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As 2021 draws to a close, looking back on the year, the rapidly changing automotive industry has ushered in a new change. The general trend of "new four modernizations" of automobiles has further prompted major car companies to move forward in the direction of electrification, intelligence, networking and sharing, and new models and new technologies continue to emerge. The coordinated development of new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles has become an inevitable choice for mainstream car companies at this stage, and the guiding effect of carbon neutral carbon peaking targets on car companies has intensified. At the same time, the game of new and old car-making forces is more glued, accelerating the reshuffle of the industry.
My car rut continues the tradition, on the occasion of entering the new year, the special inventory of the "top ten" automobiles in 2021 is not only to record the voice of the times, but also to better summarize the past and move towards the future.
In recent years, the development of the automotive industry has changed with each passing day, and automotive technology has also been rapidly updated and iterated, and various new technologies have emerged in an endless stream. This year has also given birth to a lot of impressive automotive technology, at the end of the year, Brother Reed will give you a summary of the most eye-catching automotive technology in 2021 (this article is the third part of the "Top Ten In the Circle" special series), let's take a look at what good things are there.
01
Nissan e-POWER
Nissan e-POWER technology has recently attracted a lot of attention on the Internet, on the one hand, e-POWER technology has won a number of international authoritative awards since its birth; on the other hand, models equipped with e-POWER technology have more than 500,000 sales records in Japan, and its first Note e-POWER equipped with this technology even crushed Toyota and Honda to become the best-selling hybrid car, which shows that its strength is not simple. Nowadays, this "collection of each family" electric drive technology has finally entered the domestic market, and it is the first to be installed on the "sales king" Xuanyi, so it is more exciting.
Compared to other brands' hybrid technology, Nissan e-POWER has taken advantages to the extreme. It is an electric drive technology that does not require external charging, 100% oil-fired power generation, 100% pure electric drive. The popular understanding is that the engine is used for power generation, and the motor drives the car forward, which not only effectively reduces fuel consumption, but also obtains the driving texture of pure electric vehicles. Overall, this is a new technology that retains the advantages of pure electricity without worrying about endurance anxiety, and perhaps in the near future, the e-POWER model will become a dark horse that cannot be ignored in the hybrid market.
02
Universal Ultium Electric Vehicle Platform
Ultium is GM's new electric vehicle platform for the future. It is reported that the Aotene platform can realize the electrification of almost all models of GM, and its three most significant selling points are flexibility, intelligence and safety. Aoteneng platform supports different cell packaging forms and chemical materials, which gives GM flexibility in cell selection; at the same time, Aoteneng also pioneered a wireless battery management system, effectively improving the space utilization rate of battery packs, and introducing a new VIP intelligent electronic architecture; in terms of batteries, the thermal stability of the battery cell is increased by 10%, with the advantages of low attenuation and long life, and fast charging can be completed within 40 minutes.
From the technical point of view alone, the Aoteneng platform does have many highlights, which can be described as the representative of the highest level of new energy manufacturing in GM. The localization process of the first Aoteneng electric vehicle platform model Cadillac LYRIQ is accelerating in an all-round way, and pre-sales have also been opened and will begin delivery early next year. It is believed that with the blessing of the Aoteneng platform, GM has more advantages in the field of electrification.
03
Toyota steer-by-wire
Not long ago, Toyota released its first pure electric vehicle model bZ4X built using the e-TNGA platform, although this car does not show enough hard core strength in product strength, but its steer-by-wire steering system is still very eye-catching. The biggest difference between this bizarre steering wheel and the traditional steering wheel is that it no longer uses physical connections, but uses electronic control for steering control. Its advantages are small space, steering ratios that can be adjusted at will, and are friendlier to electric vehicles and autonomous driving.
Although the steer-by-wire is not a new thing, it has not been used on a large scale at present, which is somewhat related to the fact that the technology is not mature enough. Toyota, which has always been conservative, is so bold in using the on-line control steering technology, does that mean that the technology is mature and reliable enough? I believe many people are curious, how does the steer-by-wire technology perform in the bZ4X?
04
Mercedes-Benz MBUX Hyperscreen system
Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz released the new MBUX Hyperscreen system. The biggest feature of this system is the use of a through-feed OLED screen design, the entire screen width of more than 1.4 meters. With an 8-core CPU, 24G of memory, 12 sensors and 46.4GB of memory bandwidth per second, the system delivers a powerful and smooth performance experience.
When Mercedes-Benz debuted this giant screen, Brother Rudder was indeed shocked, because it was not only larger than the large screen in the car of the current mass production model, but also irregular shape. Mercedes-Benz has also taken the MBUX intelligent human-computer interaction system to a new level, which is extremely easy to use and has a strong self-learning ability. The newly upgraded MBUX Hyperscreen was first installed on the Mercedes-Benz EQS, and the emergence of this car is expected to reshape the standard of luxury electric vehicle products.
05
BYD DM-i Super Hybrid
Since BYD released the DM-i super hybrid at the beginning of this year, sales have soared, and there is currently a situation of short supply. The reason why the DM-i model has such a hot sales volume is because DM-i integrates BYD's three core technologies: DM, blade battery, Xiaoyun engine, combined with EHS electromix system, which truly achieves low fuel consumption, quiet and smooth, excellent power and so on.
The hot sales after the launch of this year's super hybrid model are probably not expected by BYD, and the answer to its success is actually very simple, because it brings real benefits to consumers: low car purchase price, good driving performance, and low car maintenance cost. From the current situation, the hot sales of DM-i hybrid models will continue for a period of time, and BYD's sales of new energy vehicles this year are expected to reach a new high.
06
Audi variable wheelbase technology
At this year's Guangzhou Motor Show, Audi unveiled a new concept car, the Skysphere, and the biggest innovation of the car is the use of variable wheelbase technology. Variable wheelbase means that the motor and body frame structure can be retracted and sliding, achieving a 25 cm wheelbase and body length change, so as to bring a completely different driving experience. In Sport mode, the vehicle's reduced wheelbase makes the body more responsive, and in the long-distance mode, the body will become a 5.19-meter-long GT model with more space to ride.
Variable wheelbase technology is indeed a subversive technology, but at present this is only a concept car, and it is unknown whether it can finally land in the future, after all, it is still a bit ahead of the wheelbase to achieve functions such as changing wheelbase during driving. But in any case, these forward-looking technologies have put Audi at the forefront of many established traditional car manufacturers.
07
Ford Vehicle-To-Road Synergy Technology
For many consumers, the vehicle-to-road collaboration system is still a particularly unfamiliar concept. In fact, vehicle-road collaboration technology is a kind of automotive wireless communication technology, referred to as "C-V2X". Vehicles equipped with C-V2X technology can be connected to almost everything on the road, such as "real-time conversations" with other vehicles, traffic lights, pedestrian electronic devices, etc. With this technology, vehicles can receive traffic information on the road ahead and anticipate risks beyond the sensor's range, allowing drivers to anticipate and make decisions in advance to improve overall traffic efficiency.
In the Chinese market, Ford is the most active in the research and development of C-V2X technology, and is also the first vehicle company in China to realize the mass production and application of C-V2X technology. Although the current C-V2X does not bring us a particularly large functional experience, with the continuous improvement of technology, C-V2X can achieve more functions, and will further improve driving safety and travel efficiency. In addition to Ford, I believe that more car companies will join the camp of vehicle-road coordination in the future.
08
GAC Aean endurance exceeds 1,000 technology
"Range anxiety" has always been a major problem hindering the development of electric vehicles, but with the continuous development of technology, the ceiling of pure electric vehicle mileage is constantly being refreshed. Unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC Aion LX Plus has a cruising range of 1008km (CLTC conditions), and it is also the world's first pure electric vehicle with a range of more than 1,000 batteries. AION LX Plus is equipped with sponge silicon anode plate battery technology, the battery system energy density is increased to 205Wh/kg, and the battery energy reaches 144.4kWh.
The AION LX Plus's 1,000 km range is not a "futures", it has been declared and is expected to be listed in January 2022. For consumers who travel a lot and have poor daily charging conditions, it is still very suitable to choose a model with a long battery life. The arrival of the AION LX Plus with a 1000km endurance not only solves the mileage anxiety of new energy vehicle consumers, but also greatly boosts the confidence of the industry and consumers.
09
Great Wall Lemon Hybrid DHT
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of independent brand research and development technology, many car companies have also launched their own hybrid technology. As one of the leaders of its own brand, Great Wall Motor's lemon DHT hybrid technology has attracted market attention as soon as it was unveiled. This hybrid system is more similar to the Honda i-MMD, mostly using electric drives, and the engine focuses on energy management for power generation. However, on the basis of the traditional series parallel architecture, this system also adds a 2-speed transmission mechanism to the direct drive path of the engine, so as to better balance power and fuel consumption.
This year, many independent brands have come up with self-developed hybrid technology, and their overall energy-saving performance is no different from the "two fields", and even has the tendency to surpass. It can be seen that hybrid technology has become another commanding height for independent brands, and the introduction of these hybrid technologies can also allow domestic consumers to buy hybrid vehicles with lower price thresholds.
10
100% recyclable BMW material
The entire life cycle process of a car from production to scrap, every link hides multiple pressures on the environment and resources. Therefore, the BMW Group decided to create a circular design concept that considers material recycling from the vehicle design stage to ensure that the vehicle is "inherently sustainable".
AT this year's Munich Motor Show, BMW unveiled a new concept car that can be recycled– the BMW i Vision Circular. The car is 100% made of reused materials and renewable raw materials, 100% recyclable, while also reducing the complexity of model design and reducing the use of resources through digital design, I believe this move will once again lead the development of the industry.
Looking back at the automotive technology introduced above, some technologies have entered the mass production stage, and some technologies need more time and testing. Of course, the automotive technology of 2021 is much more than that, such as the chassis by wire, 800V voltage and so on. In short, the arrival of these technologies ultimately benefits us consumers.
In the next issue, we will take stock of the top ten automotive hot words in 2021, so stay tuned.