To The Moon

More than a year ago, everyone was still discussing whether the extended program technology is a backward technology. This proposition was first put forward by Li Ruifeng, CEO of Wei Brand under Great Wall at that time, and Huawei Yu Chengdong was fighting with it from a distance. But with the ideal$Li Auto(LI)$$LI AUTO-W(02015)$Huawei's extended range models are selling well, and more and more automobile enterprises choose this technical route to implement them, and the view of "extended range lags behind" is not broken.

Today, in 2023, who is right and who is wrong seems to be no longer important. Here we have to answer several questions:

• Why is the extension program considered to be backward in the previous history

• What did Ideal and Huawei do in design? Why can users accept it?

• What other extended-range models are worth looking forward to?

Why is the extension program considered backward

History of Extended Programs

In the automotive industry, the more famous extended-range product is GM's Volt concept car, which debuted at the 2007 Detroit Motor Show. In 2010, the first generation extended range version of Chevrolet Volt was launched in North America, becoming the world's first extended range car to achieve mass production. In fact, the design of this product adopts the hybrid technology, and the battery is set to 16kWh. The classic product of this car, which is almost on the market at the same time, is the 24kWh Nissan LEAF.

Volt can use electricity to drive vehicles at full time and at full speed. When the mileage is less than 60 kilometers, it can be driven by the power stored by a vehicle-mounted 16kWh lithium battery. When the battery runs out of power, the Volt can provide power for the vehicle through the hybrid system and continue to drive for hundreds of kilometers. Although this car is a hybrid system, it is an advanced car in the automobile industry according to the idea of pure electric drive, and the extended range type eliminates people's concerns about driving distance.

BMW was also an early player in extended-range cars. In February 2011, BMW released its brand-new sub-brand BMW i at its German headquarters, and successively released two new electric vehicles-i3 and i8. I3 was also named one of Time magazine's 25 best inventions of the year in 2014. But this car only has 22 kWh, so an extended range version is also prepared, with an extra cruising range of 125km.

Disadvantages of adding programs

GM Volt and BMW i3 are very distinctive: the first generation of Volt used the ready-made engine of GM at that time, and adopted the hybrid design mode with direct drive function, with pure electric battery life of only 60 kilometers. Now it is called "extended range", which is not worthy of its name.

The BMW i3 extended range model is equipped with a 0.647 L inline two-cylinder gasoline engine above the rear axle; The engine is not directly involved in the driving of the vehicle, and is made into a generator to convert electric energy and charge the battery pack. The engine is loud, prone to failure, high maintenance cost and high fuel consumption at high speed.

It can be seen that the extended range technology, engine and battery technology at this time are very common, and both batteries and a complete fuel engine system should be put in the whole vehicle, and the space is not good.

In September 2020, Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen China, made an "evaluation" of the extended-range car that was being hotly debated at that time at the media communication meeting: from the perspective of bicycles, the extended-range car has certain value; But from the perspective of the whole country and the earth, this is simply the worst solution. This may be the earliest voice of the view of "extended range backwardness".

Market Recognition of Extended Range Models

Sales volume of ideal and Huawei in 2022

Consumers and the market do not approve of Feng Zong's views. In 2022, the ideal car delivered a total of 133,000 new cars throughout the year, and AITO has delivered more than 75,000 cars in 2022. More than 200,000 consumers like the products of the two companies very much.

What did Ideal and Huawei do right?

In fact, the essence of hybrid technology is to focus on a more efficient model. Nissan promotes e-Power in the world, which is a series hybrid power and belongs to the extended-range technical route; Honda promotes iMMD in the world, which is a series-parallel hybrid power and belongs to DHT (Multi-gear Hybrid Power) technical route; From the perspective of power technology, DHT and extended program are "close relatives".

In a certain speed range, the operation mechanism of the two technical routes is exactly the same. After the speed exceeds a certain value, the DHT engine enters the direct drive mode for high-speed economy orientation; For better NVH and pure electric driving experience, extended-range technology continues to keep the engine in power generation mode. That is to say, if the continuous high speed is not considered, the efficient DHT technology and series extended range technology can make the engine work in an efficient working range, and then the vehicle works efficiently in a pure electric drive state.

We talked about DHT hybrid technology, which is a way for traditional car companies to transform fuel vehicles into electrification, and it is a problem that the fuel consumption of the original old models is constantly reducing.

Extended-range technology is more like the path choice for pure electric vehicles to solve mileage anxiety. It can reduce batteries on the basis of high battery price, which not only ensures complete pure electric experience, but also avoids mileage anxiety. If users want pure electric vehicle experience, do not have the environment of household charging piles, have no confidence in the surrounding infrastructure, have a long commuting path, and have to run frequently, it is more appropriate to choose extended-range technology.

In a word, the so-called simple technology in powertrain is not equal to backward technology, and the technical route of transition to pure electric power is not necessarily an unpopular technology in China's real environment. There is no backward technology, only inaccurately defined products, which can't be accepted by more consumers.

What other extended range models are worth looking forward to?

Because the battery cost of pure electric vehicles is too high, it is difficult to control the cost, so in the price war in 2023, we expect more extended-range vehicles for everyone to choose from. For example, the C11 model released on March 1st. Which model architectures are more suitable for extended range?

Because the extended range system needs to add engines and generators, the demand for interior space becomes larger. A 1.2 t engine, the whole system is about 70 kg, which takes up extra weight and space. Therefore, extended-range electric vehicles need to have a larger body, which can accommodate this engine on the one hand and place large batteries on the other, basically SUV and MPV models.

Source: Weibo Zhineng-Smoke