Recently, Electric Bang received a lot of consultation from netizens, who said that they had saved a year's worth of money and hoped that the new year would come to buy an electric car for themselves to "treat it", but through their own research and after chatting with colleagues and friends around them, they were all confused and entangled. Because the batteries of the pure electric models currently on the market will be "dynamistic decay" due to cold weather, resulting in shorter battery life and slower charging; and the gasoline-electric hybrid models will also become lazy because of the internal combustion engine in winter, resulting in the need for hot cars every morning, and the fuel consumption will become higher. So their core question is, which new energy model is more suitable for buying in winter?
In the first two years, this question would be difficult to answer, and we could only "force" everyone to accept pure electric or gasoline-electric hybrid models. But now we have found a relatively high-quality answer, this type of model can take the advantages of the above two models, while avoiding their shortcomings, very suitable for winter, especially in the north of winter, it is from Dongfeng Nissan's e-POWER Xuanyi.
■ "Single-line" e-POWER
As the name suggests, e-POWER is an electrified power technology, and its special feature is that it is driven by pure electricity, but the supply and transmission of electrical energy relies on a charging system composed of internal combustion engines and generators. So in the strict sense, e-POWER is not a hybrid, but a "single-wire" power system that converts fuel energy into electrical energy to drive the vehicle.
The first benefit of this is "fast", e-POWER can bring a sensitive driving experience to the vehicle with a peak torque of 300 Nm and an electric motor with a drive efficiency of up to 96%, which is very similar to other pure electric models.
The second is "shun" and "static", the combination of "intelligent power generation" of internal combustion engine + generator makes charging easier and can provide abundant energy to the motor at any time. The third is that because the internal combustion engine is only responsible for charging, and there is also the help of a separate generator, it can operate very softly and linearly, and there will not be many fuel vehicles, oil-electric hybrid models that often appear "power lag", speed up and down, and the jitter and noise problems caused by the structure, so that the vehicle driving process is smoother and quieter.
Finally, there is the "province", because e-POWER is a "single-wire" power system, which can reduce the gearbox, clutch and many transmission components, so it has inherent advantages in structural optimization and lightweight, plus the second-generation inverter is smaller, lighter and stronger, with a 40% reduction in volume and a 33% reduction in weight, which can release more space to the ride or storage part, while reducing energy consumption by controlling the "weight" of the vehicle.
When it comes to energy consumption, in addition to the lightweight power system, the new 3rd generation HR12 internal combustion engine is also indispensable, and the R&D team starts from the mechanical structure and electronic system to optimize energy consumption and operational smoothness. At the same time, the second generation of integrated integrated inverters can control the motor with an accuracy of one thousandth of a second at high speed and low speed, so that the vehicle can maintain a low energy consumption level at all times.
In addition, e-POWER technology is also different in terms of batteries, compared with other types of new energy models, it is equipped with 2kWh small-capacity "power type" batteries. This kind of battery is characterized by the ability to flash charge flash release ability, we think that in the power system it can be responsible for controlling the output rhythm of electrical energy, when the vehicle is in a gentle driving state, the current starts from the charging system, quickly through the battery, part of the battery is stored, part of the inverter into the drive motor; when we step on the acceleration pedal to seek power explosion, the battery will quickly transmit the previous "inventory" to the drive motor.
The advantages of this "power type" battery are also obvious, first of all, the small capacity battery saves space and leaves more room for the cockpit and trunk; secondly, because the battery is mainly transmitted and stored as a supplement, the impact of its stability on endurance and charging and discharging efficiency will not be obvious. As we all know, the current large-capacity power batteries on the market use nickel cobalt manganese ions or lithium iron phosphate ions as cathode materials, but these metals will more or less have stability problems, the larger the battery capacity, the greater the impact of metal stability, and the battery equipped with e-POWER technology just avoids this problem.
■ e-POWER electric drive technology landed in China
Having said all this, let's sum up that the advantages of Nissan's e-POWER technology are to save space, provide sensitive and abundant power, reduce the impact of battery stability on battery life and charging, quiet, low energy consumption, and whether there is no battery life anxiety or refueling faster than charging, it is very worry-free and money-saving, and these characteristics do not match our needs for pure electric and gasoline-electric hybrid models, especially the pain points of winter cars.
Today, such exquisite technology has also landed in the Chinese market. At the Guangzhou Auto Show held on November 19, Dongfeng Nissan officially launched the e-POWER Xuanyi, and there are currently four versions of the new car, priced at 139,800, 149,900, 155,900 and 174,900 yuan respectively.
So how does this car reflect the technical advantages of the e-POWER power system "fast, smooth, quiet and provincial" in the process?
First of all, when we are driving e-POWER Xuanyi, the first thing we feel is the abundant power at all times, even in the economic mode, as long as we step on the acceleration pedal deeply, we can also get a light sense of acceleration, and when the speed rises quickly, the power system is unusually smooth, we do not feel the dizziness of the people in the car when the pure electric model accelerates sharply, nor the "floor oil" when the ordinary fuel vehicle or the gasoline-electric hybrid model will appear The engine lag and setback phenomenon.
Secondly, when we walked on the intercity ring road and used medium and high-speed cruising, we did not hear the noise generated by the internal combustion engine due to the high speed, coupled with the vehicle's good control of wind noise and tire noise, so that the car maintained the same quiet as at low speed.
Finally, there is smoothness, thanks to e-POWER Xuanyi's unique motor control technology, which suppresses torsional resonance and makes speeding up and deceleration more smooth. In addition, the structure of the front McPherson rear torque beam and the careful chassis tuning of the suspension allow us to test drive the car, whether it is on a well-paved main road or a slightly potholed path, it can maintain a stable posture, even if it is a manhole cover or a speed bump, it can quickly control the bounce, and there is very little roll when turning.
In the past few days of experiencing e-POWER Xuanyi, I also found that in addition to reflecting "saving" in terms of energy consumption, the e-POWER power system has also infiltrated this label into the details of daily cars. For example, although e-POWER Xuanyi is a pure electric drive model, we do not need to deliberately install charging piles, and we do not have to worry too much about the safety of the battery, which makes people "worry-free". For example, in the way of energy replenishment, e-POWER Xuanyi only needs to go to the gas station, spend a few minutes to replenish energy, coupled with abundant and efficient power, so that travel is very "time-saving". Finally, because the e-POWER system does not require a transmission, and the main drive is also a relatively simple electric motor, e-POWER Xuanyi can help us save some money in daily maintenance and repair.
■ Bang reviews
As a pure electric vehicle user, I feel that winter is indeed a period of "pressure mountain" for new energy models, and both the actual use experience and the activity of the market are facing no small challenges. But in fact, when there is no electric car, when we drive a fuel car, we need a hot car every time we start, and the fuel consumption will increase.
But e-POWER power does give us a new choice, from the actual experience, this power system can bring us all-weather pure electric drive experience, while there is no endurance, charging anxiety, no need to heat the car in advance, fuel consumption can also maintain a relatively stable state. So if I had to recommend an electrified model for you to start with and use in the winter, I think e-POWER Xuanyi would be a smart choice.