Friends who pay attention to the automotive industry will find that this year's pure electric market has shown a spurt of growth, not only new models are emerging in an endless stream, but also several emerging pure electric car brands have been born. Although more and more car companies have begun to claim that their models have gotten rid of endurance anxiety, the situation of discounted winter battery life, insufficient charging facilities, and slow energy replenishment speed still exists, and endurance anxiety is accompanied by pure electric car owners from beginning to end.
Aren't fuel owners anxious? The answer, of course, is no. Since the beginning of the year, oil prices have risen many times, travel costs have risen sharply, and every time they refuel, they will inevitably "hurt the flesh" once, and cost anxiety plagues fuel car owners. From the perspective of environmental protection, the pollution caused by fuel vehicles also needs to be solved urgently.
From any point of view, hybrid is the best way to solve these anxieties, especially the plug-in hybrid model that combines long battery life and low energy consumption, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the best transition solution at the moment. Similar to the pure electric blowout situation, this year's plug-in hybrid models are also very active, opening a "war" between hybrids.
In the field of hybrids, Japanese brands are more inclined to HEV models, in this regard has been deeply cultivated for a long time, while independent brands prefer PHEV models, such as BYD's DM-i, Great Wall's Lemon DHT, Geely's Thor, Chery's Kunpeng DH, independent brands have launched PHEV technology and models. As the New Year approaches, the highly anticipated Changan Automobile has finally launched the iDD hybrid system and its first model: the UNI-KiDD.
Technical Deconstruction: What are the Advantages of iDD Hybrid?
Now that there are more and more hybrid technologies, what are the outstanding advantages of Changan Automobile's iDD system if you want to stand out from many technologies?
Although the UNI-K iDD is more than a year later than the fuel version of the model, when Changan Automobile launched the UNI sequence, it has fully considered the scalability of the future UNI sequence products, and the two versions of the model were developed at the same time, not on the basis of the fuel platform for oil to electricity products.
The hybrid system of Changan Automobile, the full name of the Blue Whale iDD Hybrid System, consists of four parts: the Blue Whale NE1.5T hybrid special engine, the Blue Whale three-clutch electric drive transmission, the large-capacity PHEV battery and the iDD intelligent control system. The UNI-K iDD adopts a P2 hybrid structure, the motor is between the engine and the gearbox, and the biggest feature is smooth and energy saving.
Little by little, the first is the hybrid-specific 1.5T engine, the primary task of this engine is to strengthen the economy, so it uses Miller cycle, AGILE agile combustion system, intelligent lubrication system and other technologies, while the front-end wheel train canceled the previous mechanical accessories, replaced by electronic accessories, the overall loss of the engine is reduced, the thermal efficiency has reached 45%, and the fuel-saving performance has been greatly improved.
At the same time, the addition of the iDD intelligent control system enables UNI-K iDD to identify more car use scenarios, and perform real-time calculations in different scenarios, adopt different drive modes and kinetic energy recovery methods, so that each system can work in the area with optimal efficiency. Under the dual action of a more fuel-efficient engine and a smarter control system, the UNI-K iDD's NEDC fuel consumption reaches 5L/100KM, and the fuel economy is very good.
For users whose car use scenarios focus on urban commuting, the 30.74kWh power battery can provide 130KM of NEDC pure electric mileage of 130KM, which can be used as a pure electric car in urban areas to achieve the achievement of zero fuel consumption. If there is a need for long-distance driving, the UNI-K iDD1100KM's COMPREHENSIVE ENDurance of THE NEDC far exceeds that of traditional fuel vehicles. Battery insulation technology also ensures that UNI-K iDD can achieve safe and stable driving at a very low ambient temperature of -35 °C to a very high ambient temperature of 55 °C, and users in the north can also rest assured that they can use their cars in winter.
In terms of power performance, this engine is lower than the ordinary Blue Whale 1.5T engine, with a maximum power of 125kW and a peak torque of 260N·m. However, with the blessing of an electric motor with a maximum power of 85 kW and a peak torque of 330 N·m, the UNI-K iDD, a large car weighing more than two tons, can still achieve 8.1S 100 km acceleration, still ahead of its peers.
The Blue Whale triple-clutch electric drive transmission independently developed by Changan can bring multi-gear driving pleasure and superior smoothness. Compared to hybrid models without gears, the UNI-K iDD can bring better mid-section acceleration by downshifting when pressing the throttle deeply, and the push back feeling will certainly be stronger, better satisfying the pursuit of driving passion.
In general, from the technical point of view, it can indeed be seen that this hybrid system is definitely not the product of Changan Automobile's hurried work, all aspects of the performance are very mature, and the all-round balance and anxiety will become the biggest selling point of the Blue Whale iDD hybrid system.
Plugged in blue whale, how about driving?
Half a year ago, I drove the 1.5T version of the UNI-K, and I was very impressed by the strong power and good handling, so this test drive UNI-K iDD, I can't help but compare. After actually driving, in addition to the familiar sitting posture, vision and D-shaped steering wheel grip, the UNI-K iDD gave me a new feeling in other aspects.
Driving in EV mode, the most intuitive feeling is quiet. Because the engine does not work, it is driven by the motor, coupled with the blessing of a list of active and passive NVH materials and technologies such as double-layer laminated glass, in addition to the very slight wind noise, there will be almost no other noise into the cockpit, and the entire cockpit has excellent tranquility. At the same time, the smoothness of the EV mode is unparalleled, the starting response speed is very fast, the acceleration process after stepping on the accelerator is very smooth, and it will undoubtedly bring a more comfortable car experience to the owner in the congested urban area.
When the battery level drops to 25%, the UNI-K iDD automatically switches to HEV mode, and the driver can also switch it by using the mode knob. Only from the somatosensory point of view, the difference between the driving experience brought by the EV mode and the HEV mode is not very obvious, smooth and comfortable is still the most intuitive feature, it is difficult to directly feel that the engine is working. Of course, there will still be slight engine noise after a long time of full throttle driving, which is inevitable.
If the HEV mode is turned on when the power is sufficient, the engine and motor can work in parallel to maximize power. Although it is a large car weighing more than two tons, in actual driving, whether it is linear acceleration or overtaking, abundant power can bring full security.
In addition to the traditional EV and HEV modes, UNI-K iDD also provides iX Aichuang driving mode, which is commonly understood as personalized mode. Changan Automobile presets three seed modes of surging power, Buddhist long endurance and camping mode, which correspond to the three needs of intense driving, long-distance driving and tourism discharge, and more importantly, Changan Automobile also encourages car owners to customize, and the driving mode that best suits their driving habits is the best.
Of course, the fuel version of UNI-K's comfortable home orientation, very good chassis filtering and other advantages have also been well inherited. Because it is a platform specially developed for hybrids, the addition of the battery pack does not squeeze the space inside the car, the rear floor platform is still flat, the large space and soft seats bring very good riding comfort, and the improvement of the quality of the whole makes the car look more stable than the fuel version.
Kanche said:
In the next 5-10 years, the hybrid market should be the second main battlefield for major car companies to compete in addition to pure electricity, so Changan Automobile's choice to launch the Blue Whale iDD hybrid system at the end of 2021 is very wise, Changan, BYD, Great Wall, Geely, Chery have entered the game, and the fierce competition in the hybrid market next year can be seen. After UNI-K iDD, Changan Automobile will also accelerate the hybridization of the entire UNI sequence, which is worth looking forward to.
According to the staff of Changan Automobile, UNI-K iDD will have surprises in terms of price, just recently Wei brand opened the "same price of oil and electricity", will Changan Automobile also adopt the same strategy to achieve "the same price of oil and electricity"? After the listing, it will be known.