentage points year on year.
In terms of annual delivery targets, Li Auto delivered 93,211 vehicles in Q3 2025, a year-on-year drop of 39%. Although it lowered its full-year sales target from 700,000 units to 640,000 units earlier this year, cumulative deliveries only reached 362,000 units by November, with the completion rate of the annual target falling below 60%.
Two core factors account for the slumping sales: slow product iteration and lagging progress in pure electric vehicle layout.
At its early stage, Li Auto successfully carved out a dominant position in the family vehicle market with its differentiated strategy of extended-range technology plus premium in-car amenities from 2021 to 2023. While public opinion and industry players debated the sustainability and technical rationality of extended-range technology, and questioned whether luxury in-car configurations were genuine consumer demands, Li Auto took the lead and became a pioneer in this market segment with its unique positioning.
However, this winning formula has since been widely adopted and replicated by competitors including AITO, Leapmotor and Geely Galaxy. By 2025, almost all large five-seater and six-seater SUVs are equipped with the same mainstream configurations. Widespread homogenization among rivals has significantly eroded the competitiveness of Li Auto’s L-series models.
This does not mean the extended-range track is no longer viable. The real core reason for the sluggish sales of the L-series is slow product iteration. A look at the 2025 extended-range SUV market shows that mainstream models now feature large-capacity batteries: high-end extended-range versions offer over 400 km of pure electric cruising range, paired with 800V + 5C fast charging architecture, drastically narrowing the performance gap between extended-range and pure electric vehicles.
As a leading brand in the extended-range SUV segment, Li Auto failed to keep pace with the market trend of larger batteries and longer pure electric range. Coupled with the continuous improvement of public energy replenishment networks and fast charging technologies, the L-series, falling behind market demands in product strength, inevitably suffered declining sales.
As for Li Auto’s pure electric product lineup in recent years, neither MEGA nor i8 lived up to market expectations upon launch. The MEGA has been mired in controversy over its exterior design since its release, followed by a safety recall that crushed its nascent sales recovery. The Li Auto i8 faced an uphill battle in public reputation at launch due to flawed marketing strategies and SKU planning, with sales only picking up recently driven by the positive market reputation of the Li Auto i6.
The extended-range track is now crowded with competitors, while Li Auto missed the strategic turning point in the high-end pure electric SUV market. Meanwhile, among China’s new EV startups, NIO, XPEV and Leapmotor have maintained double-digit year-on-year sales growth. Caught against the market upward trend, Li Auto has clearly realized that it must rebuild its competitive moats in both the extended-range and pure electric vehicle sectors.