NIO, Li Auto, Leapmotor, IM Motors and Wuling: A Practical Accessories Guide
CarMoods TeamIf you drive a NIO, Li Auto, Leapmotor, IM Motors or Wuling, you've probably noticed the gap: type your car into most accessory shops and you get a shrug, or a "universal fit" product that sits loose and slides around. These five brands are some of the newest EV names to land in Australia, and while the cars are often genuinely good value, the aftermarket hasn't caught up. Finding gear cut for your dashboard, your key shape or your steering wheel diameter takes more digging than it does for a Toyota.
The good news is that purpose-made accessories do exist for all five, in a handful of core categories that cover most of what a new owner needs: steering wheel protection, key case protection, interior comfort and basic storage. This guide walks through each brand, what's genuinely different about owning one, and what's worth buying first.
NIO: Premium EVs With a Different Ownership Model
NIO built its reputation in China and Europe on battery swap stations — a robotic system that exchanges a depleted pack for a charged one in a few minutes, no cable needed. It's worth knowing about because it shapes how the brand talks about itself, but Australia does not yet have a battery swap network, so ES6, ES8, ET5 and ET7 owners here charge the conventional way, on AC wallboxes and public DC fast chargers using the same CCS2 plug as every other EV sold in the country.
Where NIO does stand out locally is interior finish. These cars are pitched as premium, with leather-trimmed wheels, large glass areas and tech-heavy dashboards, so the accessories worth prioritising protect that finish rather than dress it up. A well-fitted steering wheel cover stops the factory leather picking up shine and cracking at the 9 and 3 o'clock grip points, which is where UV and hand oil do the most damage under daily Australian sun.
NIO Leather Steering Wheel Cover — Anti-Slip 37–38cm Fit
If you'd rather change the look than simply protect it, a carbon-fibre-pattern cover gives the cabin a sportier edge without touching the factory trim, and it's easy to remove before resale. For the boot, a dedicated charging cable bag keeps the Type 2 cable separate from everything else you carry — loose cables pick up brake dust and grit fast, and that grit is what eventually scratches the cable jacket and port cover.
NIO Carbon Fibre Steering Wheel Cover — Sport Look
NIO Charging Cable Storage Bag — Boot Organiser
NIO Branded Automatic Umbrella — Compact Folding
Li Auto: Petrol-Backed Electric SUVs for Families
Li Auto's L6, L7, L8 and L9 are extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs — the number roughly tracks vehicle size, with the L9 the largest. Unlike a plug-in hybrid, the petrol engine never drives the wheels directly; it only spins a generator to top up the battery once it runs low, so the car always drives like an EV. That gives EV-smooth, EV-quiet running without the range anxiety of a pure battery car on a long drive, which is exactly why the brand has found an audience with families doing regional trips.
Because these are large three-row SUVs, the accessories that matter most make multi-day road trips easier — and the cheapest fix is almost always the key. Li Auto's fob shares a shape across the whole L-series, and because it's a costly part to replace through the dealer, a protective key case is one of the best-value accessories you can buy for any of these models.
Li Auto Key Fob Shell — L6, L7, L8 and L9 Fit
Li Auto Key Case — Durable Black Shell
Li Auto Branded Automatic Umbrella — Compact Folding
A branded umbrella sounds like a small addition, but boot space under the third row is already tight once a pram or camping gear goes in — a compact folding umbrella that lives in a door pocket instead is genuinely useful space management, not just a novelty.
Wuling: Australia's Smallest, Cheapest EVs
Wuling sits at the opposite end of the size scale. Models like the Bingo and Air ev are genuinely tiny city cars, built from the same SAIC-linked platform that made the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV one of China's best-selling EVs. That compact footprint changes what you should shop for: the steering wheel diameter is noticeably smaller than on a mid-size SUV, so a cover sized for a Camry will bunch up rather than stretch tight. Always check the stated diameter range on the listing instead of assuming a universal cover will do.
Boot and cabin storage are tight too, the trade-off for a car this small and efficient. A snug steering wheel cover and a correctly shaped key case make the biggest day-to-day difference, because there's little slack left in the cabin to absorb an ill-fitting part rattling around.
Wuling Nappa Leather Steering Wheel Cover — Snug Fit
Wuling Zinc Alloy Key Case — Bingo, Air ev, Kiwi
Wuling Branded Automatic Umbrella — Compact Folding
Leapmotor: A Budget EV Backed by a Global Group
Leapmotor is a Chinese EV maker that now distributes outside China through a partnership with the global Stellantis group, part of why it has scaled into new markets faster than some local-only rivals. The range sold here spans the small T03 city hatch through to the larger C10 and C11 SUVs and the C01 sedan, aimed at buyers who want EV running costs without paying for extra badge cachet.
Interior fit-out tends to be simple rather than lavish, which is exactly where a headrest and lumbar support set earns its keep: it adds the shaped support a budget-tuned factory seat often skips, without touching the upholstery. It's one of the few accessories that genuinely changes how a car feels to sit in, rather than just how it looks.
Leapmotor Headrest & Lumbar Support Set — Suede Finish
Pair it with a correctly profiled key fob case and a steering wheel cover sized to the model's actual rim, and you've covered the three accessories that do the most to make a lower-cost EV feel properly looked after, rather than just functional.
IM Motors: Smart SUVs From a Major Chinese Manufacturer
IM Motors — sold in some markets as Zhiji before adopting the IM badge for export — is backed by SAIC, one of China's largest carmakers, and positions its LS6, LS7, L6 and L7 as tech-forward, premium-leaning SUVs and sedans. Big glass areas, large centre screens and smart-cabin features are the brand's calling card, which means the usual Australian-climate concerns apply: heat load through an unshaded glass roof, UV on a dash-mounted screen, and the slow fading that follows both.
Day to day, owners reach first for protection against the things that get bumped and scraped unnoticed — door edges in a car park, and boot carpet under shopping or camping gear. A silicone door-edge pad and a foldable trunk organiser both solve that slow, invisible damage.
IM Motors Headrest & Waist Support Pillow — LS6, LS7, L6, L7
The key case is worth mentioning separately here too: IM's remote keys are a costly part to replace through an uncommon-brand dealer network, so a zinc-alloy case that actually absorbs a drop is cheap insurance rather than a styling add-on.
IM Motors Foldable Trunk Organiser — L6, L7, LS6, LS7
IM Motors Zinc Alloy Key Case — Zhiji Remote Cover
IM Motors Door Anti-Collision Pad — Scuff Guard
Buying Accessories When Your Brand Is Still Finding Its Feet
A few things apply across all five brands, as a direct result of how new and low-volume they still are here. Dealer parts for anything cosmetic — a key cover, a scuffed door trim, a worn wheel cover — tend to be slow to source and priced on the assumption you have no alternative. A correctly sized aftermarket accessory sidesteps that, and because it's purpose-cut for the model rather than generic, it fits the actual wheel or key properly instead of being a loose compromise.
Resale data on brand-new nameplates is also thin, so protecting the interior's condition matters more than on an established brand where buyers already know what a well-kept example looks like. A clean steering wheel and an unscratched console do real work at sale time, precisely because there's no track record for a buyer to lean on instead.
Finally, don't assume a universal-fit product described as suiting "most electric SUVs" will sit flush on your car. The cars here span a tiny city hatch to a three-row family SUV, so check the stated model fitment — our guide to GWM, Chery, Jaecoo and Geely accessories covers the same sizing issue if you're cross-shopping those brands too. If you're setting up charging gear at home, our guide to EV charging cable storage is a useful next read, and for the full rundown beyond these five brands, see our new EV owner checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are NIO, Li Auto, Leapmotor, IM Motors and Wuling actually available in Australia?
Yes, all five have an official or semi-official retail presence in Australia, though volumes are low compared with established brands, which is exactly why dedicated accessories can be harder to track down than for a Toyota or a Hyundai.
2. Why is it so hard to find accessories for these brands?
Low sales volume means fewer manufacturers bother tooling up for model-specific accessories, so most mainstream retailers only stock generic, universal-fit products that don't match the actual dash layout, key shape or wheel diameter.
3. Does NIO's battery swap technology work in Australia?
Not currently. NIO's swap stations exist in China and parts of Europe, but Australian NIO owners charge the same way as any other EV here, using AC wallboxes and CCS2 DC fast chargers.
4. What is a Li Auto "range extender" and does it change what accessories I need?
It's a small petrol engine that only generates electricity to top up the battery — it never drives the wheels directly — so day-to-day the car behaves like an EV. It doesn't change your accessory needs, though it does mean you'll still visit a petrol station occasionally, unlike a pure battery EV.
5. Will a universal car accessory fit my Wuling, Leapmotor or IM Motors?
Sometimes, but not reliably. Steering wheel diameter, key fob shape and console layout vary enough between these models that a product cut specifically for your model will always sit better than one described as "universal fit".
The Short Version
NIO, Li Auto, Leapmotor, IM Motors and Wuling are five very different approaches to the same problem — getting more EV choice onto Australian roads at different price points and in different sizes. What they share is a thin aftermarket, which makes the handful of accessories cut specifically for each model more valuable than they'd be on a mainstream brand. Start with whichever part of your car takes the most daily wear — the steering wheel, the key, or the boot — and work outward from there. Browse the full range of new arrivals for the latest model-specific accessories as more are added.
