Automotive

China's LeEco gives a first look at its semi-autonomous Tesla fighter

China's LeEco gives a first look at its semi-autonomous Tesla fighter
The LeSee concept features a long but sporty profile
The LeSee concept features a long but sporty profile
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LeEco LeSEE concept car
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LeEco LeSEE concept car
The interior includes a retractable steering wheel
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The interior includes a retractable steering wheel
LeEco has big plans for electric cars
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LeEco has big plans for electric cars
The steering wheel pops out when it's time for the driver to take over
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The steering wheel pops out when it's time for the driver to take over
The LeSee concept features a long but sporty profile
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The LeSee concept features a long but sporty profile
The LeSEE has what appears to be a full-glass roof
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The LeSEE has what appears to be a full-glass roof
LeEco LeSEE concept car
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LeEco LeSEE concept car
The LeSEE features smiley headlights
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The LeSEE features smiley headlights
The interior features some weird concept car rear seats
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The interior features some weird concept car rear seats
LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing
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LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing
LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing
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LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing
LeEco LeSee concept car
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LeEco LeSee concept car
Each passenger enjoys a discrete entertainment zone
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Each passenger enjoys a discrete entertainment zone
LeEco will show the LeSEE concept at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show
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LeEco will show the LeSEE concept at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show
View gallery - 14 images

After talking about a Tesla fighter for over a year, LeEco, the Chinese tech company formerly known as LeTV, has put money where its mouth is, revealing a sporty electric sedan concept at a big Beijing product reveal. We're not sure the new automotive player has Elon Musk quaking just yet, but the company seemingly has the money and will to disrupt the electric car industry, and it also has a working relationship with Aston Martin. Now it's officially added a pretty compelling concept car, the LeSEE.

The "Eco" in the company's name may seem like a nod to its dedication to more eco-friendly, all-electric transportation, but it's better thought of as short for "ecosystem," the big buzzword that is all over the company's materials and presentations. It revealed the LeSEE on a stage that also hosted LeEco's latest smartphone, TV and VR products, and LeEco's ultimate vision is for all four products - and probably plenty of others - to work together in an integrated, cloud-connected ecosystem, sharing hardware and software underpinnings. As it pertains to the car, it imagines passengers watching TV and consuming other services in a smart, fully connected autonomous car.

LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing
LeEco rolls out the LeSEE in Beijing

LeEco has been moving forward with its automotive efforts for 28 months and plans to develop its car entirely in-house. The primary focus of its Beijing presentation was technology and connected services, so it didn't get very far into the car's construction or specs.

LeEco did allude to some performance specs while keeping Tesla frozen square in its sights. A slide in its presentation showed the company's clear intentions of giving the car a higher top speed and longer range than the Model S. So far, the concept can reach 130 mph (209 km/h), which falls well short of the Model S' listed top speed range of 140 to 155 mph (225 to 241 km/h), depending on spec.

While the LeSEE is just a concept car with some fantastical design elements, it does show promise in the styling department. It's not a Model S knockoff, as one might have expected from a new auto venture targeting Tesla so openly. The car's extra-long cabin and arched transparent roof give it a stretched but sporty profile. It's not as curvy as some of the early renderings suggested it would be, but it seems sporty enough from most angles to pull people into dealerships (or stores).

LeEco LeSEE concept car
LeEco LeSEE concept car

One angle from which the LeSEE is not particularly sporty - or interesting at all - is the front. Even if you like the happy wraparound headlamp band, there's not much of anything else going on, and it feels like an afterthought. That's not entirely a styling failure, as LeEco's ultimate goal is to put a digital display at the center of that face, offering system information and car-sharing status from the outside. It sounds kind of gimmicky and unnecessary in a world in which we can get that info from a smartphone, but as long as LeEco does something with that lackluster, blank face, we'll be happy.

Car/ride-sharing appears to be an important part of LeEco's grand auto plan, not so surprisingly as it owns a majority stake in ride-sharing company Yidao Yongche and has a goal of increasing service. When it was time to reveal the LeSEE on stage, CEO Jia Yueting used the voice recognition software on his LeEco smartphone to "order a ride," and Ding Lei, vice chairman and managing director of LeEco's automotive efforts, drove the car out on stage to "pick him up." Later on, Yueting used the smartphone to order the car to park itself.

LeEco may look to shake up the car pricing model, too. While it didn't estimate a price for the car, it repeatedly stressed a vision of shifting business away from hardware sales and toward the sales of services and memberships. According to Reuters, it believes that strategy could one day be extended to cars. Cars would be offered for free or at deep discounts, with all the money being tied into connected services.

The interior includes a retractable steering wheel
The interior includes a retractable steering wheel

The LeSEE's interior features a sleek, low-profile cockpit with the obligatory touchscreen controls. The steering wheel is retractable, folding up and sliding into the dashboard when the car is in autonomous mode. The layered look of the rear seats has its inspirational roots in topography. LeEco says that it plans to make each seating position a discrete zone where each passenger can enjoy his or her own personal entertainment. Toward that end, there is a digital display integrated into the back of each front headrest.

To help make its visions reality, LeEco plans to build an autonomous driving research center in Silicon Valley, in cooperation with its partner Faraday Future. It will reveal more details about that plan (and hopefully about the LeSEE itself) at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25.

In the meantime, you can take a closer look at the LeSEE in the photo gallery and let us know what you think – should Elon Musk be worried?

Source: LeEco (Facebook)

View gallery - 14 images
11 comments
11 comments
guzmanchinky
So glad electrics are becoming mainstream. This car looks the business. Hopefully it's good. It's still a MASSIVE slap in the face that the big Euros haven't built one. An S-class that did the same things as a Model S would sell like hotcakes here.
Stephen N Russell
Love this, lisc & produce in the US with US auto makers ( minus Tesla). Nice. Id drive this Tesla clone maybe but like Orig since it has Autopilot mode
Bill Bennett
The side view is nice, the front view will take some getting use to.
JoelRitz
What´s the frigging range ? If this a Tesla killer then it better have a 350 mile range or else let it just rust in China.
DanielZamir
Interior design looks amazing. Exterior less so. The front looks odd.
Anyway this seems like a viable product. Wish them luck.
Siv
What is the weird blob on the roof, looks a bit out of place and quirky?
Bob Flint
The blob on the roof is the autonomous system, better get the lithium stocks while there still is some...
Patm
The blob is most likely LiDAR.
EcoLogical
I kinda like it, much better than the Faraday Future concept, but it's still vaporware until they include kWh/range, delivery time and price?
dionkraft
The Chinese have NOT brought a car to the states yet so why the pitter patter of the heart. They make cars but NONE can pass the stringent crash and safety tests. The Chinese like the LOOk of the latest styles but the engineering is strickly 90's era. They have automatics which are 5 speed and engines with engineering in the late 90's as well. As far as a "Tesla Killer" what are they going to do? Buy a TESLA and break it down and copy each part. THATS what they excel in. They copy everything anyways...oh witness they copied the movie 'CARS' and want to make a sequel..the nerve..
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