When a man enters his forties and his family gradually grows in size, he will increasingly appreciate the many advantages of a large six-seat SUV. After all, once you start a family, a truly good car is no longer just a romantic ride for two to enjoy the pleasures of love, but a "mobile fortress" that can ensure comfortable travel for the whole family.
Therefore, many people born after 1985 often consider models with larger space when choosing a car for the family. The Deepal S09, priced around 300,000 yuan, and the Li Auto L8, priced in the low 300,000s, have become popular options in the car-buying decision. Faced with these two models that have made it to the finals, how exactly should one choose? Don't worry, next we will analyze it in detail for you!
For a family car, is the space really the bigger the better
After years of sedimentation and accumulation, many friends often find after turning thirty-five that driving a large car is no longer a heavy burden. In order to give family members a more comfortable travel experience, when choosing a vehicle, naturally the bigger the better. Perhaps it is precisely because Li Auto accurately grasped everyone's psychology that the Li Auto L8 has gained such high visibility today.
But after the Deepal S09 went on the market, the Li Auto L8 may be in danger.
In terms of vehicle dimensions alone, the Deepal S09 can be said to be considerably larger than the Li Auto L8, with its overall length and wheelbase both having a significant advantage of more than 10 centimeters. And such a size advantage is also quite considerable when reflected in space.
Stepping into the cabin, one will notice that the first- and second-row space performance of both the Deepal S09 and the Li Auto L8 is excellent. The first-row space of both is extremely spacious; even a tall man two meters tall would not feel the slightest bit cramped sitting in it.
(Left: Deepal S09/Right: Li Auto L8)
Moving to the second row, since these are all six-seat models, they have independent seats and ample seat adjustment space, as if they had the style of an airplane first class cabin. The difference is that the second row of the Deepal S09 is equipped with dual zero-gravity seats, and with a single touch of a button, wife and children can activate a pleasant reclining travel mode. It is also equipped with an integrated cloud-feel leg rest, making it comfortable no matter what posture you place yourself in. Moreover, the second-row seats have 180mm dual horizontal slide rails, and the seats can slide laterally closer to each other, making it more convenient for mothers to care for children, and when taking a nap, it can also create a warm space for two. The Li Auto L8, however, is not equipped with zero-gravity seats, and the difference in comfort between the two is already clearly visible.
(Left: Deepal S09/Right: Li Auto L8)
In fact, the core difference between the two cars lies in the seating space of the third row and the storage capacity of the trunk. The Deepal S09 shows a spacious third-row legroom figure of 870mm, which is more than six centimeters more than the Li Auto L8, intuitively about the distance of a fist. In addition, the standard seat height of the third row of the Deepal S09 reaches 360mm, which is superior to the Li Auto L8. Even sitting in the third row, one can enjoy a comfortable sitting posture and completely break free from the limitation of an "emergency seat." Such specific differences are especially noticeable in actual experience.
For example, when an adult 1.7 meters tall sits in the third row of the Li Auto L8, although there is not a cramped feeling like sitting on a small stool, the legs will still be bent and curled up; the Deepal S09 is different, allowing third-row passengers to stretch their bodies as much as possible, and even some slimmer friends can cross their legs here.
(Left: Deepal S09/Right: Li Auto L8)
When it comes to the difference in trunk storage space, it is quite significant. Specifically, under a six-seat layout, the Li Auto L8's trunk capacity is basically limited to four 20-inch suitcases, similar in size to the trunk space of the MINI three-door version.
However, relying on its longer body design, the Deepal S09's trunk depth is significantly increased, enough to easily accommodate 7 suitcases of the same specification. In addition, thanks to a longer buffer zone, it can provide passengers with more ample safety space in the event of a rear-end collision. Together with 8 sets of airbags, it builds a more comprehensive safety protection system for third-row passengers.
In fact, in addition to better absolute space, the space versatility of the two cars is also different. The Li Auto L8 can provide folding of the second and third rows of seats, allowing the interior to form a large flat-floor space.
The Deepal S09 has more advantages in space combinations. It not only has the unique design of "three rooms front, middle, and rear," but its three rows of seats can also be flexibly changed. In this way, the interior can create a 2.5-meter camping large bed, a 1.9-meter rear cabin large bed, and so on, forming a "five beds" space layout. For users who are passionate about camping, this ability to define space is undoubtedly more practical.
The whole family is comfortable, what kind of experience is that?
If one were merely pursuing large space, then many friends would choose to buy a large-size MPV costing around 100,000 yuan. Spending more than 200,000 to choose a new-energy large six-seat SUV is simply because they hope the elderly, children, and themselves can all be more comfortable during the journey. This also means higher requirements for the vehicle's comfort configuration and intelligent configuration.
In this comparison, we select the Deepal S09 Four-Wheel-Drive Ultra+ High-End Edition to compare with the Li Auto L8 Pro Intelligent Renewed Edition. The former has a guide price of 309,900 yuan, and the latter reaches 321,800 yuan.
In terms of comfort configuration, the Deepal S09 can be said to get it right in one step, directly bringing a configuration that can be called fully loaded. Take the much-watched seat configuration as an example. The Deepal S09 not only equips the first- and second-row seats with ventilation, heating, and massage functions, but also very generously installs two sets of zero-gravity seats in the second row. In this way, even the elderly who often sit here can rely on the zero-gravity seats to effectively protect their waist, legs, neck, and shoulders.
Speaking of the Li Auto L8, although this car is full of a strong family atmosphere and equips the first- and second-row seats with ventilation, heating, and massage functions, it lacks that spacious and light second-row zero-gravity seat design. The traditional "MPV-style independent seat" layout makes it difficult to create that ultimate relaxed and comfortable enjoyment.
It is worth mentioning that the price of the Li Auto L8 has already exceeded 320,000, yet it is not equipped with a refrigerator, and there is not even an option to add one. The Deepal S09 is different. This car is not only equipped with a refrigerator, but the center console where the refrigerator is located can also move forward and backward. In this way, rear passengers can take items from the refrigerator without getting up during the ride, which is undoubtedly more friendly and more humane for the elderly and mothers who need to take care of children.
If comfort configuration is regarded as a reflection of thoughtful service for family members, then the vehicle's intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving assistance configuration are specially set up to meet our own needs. In terms of cockpit configuration, both the Li Auto L8 and the Deepal S09 are unambiguous, equipping large screens quite completely. There is a large screen at the front passenger position, and a ceiling screen in the rear row, so watching movies during the trip is not a problem at all.
However, in terms of the system, the difference appears. The Deepal S09, equipped with Huawei's full suite, uses the widely recognized Huawei HarmonyOS Cockpit 5. The system's level of integration is quite high, and the card design of the UI interface is extremely intuitive. Both the elderly and children can easily get started with it. As long as you know how to use a mobile phone, you can use the car system, with almost no learning cost.
In the field of driving assistance, the Deepal S09 is equipped with the Huawei Qiankun ADS 3.3 system, which includes multiple functions such as urban navigation, highway navigation, and parking assistance, and leaves room for OTA upgrade to ADS 4. Thanks to the support of Huawei's 192-line lidar, the system recognizes more accurately and responds more quickly.
The Li Auto L8 Pro version is relatively similar to the Deepal S09 in terms of driving assistance system functions. However, the lidar used by its driving assistance system is the Hesai lidar, the same as that used by Leapmotor, and this lidar is only 128-line, so there is a certain gap in recognition capability compared with Huawei technology.
Focusing on mechanical quality, who can truly achieve "million-level"?
An excellent chassis and a powerful and efficient powertrain have also become essential for family travel. So at present, many automakers are pursuing high-level chassis and high-level performance.
Starting with the chassis, both the Deepal S09 and the Li Auto L8 are equipped with a front double-wishbone + rear multi-link suspension structure and an air suspension system, which is also the standard configuration of current high-end new-energy SUVs.
(Left: Deepal S09/Right: Li Auto L8)
However, in addition to being particular about materials, the importance of tuning cannot be ignored either. Based on the configuration of front double wishbone, rear H-arm multi-link, and CDC air suspension, the Deepal S09 is also equipped with 8 hydraulic bushings. Coupled with Changan's deep chassis tuning expertise, it directly creates a million-level texture, balancing support capability and vibration filtering performance.
By comparison, the chassis tuning of the Li Auto L8 is softer. If there are family members prone to motion sickness, this "big ship" type of suspension tuning may instead be unsuitable.
Finally, coming to the power dimension, after range extension has become a consensus for high-end SUVs, both the Deepal S09 and the Li Auto L8 adopt range-extended power, and their data performance is very good.
However, a careful comparison will reveal that the fuel consumption of the Deepal S09 is relatively lower, while the depleted-battery fuel consumption of the Li Auto L8 is somewhat higher. For family users, such a difference has a direct impact on the economy of vehicle use. Under depleted-battery conditions, the cost per kilometer of the Li Auto L8 is about 0.6 yuan, while that of the Deepal S09 is less than 0.5 yuan. The price difference for driving one thousand kilometers is about one hundred yuan.
The root cause of such a difference actually lies in the engine technology level. The Blue Whale super range-extended technology carried by the Deepal S09 relies on Changan's Blue Whale hybrid engine, and its thermal efficiency can be called a leader in the industry; in contrast, the Li Auto L8 uses the Xinchen engine, and limited by technology, its power generation efficiency is mediocre.
Conclusion
In the current increasingly fierce competition in the high-end new-energy SUV market, price is no longer the only standard for judging the overall quality of a vehicle. Taking the Deepal S09 as an example, in terms of space comfort, intelligent technology configuration, and core driving handling performance, it has achieved a comprehensive surpass over the Li Auto L8... And the Deepal S09, with such outstanding product strength, is priced more affordably.
In fact, the price difference between the Deepal S09 and the "8-series" models mainly stems from the difference in manufacturer scale. With the deep support of Changan, Huawei, and CATL, Deepal Auto has fully leveraged its technological advantages and supply chain cost advantages. Therefore, the Deepal S09 truly achieves high quality without being expensive, and is committed to bringing more intelligent, safer, and more convenient travel experiences to more families.
