(Yicai) July 31 -- Li Auto has brought out the first model under the Chinese electric vehicle startup's new premium large, pure electric sport utility vehicle series, entering China's market for such cars priced above CNY300,000 (USD41,700) to rival Tesla, Nio, and others.

Li Auto launched the i8 at a starting price of CNY321,800 on July 29. The car is equipped with an ultra-fast 5C supercharging battery and comes in 90.1 kilowatt-hour and 97.8 kWh versions, with a single-charge range of 670 kilometers and 720 km, respectively.

The i8 is Li Auto's first car in the i-series, with the second, the i6, to launch in September. The Beijing-based carmaker has three major product lines: the L-series (extended-range), the i-series (pure electric), and Mega (luxury multi-purpose vehicles).

Li Auto aims to become one of the leading pure electric car brands within three years, with the i-series focusing on user value, Vice President Liu Jie said in an interview with Yicai at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.

Whether the i8 can break through in the highly competitive segment of luxury pure electric SUVs has caught the industry's attention. The market is limited, with no hit models yet due to consumers' "charging anxiety" remaining a major constraint, China International Capital pointed out.

Li Auto has equipped the i8 with the new vision-language-action intelligent driving assistance system and the Lixiang Tongxue artificial intelligence model, said Chief Executive Li Xiang. The firm is also accelerating the construction of ultra-fast-charging stations to alleviate users' charging anxiety, operating over 3,000 stations.

Less than 80,000 EVs priced above CNY300,000 were sold in China from January to April this year, while plug-in hybrid EVs and extended-range autos accounted for 90 percent of the EV market, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

Li Auto maintained its top spot in the CNY300,000-to-CNY400,000 hybrid auto market in China last year but fell to second in the over-CNY400,000 market behind Seres Auto and its M9 model. Launching the i8 is a critical push for Li Auto into the pure electric sector after seeing a slower growth with its extended-range series.

Editor: Martin Kadiev