Auto show: How far is an electric car from a traditional car company?

The 2018 Beijing Auto Show held on the second day of the media day. In addition to reports concerning automobile products, some media people also put forward their own views on the auto show itself and the future of the industry. Taken together, the peril of the environment is permeated by everyone. Heart. This anxiety is also reflected in the traditional car manufacturers and emerging car companies, their competition in the field of new energy vehicles becomes more and more obvious. When a large number of resources and capital are tilted toward start-up companies, the traditional car companies are even more unprepared for their strength. The BMW iX3 concept car, Mercedes-Maybach luxury concept car, Nissan Sylphy, and other new products In this year's auto show, a large number of people are suddenly aware of the strength of the traditional car companies with solid technology reserves.

The great man once said: "The world is yours and ours, but in the final analysis it is yours." The older generation of automakers used the most international range of auto show platforms in China to fight back against emerging auto makers. The future world is not yours, not necessarily.

● When the time has abandoned you, you will not say goodbye to it.

As a car industry practitioner, station new energy vehicles or station fuel vehicles, is no longer a problem, the general trend of the situation, "unlocked" may mean that the era abandoned, vertical websites, portals have set up a new energy product channel, more It is not necessary to mention "small fast-paced" self-media and mobile media.

Of course, there are tangled inner feelings. Fuel trucks are still the preferred choice for multi-media buyers, which is no different from most ordinary consumers. The reason is nothing more than the selection of too few reliable electric vehicles, imperfect basic charging facilities, inflated battery technology resulting in high prices, and endurance anxiety. Here's a hypothesis. If the above-mentioned anxiety problems are solved, will you choose an electric car? (I think I will.) Further assumption is, which brand of electric car will you choose in five years? Is Tesla or BMW Benz? Wei Ma Ai Chi is still mass Nissan? Do not rush to answer first. The former seems to represent black technology and a radical future. The latter is not conceding.

● What is the luxury/joint venture/China brand electric car?
★ BMW iX3 pure electric concept car

Since the BMW Group's "First Strategy" on March 16, 2016, the product lineage has become more and more abundant and the tentacles have reached out to various fields you can imagine. For example, the BMW iX3 pure electric concept car debuted at this auto show is a brand new attempt of BMW in the field of electric mobility. Although the concept car on the stand will be touted by the new BMW X3, the technical strength it represents represents the possibility of future BMW iNext series electric vehicles.

Some people may ask, what is the new BMW electric car, BMW i3, i8 not long ago ran. This statement is no problem. In the new stage, the BMW i brand will serve as the basis for BMW's new generation of electric drive system technology reserves, giving birth to new chemical reactions, so we will still find the familiar i logo on the side and rear of the BMW iX3. . Furthermore, BMW will also develop a new platform with more innovative technologies and flexibility. At the same time, it will support a variety of vehicle models such as fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles or pure electric vehicles. This is the BMW iX3 pure electric concept car. The value lies.

The BMW iX3 further innovates the iconic kidney grille of the BMW. The through-type closed design can reduce air resistance and enhance aerodynamic performance. This is the design method that most electric vehicles are happy to adopt. It is worth mentioning that this new front face offers netizens a lot of happy pits: BMW's designers actually started to “plagiarize” Kia... Anyway, there are slots and attention levels that are better than most concept cars. Silently forgotten in the corner of the auto show has a future.

From a motive point of view, the new BMW iX3 uses a new motor with a maximum output power of 272 hp (200 kW). Its matched high-voltage battery capacity exceeds 70 kWh and provides more than 400 km of cruising range. In fast-charge mode, it can fill 80% of power in 30 minutes. . The level of its parameters is very much grounded. In other words, the mass production of the BMW iX3 concept car is very high. BMW officials have already admitted that it will be the first mass-produced pure electric vehicle for the BMW brand (non-i brand) and will be officially put into production in China in 2020.

『BMW Auto R&D Center』

Although the traditional car company is not the first to eat crabs, but certainly not lacking crabs to eat, technology reserves are their strengths. In the early stage of this auto show, BMW has carried out a series of preheating activities in science and technology, such as the official opening of the Autonomous Driving R&D Center, the “Digital Innovation Experience Day”, and the launch of the 3D printing R&D production center project. BMW's autonomous driving research has been going on for more than a decade when new startups promote themselves with autopilot; 3D printing is still a black technology in many people's minds. BMW will soon establish a 3D printing factory, and Mercedes-Benz is also in 2017. The Frankfurt Motor Show brought 3D printers to the table. In summary, when we think that the traditional car companies are not as good as the new car companies in the application of black technology, it is very likely that the former technology has already been rolled out, and the practical time has not yet arrived.

★ Nissan Sylphy · Pure Electric

If you are not interested in the luxury brand concept car, even if you can't afford it in volume production, then there will be a pure electric car with grounding gas in this auto show. It is worth paying attention - Nissan Sylphy Pure Electric, which represents the mainstream joint venture brand The test of water in the field of pure electric vehicles is also the beginning of Nissan’s formal introduction of EV technology into China. To be honest, you may be disappointed when you first see this car on the stand.

It seems that the shell of the Sylphy & Pure Electric Co., Ltd. is the core of the new generation of Nissan Leaf. It is very difficult to find bright points intuitively, and people lack the impulse to buy. However, under careful consideration, Nissan only continued its own consistent and reliable style. Using a well-known model as an entry point, with the latest pure electric power system, natural distance and Chinese consumers' distance, has double advantages in cost-effectiveness and R&D efficiency.

Some people may think that many Chinese brands have used such a method to achieve the goal of replacing the engine in the engine compartment with an electric motor, which is a pure electric version of the new model. However, Sylphy Pure Electric is far from technically simple. It is based on Nissan's E-Platform global electric vehicle platform. The platform has been fully implemented in terms of safety, and technology deployment.

Take the new generation of wind blades on the same platform as an example. The maximum power of the motor is 150 hp (110 kW), the maximum torque is 320 Nm., and the maximum cruising range is 400 km. It takes 8 hours to fully charge in the normal charging mode. It can charge the battery to 80% in 40 minutes. More importantly, it is equipped with a flexible energy recovery system e-Pedal, which can effectively reduce the use of electricity. The parameters of this electric powertrain applied to Sylphy Pure Electric have yet to be officially announced. It can be determined that its cruising range is 338km, which is in the current excellent level of electric vehicles.

Therefore, the launch of the Nissan Suzuki Electric Power Co., Ltd. stated that it is necessary to introduce the “Great Achievements of the 70-year Electric R&D Achievements” into the country. The wording in advertising can be a laugh, but behind it is still a solid technical reserve to give it confidence. As for sales volume, individuals believe that the pricing strategy of Sylphy PurePower will not disappoint consumers and Nissan needs to worry about attracting more fuel vehicle users to the new energy sector.

★ Who says Chinese brands are not creative?

After taking the example of two overseas brands, let's take a look at the performance of Chinese brands in this auto show. After the early era of extensive development of pure electric vehicles, some of the more technologically powerful Chinese brands began to readjust their product mix, carefully transitioning from plug-in hybrids to pure electrics, such as Geely’s Borui GE and BYD’s Qin Pro. The PHEV models such as the new generation of Tang and Song MAX were all unveiled at this year's auto show. Potential consumers and crowds of onlookers consulted at the booth were mobilized.

The Geely CONCEPT ICON concept car has attracted the attention of many viewers. The appearance of this car has completely surpassed the current design language system of Geely, and it represents the direction of Geely SUV models in the future. It is quite the style of a luxury brand SUV such as Land Rover. The "ICON" in the name of the car can be directly interpreted as "Idol" and it is intended to express confidence in leading future travel modes. Many conceptual elements on the car body symbolize the exploration of new designs of DNA, such as the fully evolved squat-type lower intake grille, hourglass front and rear light groups, and special-shaped five-spoke rims. The LED display is embedded in the front and rear license plate positions. The user can set the information to interact with the outside world. The battery display module on the side skirt can display the power, which also indicates that it will be a pure electric vehicle.

It is worth noting that there is a machine named ICON DOG next to the show car. The LED display on the front and rear has also appeared in similar graphics. We can boldly guess that this combination of a smart electric car and a robot puppy , represents Geely's vision for the future of smart homes, travel scenarios.

In addition, CONCEPT ICON concept car uses a brand new design LOGO, black and silver metal modules and body designs complement each other, color coordination, may be the prototype of Geely electric brand. Geely’s official announcement of the vehicle's power parameters and the smart technology it possesses is full of imagination.

"Map from the Geely official"

Geely President and CEO An Zhihui said during the auto show: “Geely will be the leader of new energy and energy saving technology in the future.” Under the background of emerging car companies, we have long been paralyzed by slogans and piled up on various “ecological” issues. The "black technology" PPT also no longer trusts. However, CONCEPT ICON concept car seems to have inspired some of my interest. From a design perspective, it has surpassed most of the Chinese brands, and the ingenuity of the details has foreshadowed the future of Geely.

● Conclusion: The future of electric vehicles is a start-up company? Traditional car companies never agree

The media day of the Beijing Auto Show has ended and a large number of audiences have flocked to it. Some of them will stay on the booths of new brands such as Weilai, Baiteng, AiChi, Weima, etc. (Tesla booth limit) and see the future. The car will be how to meet their own curiosity while also being able to accumulate talkative funding, while the real choice of car, buy a car's users will still be in the traditional car company's construction site. It can be said that the Beijing Auto Show in 2018 was the beginning of the confrontation between the two emerging camps and the traditional car companies.

Automobile manufacturing is not only a capital-intensive industry, but also a technology-intensive industry. There have been concerns about the progress and the way in which the traditional car companies faced the transformation of the new situation: how factories are upgraded, how the structure of the electric product line is constructed, and how policy interference is excluded. From the current rhythm of product R&D at most of the traditional car companies, these concerns are overwhelming. They rarely have gene defects that can't be dealt with. They instead rely on a large amount of technology and a deep technical background to quickly expand their horizons (eg, BMW's Dadong Plant, Audi's Tianjin Plant Upgrade Project, etc.) As far as I am concerned, I am looking forward to the pure electric MINI at the future Great Wall BMW factory.