Modern traditional brand games

A friend around me is interested in buying a pure electric vehicle (BEV). He has never had a clear mental model, but there is a hard standard, that is, he only chooses from traditional car brands and ignores all new forces. The reason is simple: cars made by traditional car companies are more secure.

ID.4 is the first show in China. As soon as Volkswagen came up, it flashed the slogan of "changing the game", which shows its great determination in the field of pure electric.

In his words, "this is an era when even buying a pack of paper towels will recognize the brand!" In the consumer goods category with high price and complex technology, it is easier to get a safe and worry-free car experience by choosing a brand with rich experience in making cars.

Just launched in China last week? Volkswagen ID.4 is such a BEV that friends can buy with confidence.

0 1, can be original, can play new tricks.

In China, Volkswagen ID.4 will adopt the "two-car strategy", FAW-Volkswagen ID.4? CROZZ and SAIC Volkswagen ID.4? Sales in the form of X.

Since it is a "sister car", it is natural to distinguish the appearance. How to achieve both differences and retain the design essence of overseas models is quite a test of the skill of the design team. Volkswagen not only completed this task perfectly, but also made targeted optimization on the original basis.

I remember the first time I saw two sister cars at the same time at the press conference. At first glance, I almost thought it was the same car. Even if I look at it carefully for a few seconds, it is still difficult to tell it at once.

Some iconic design elements on overseas ID.4, such as fully enclosed front face design and IQ round LED strip headlights. Light, silver decorative strips outlining the roof, long and narrow through taillights, door handles and wheels with low wind resistance design, and black tailgate are all preserved in the two sister cars.

Of course, if you look closely, there are still differences in details between the two cars.

Like ID.4? CROZZ's headlights are rounded, ID.4? X has more extended corners and sharper shapes;

Like ID.4? CROZZ's front lower bumper air inlet adopts segmented design, while ID.4? X adopts horizontal design, which widens the body visually;

Like ID.4? CROZZ's taillight group is connected with the middle light bar, which is in the form of an inner buckle, ID.4? X wraps the two ends of the lamp strip in the bracket, and the internal structure and layout of the two lamp groups are also different;

Like ID.4? Curly hair and ID.4? X's rear bumper design is also different, and the overall shape echoes the design of the rear taillight group;

……

In fact, there are still many differences between the two cars. On the whole, faw-Volkswagen's ID.4? CROZZ is closer to the design of overseas models, and the ID.4 of SAIC Volkswagen has been adjusted on the basis of overseas models. However, this adjustment does not make people feel completely different, which also shows that the adjusted shape can still inherit the essence of futuristic design of ID.4 itself.

Not only has the appearance changed, but the two cars also have their own advantages in the interior layout.

Faw-Volkswagen ID.4? The layout of CROZZ basically follows the layout of overseas version, and the obvious change is ID.4? CROZZ has a narrow storage slot next to the cup holder in the front center armrest area.

Besides, ID.4? CROZZ also shortened the length of the embedded storage compartment between the front seats and added the armrest box (overseas models do not have the front central armrest box). These two details not only improve the practicality of storage design, but also provide a more comfortable driving experience for front passengers.

In contrast, SAIC ID.4? The interior of X has changed a lot. The most obvious change is that it has changed the position of the original cup holder and placed the wireless charging function, which is equivalent to a mobile phone with wireless charging. The advantage of this method is that the driver can see the information on the mobile phone screen more conveniently, which is suitable for mobile navigation, and can help the mobile phone to charge wirelessly, killing two birds with one stone.

An ID.4 exhibited at the press conference? x？ On the PRIME model, there is a very humanized wireless charging position in front of the central armrest area.

▲ faw-Volkswagen ID.4? CROZZ's mobile phone wireless charging area is set in the storage compartment of the central armrest area, although it is not like ID.4? X can directly view the mobile phone screen, but thanks to Apple? Carplay and Baidu CarLife functions can map and display the mobile phone screen in the car, and charging will not affect the use of mobile phone functions.

If the adjustment of the appearance is only to distinguish and increase their recognition, then the more practical and humanized adjustment of the interior fully reflects the public's in-depth thinking and rich experience accumulation in the user's car experience.

As one of the top automobile giants in China market and even in the world, Volkswagen has a huge user base, which provides it with feedback that is more representative of the market demand, and also endows it with rich experience that many automobile companies do not have, so that it can make accurate predictions and achieve better design in the process of product localization adjustment and optimization.

02, MEB platform-the epitome of mass electrification technology.

Compared with precise design, the advantages of traditional car companies in building electric vehicles are more reflected in the technical level.

In the past, Volkswagen also introduced pure electric versions of Golf, Bora and up through the way of "changing oil to electricity"! And other models, but why do you want to launch pure electric vehicle products this time, but set up an ID in an unprecedented grand way? Series? A very important reason is that the public wants to tell people that this time, the pure electric vehicles we built are different.

This difference is fully reflected in Volkswagen's brand-new MEB pure electric platform, which is the basis of all ID series products.

It is reported that all products under the future Volkswagen ID. The series will be built on MEB platform.

MEB platform is a brand-new platform specially designed for pure electric vehicles in audi ag, which has many advantages in line with the characteristics of pure electric vehicles.

First of all, similar to many BEV special platforms, MEB platform also adopts the design of laying flat on the chassis in battery layout. The heavy battery pack is located between the axles, and the front and rear axles weigh nearly 50:50. Thanks to the reasonable battery layout, the axle ratio of electric vehicles can be larger. The advantage of this is that the four wheels can be closer to the four corners, which not only further improves the handling stability of the vehicle, but also helps to expand the internal space of the vehicle.

▲MEB platform allows ID.4 to have more internal space-according to ID.4? CROZZ data, its trunk volume is 5 12 liters, even if the back row is not laid down, it can carry more than one lunar exploration of the same size.

At the same time, in order to reduce the damage of passengers and battery packs in the collision, MEB platform has also made great efforts to improve the rigidity of the car body structure-with ID.4? CROZZ, for example, not only widely uses thermoformed steel plates, but also adopts reasonable energy absorption design and advanced laser welding technology, which makes it reach the more stringent five-star standard of C-NCAP version 202 1.

According to SAIC Volkswagen, ID.4? The utilization rate of high-strength body steel plate of X body reaches 82%.

In addition, MEB platform has one of the most commendable selling points, that is, it adopts modular battery technology.

In the past, the difficulty of modular battery pack mainly lies in the packaging technology and battery management system, and it is difficult to ensure the consistency of batteries, so many electric vehicles will be equipped with different battery packs for different endurance versions.

▲ The benefits of modular battery technology are very direct: on the one hand, of course, it reduces the research and development costs; On the other hand, for consumers, the choice of vehicle endurance can be more flexible and diverse, and its maintenance and upgrade costs are expected to be reduced.

Volkswagen's MEB platform can flexibly increase or decrease battery modules according to the design requirements of cruising range. Foreign media said that taking ID.3, the first model of the ID series, as an example, it was emphasized that the model with long battery life and larger battery capacity had three more battery modules than other models; It is said that ID.3 can carry 12 battery modules at most.

In the future, ID.4 sold in China will have two models: two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. Among them, the two-wheel drive model is equipped with a rear drive motor. It is worth mentioning that the motor stator adopts flat winding technology, which effectively improves the power density of the motor, thus reducing the volume and weight of the driving motor. It is said that the assembly including gearbox and electronic control weighs less than 90kg.

The maximum speed of this motor is 16000rpm, the efficiency is over 90%, and the maximum torque can be achieved at low speed. It has better adaptability to high speed, high voltage and high current conditions, and it is easier to meet the requirements of different speed ranges, and the economy and power of the vehicle are further improved.

The four-wheel drive model adopts the layout of front and rear dual motors. With the cooperation of four-wheel drive and the original acceleration advantage of pure electric vehicle, the dynamic performance of the whole vehicle has been further improved. CROZZ, for example, the maximum power of the four-wheel drive model is 225kW, and the acceleration time of 0- 100km/h is 6 seconds.

Although the information of domestic vehicle models is limited at present, the technical advantages brought by MEB platform are of course not limited to this, such as heat pump technology, 100kW DC fast charging technology (it takes only 40 minutes to charge from 0 to 80%), and more intelligent technology configuration enjoyment. These are all realized in ID.4 after being made in China.

▲ In winter, heat pump technology can ensure that the battery pack works at a suitable temperature, which can not only improve the battery life by 30%, but also save about 3-4kWh/ 100km of energy consumption, thus ensuring the battery life to a certain extent.

Compared with some pure electric vehicle products that unilaterally "go to extremes" in cruising range, power performance or battery energy density, ID.4 may not be the most eye-catching one in terms of data, but for traditional car companies like Volkswagen, the experience of building cars over the years has always reminded them that the foundation of building cars is to develop mature, advanced and reliable technologies.

In the eyes of the public, BEV should not only be an "electric toy" for the rich, but an "electric car for the people" that can popularize the market. This is the real significance of its all-round pure electric offensive. Volkswagen is trying to reconstruct the gameplay of the pure electric vehicle market, so that BEV, which was biased towards the pursuit of ultimate performance, will return to a rational product positioning that is more suitable for the public.

03, BEV with poor quality control has no future.

The most powerful weapon for consumers to vote with wallets is stable and reliable product quality. In this field, traditional car companies have strong advantages.

As a leader in the global automobile industry, Volkswagen has always had a set of leading industry standards in terms of manufacturing technology level and product quality control, and it will only get better in the brand-new ID series products.

In order to better localize ID.4 and future ID series models in China market, FAW-Volkswagen and said Volkswagen have established their own MEB factories, and it is said that the total investment of the two factories is close to 30 billion yuan.

In these factories, two ID.4 sister cars were born, which can be described as "tempered". In addition to maintaining the consistently high standards of fuel vehicles in body manufacturing technology, two new pure electric vehicles also vigorously improve the safety of electrification technology to achieve more stable and safer quality.

At present, battery safety is a link that the majority of electric vehicle users are very concerned about, and the public certainly understands the minds of consumers.

In terms of batteries, both cars use 8 1 1 batteries provided by Contemporary Amp Technology Co., Ltd.. Among them, in the extreme environment test, FAW-Volkswagen ID.4? CROZZ's battery pack needs to undergo many tests, including e-MAST vibration, soaking with temperature shock, thermal diffusion, external fire, low temperature short circuit, long sequence test and so on.

And SAIC Volkswagen ID.4? X's battery pack has carried out as many as 338 tests for battery safety, which is more than 200 items more than the national standard (only 53 items in the national standard), ensuring that the batteries of the two cars still have good safety performance under extreme conditions.

In addition, according to FAW-Volkswagen, ID.4? CROZZ has more than 60 test items for three electric systems than the national standard. Its battery and high-voltage system meet the internal L4 electrical safety requirements of the public, and the waterproof level reaches IPX9K, which means that high temperature/high pressure water spraying will not cause harmful effects on it.

……

▲ It is reported that in order to reduce the damage probability of the battery pack, SAIC Volkswagen ID.4? X not only strengthens the battery pack, but also protects the front rocker arm and the rear rocker arm. In this way, the vehicle can not only prevent the chassis from being damaged by stones or complex road conditions, but also comb the airflow of the chassis to reduce wind resistance.

In the past 100 years of automobile development history, countless legendary automobile brands were born. Some of them surprised the world with exquisite design, and some conquered the world with pleasant driving pleasure, but they have developed into today's industry benchmark brands. Ordinary brands such as Volkswagen and Toyota, luxury brands such as Porsche and BBA are widely recognized for their product quality. After all, everyone wants their car to be reliable and durable, regardless of nationality or brand level.

▲ In addition to the strict control of the three power systems, a series of measures to help stabilize the quality control of the whole vehicle, such as 0.2mm detection accuracy, 12 body corrosion protection and 84% production automation rate, have been continued in SAIC Volkswagen MEB factory.

This is because quality control is the real threshold of the automobile industry-building a powerful car may not be the most difficult, but building a powerful car is a very test of the strength of car companies.

Why does the public have to do so many tests on ID.4 that exceed the national standard? This is because the experience of building cars in the past 80 years tells the public that building cars has never been a simple mathematical problem, but an engineering problem; To make a reliable product, you don't have to buy top-class equipment, but you also need a lot of experience and data as support-from the design of the whole vehicle structure to the tightening of a screw, you need to consider it again and again.

Therefore, a new automobile brand with an annual sales volume of only a few thousand vehicles in China has formed a huge gap with the global automobile giant Volkswagen with an annual sales volume of over 10 million, not to mention comprehensive cost control, marketing, channels and services. Traditional car companies represented by Volkswagen have entered the pure electric market one after another, which undoubtedly further improves the entry threshold of BEV market. Both Volkswagen and Toyota are telling consumers what kind of BEV can be purchased with more reliable and mature products.

In essence, pure electric vehicles are cars first. Since its "tool" function has not disappeared, it is doomed that "good-looking, easy to open and easy to use" is still a "compulsory course" that it must pass. If any car company wants to really open the BEV market, the premise is to build the car first, and the rest of the electrification, intelligence and interconnection will have a reliable carrier, so that consumers can have a better car experience without relying on the promotion of policies. Take the initiative to choose a Volkswagen ID.4 similar to BEV.

Words? |? Lu youqi

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.