A 160 kg Hammer Dropped From 3 Meters Without Cracking! Li Auto’s Energy-Absorbing Steel Wins First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress
Fast Technology, August 3 news: Li Auto’s materials technology lead “@吉超超有材” today posted on Weibo: Recently, the results of the 2026 China Materials Research Society Science and Technology Award were officially announced.
The project “Key Technology and Application of Strengthening and Toughening Regulation of High-Strength Steel for New Energy Vehicles,” jointly led by Tsinghua University and Li Auto, won the first prize for scientific and technological progress (the highest award this time).
This award carries considerable weight. The Chinese Materials Research Society is a national first-level society, and its Science and Technology Progress Award is approved by the National Science and Technology Awards Office. Winning first prize at this level shows that the industry recognizes this technology.
The core of this award is Li Auto’s self-developed 2000IH hot-formed steel. It had already received national patent authorization in June 2025. The review committee also gave it high praise: leading technical indicators, strong applicability, originality, and internationally leading level.
With such praise, what problem does 2000IH actually solve?
Until now, as traditional ultra-high-strength steel has been made stronger, its toughness has declined, making it more prone to cracking during collisions. Once cracking occurs, material performance drops sharply.
Li Auto’s materials team spent three years and several million yuan in R&D, breaking through the traditional approach of increasing carbon content and solid-solution strengthening. By using low carbon combined with precise ratios of multiple microalloy elements, they formed a multi-scale precipitate in the matrix, giving the material the capability of “high strength + high toughness + hydrogen embrittlement resistance.”
Does 2000IH actually meet performance targets?
In the experiment shown below, a hammer weighing more than 160 kg was dropped freely from a height of more than 3 meters onto body cross beams of the same structure. Conventional 2000 MPa hot-formed steel cracked clearly, while 2000IH showed no obvious cracking and controllable deformation. Collision energy absorption improved by 81%, and hydrogen embrittlement resistance improved 5 times.
Currently, this material has been mass-produced in multiple models such as the Li Auto L9, L8, i8, and i6, supporting the highest C-IASI safety rating.
