IM Motors (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 智己汽车, ''Zhiji Motors'') is

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

automobile manufacturer

SAIC Motor SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manu ...

and Chinese technology companies Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group.

Etymology

The company's English name IM stands for "Intelligence in Motion". Its Chinese name is Zhiji Motors (智己汽车).

History

The IM Motors joint venture between SAIC Motor, Alibaba Group, and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech was established in December 2020, and a 3D rendering of the company's upcoming sedan, aiming to compete with the

Tesla Model S The Tesla Model S is a Battery electric vehicle, battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-moto ...

, was presented later in January 2021. A dynamically developing industry in China, the so-called New Energy Vehicles are distinguished by their high-performance and high power drive systems. In April 2021 at the

Auto Shanghai Auto Shanghai (), officially known as the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (), is a biennial international automobile show that alternates with the Beijing Auto Show (Auto China) as China's yearly international automotive ...

auto show, IM Motors presented three vehicles; the L7

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and small ...

prototype, along with two concepts, the

LS7 LS7 may refer to: Vehicles * General Motors LS7, a small-block V8 gasoline engine * Hongqi LS7, a 2022–present Chinese full-size luxury SUV * IM LS7, a 2021 Chinese electric mid-size SUV concept * Rolladen-Schneider LS7 The Rolladen-Schneide ...

mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in t ...

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

and the

Airo Airo may refer to: *Airó, a Portuguese parish *El Airo, Loja, Ecuador, a village *Airo Aviation, an aircraft manufacturer headquartered in the United Arab Emirates *Italian Operations Research Society (''Associazione Italiana di Ricerca Operativa' ...

Thomas Heatherwick Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...

Vehicles

Production models

IM Motors currently produces or will produce the following models: * L7 (production from 2022), an

, first presented at Auto Shanghai as a prototype rivaling the

* L5, an upcoming

compact executive A compact executive car, also known as a compact luxury car, is a premium car larger than a #Subcompact executive cars, premium compact and smaller than an executive car. Compact executive car is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in the Euro ...

sedan positioned under the L7 and rivaling the

Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The officia ...

Concept vehicles

IM Motors has revealed the following concept cars: *

(2021,

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

), a 4-door concept car designed by

Heatherwick Studio Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...

. *

(2021, Shanghai), a

concept previewing an upcoming model.

References

SAIC Motor SAIC Motor joint ventures Joint ventures Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2020 Electric vehicle manufacturers of China {{Company-stub