Honestly, I didn't like it before I came into contact with Weilai, but I always admired it. A global pure electric brand based in China once had a market value of more than 100 billion yuan in just a few years, even surpassing the traditional leader Volkswagen. The main reason why I can't say I like it is because of myself.
As a pragmatist, I prefer some cost-effective models, such as Korean or American brands, while Lexus, which is expensive and imported, is not my favorite brand, and I have always felt that the brand premium is too high. So when it comes to Weilai, it is easy to take it for granted that it is included in the list of luxury cars.
Of course, I admit that I have a lack of budget, and I really can't become an accurate user of Weilai.
But all along, I had a doubt. As a rookie brand in China's new power brand camp, in addition to strong capital support, what kind of charm has Weilai used to support its growing strength? I don't think it's just a brand premium.
It is a great honor for Che Lizi to participate in the WEILAI Automobile High-speed Power Exchange Free Travel Activity by WEILAI Official. With doubts, I decided to experience in-depth from the aspect of WEIlai products and services, and it was this test driving experience that made me re-improve my view of Weilai Automobile and successfully turn to powder.
Four-minute high-speed battery swap experience
The prototype of EV travel protection has been established
On October 27, the NIO event team departed from the WEILAI South China Experience Center in Guangzhou to Angsana Zhuhai. The experience center is located on the first floor of the Guangzhou International Finance Center, which is the most central CBD area in Guangzhou, and the entire trip will pass through the congested sections of the city and the highway section, and will experience the second generation of WEILAI power station in the middle.
Before leaving, we made an appointment through the mobile APP to change the power exchange arrangement of the second generation of the power station. For some friends who like to travel on holidays is definitely a blessing, directly dispelling the worry of replacing the battery, a full battery quietly waiting for your replacement in the reserved time period. If you feel that the APP is too troublesome, the owner of Weilai can also make an appointment through the form of customer service telephone in the car.
Weilai second generation replacement power station is the world's first to realize the automatic parking of vehicles into the substation, the whole station is arranged with up to 239 sensors, in the case of four major cloud systems working together, users can experience without getting off the car without operation to complete the vehicle power exchange, very sci-fi feeling.
After sitting in the car and taking the actual test experience, the system directly takes over the vehicle to park the replacement station after confirming the power exchange option. After the parking, the vehicle will be prompted to count down the power failure and then enter the power exchange state. When the power change is completed, the canopy prompt light turns green and you can drive away, the whole process is about four minutes, which is faster than the first generation of WEILAI replacement power station.
We usually drive fuel vehicles to refuel at the gas station, from queuing up to refuel to electronic payment to return to the car, the whole process is about 5-10 minutes.
In horizontal contrast, As a pure electric model, WEILAI's consumption is no less than that of fuel vehicles, and the operation is quite simple, which greatly eliminates the charging concerns of users with high time demand.
It is understood that compared with the first generation of the replacement power station, the second generation of Weilai replacement power station has increased its reserve battery from 5 to 13, and its service capacity has been increased to up to 312 times a day, and the power exchange efficiency has been greatly improved. Every time the vehicle is replaced, the power station will also carry out a self-inspection of the vehicle, which can also be understood as a small maintenance of the three-electric system, and problems will be found in time.
As of October 25, 2021, NIO has built 560 substations nationwide, of which 117 are high-speed substations. In the future, weilai power exchange network will cover "five vertical, three horizontal and four metropolitan areas", and through cooperation with Sinopec, the coverage of the highway power exchange network can be initially realized in eastern China.
CheLizi believes that power replacement will become the main choice for high-end EV models in the future, which will greatly save time and cost. According to Weilai officials, the state is very much in agreement with the novel form of power replacement, and in the future, there will be cross-brand and even industry cooperation in the form of unified power exchange specifications, and the power exchange will be popularized to more models.
Experience NIO EC6
Excellent high-speed intelligent driving
The model we tested this time is the NIO EC6, positioned in a mid-size pure electric coupe SUV, which is also a model that I have been looking forward to, both in terms of styling design and power.
As a coupe SUV model derived from the NIO ES6, the NIO EC6 is almost exactly the same as the ES6 in terms of product strength. In our traditional impression, the car positioning model is compared to its native model, which belongs to the small category of market segments, and the sales volume is not very prominent, just like the relationship between BMW X3 and BMW X4.
Supposedly niche positioning, WEILAI EC6 unexpectedly delivered a good sales result. From January to September this year, NIO EC6 sales totaled 22,700 units, and the sales of this single model in nine months alone reached half of NIO's total sales in 2020. This achievement is still based on the premise of high average transaction price, after all, the starting price of EC6 has reached 368,000 yuan, which is not easy to come by.
For the internal and external design, I believe that friends are already very familiar, CheLizi here will not repeat more, we may as well talk about the advantages and disadvantages of EC6.
In terms of advantages, first of all, it is more satisfactory or Weilai EC6 coupe SUV model, the sense of streamlining is very in place, there is no sense of violation, at least in my eyes than the GLC Coupe shape is more beautiful, which is also related to its abundant size.
Despite the slipback design, the head space is guaranteed for the rear ride experience, and the height of 180cm does not feel depressed, and the panoramic canopy can be said to be indispensable.
The use of the 100kWh battery pack has made the endurance of the WEILAI EC6 a good guarantee. According to actual measurements, the power consumption of the WEILAI EC6 expressway + urban section is 17kWh per 100 kilometers, and the full power state conversion is about 588KM, which is very close to the official calibration of 605KM, which is still very good.
At high speeds, the most satisfactory thing is the Pilot Assist System (NOP) on EC6. On the way to Zhuhai, its high-speed section belongs to the road section that supports pilot assistance, and with the support of HIGH-precision maps, the vehicle opens the L2+ high-level automatic driving assistance with one click.
The vehicle automatically adjusts the speed according to the speed limit of the road, and uses the sensor to make a judgment on whether to overtake and change lanes, and also has the ability to automatically lower the ramp. It is very convenient to use in practice, which greatly reduces the fatigue of high-speed driving.
Of course, there are also deficiencies. For example, the comfort of the rear seats is not good, and the rear seating experience is still a little worse than the ES6. Secondly, the use of the panoramic canopy, although it can isolate 99.99% of ultraviolet rays, but because it is not equipped with sun blinds, in the summer in the southern region, the heat transmission of the sun is still not as comfortable as riding the ES6.
After all, there is no end to the car, for the comfort orientation of ES6 and sports orientation EC6, still need to make a trade-off. But overall, the EC6 is definitely a high-power model that can afford this price.
Write at the end
Luxury, for Weilai Automobile, has never been a vague positioning, but from the product, after-sales service and supporting power exchange services and other details of the intuitive embodiment.
Take the second generation of Weilai replacement power station of this experience, the cost price of a single site construction is 6 million yuan, which does not include the cost of leasing and operation and maintenance, while Weilai users can enjoy the qualification of six free power exchanges a month (without installing charging piles). The core concept of user first is also the luxurious essence of Weilai Automobile, which deserves praise.
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