Since 2021, the hybrid technology route has been hot and cold, and many of the reverse layouts of the main engine factory are a bit incomprehensible. On the one hand, independent brands represented by Changan and Geely have released new hybrid car platforms, on the other hand, multinational car companies such as Acura and Volvo plan to skip hybrid cars and fully invest in pure electric vehicle models. Hybrid technology, which is known as the foundation of new energy vehicle technology, presents different situations in the market.
Independent brand "plus"
On December 8, 2021, Changan Automobile released the official UNI-K iDD model map, which means that after the release of the iDD in June, UNI-K became the first model equipped with the Changan Blue Whale iDD hybrid system. The Blue Whale iDD Hybrid System is a global hybrid solution that can be applied to all models from Class A to Class C. It is reported that Changan will launch more than ten hybrid models in the next 5 years, thereby improving Changan's new energy vehicle product system.
The Blue Whale iDD hybrid system consists of a high-performance Blue Whale engine, a high-efficiency Blue Whale electric drive transmission, a large-capacity plug-in battery and an intelligent control system. As a reference, the UNI-K iDD model is equipped with a special engine for blue whale NE1.5T hybrid, with technologies such as variable valve lift. The official NEDC has a comprehensive fuel consumption of 0.8L/100km, and the feeder fuel consumption is as low as 5L/100km.
At present, Changan, Great Wall, Chery, BYD, SAIC, GAC and other domestic car companies have begun to develop and layout hybrid technology routes, and plan to launch mass production of hybrid products. While the promotion of new energy vehicles is in full swing, it has been found that hybrid vehicles have long been "out of the circle" and have become one of the mainstream tracks for the development of power technology.
Recently, Geely Automobile Group released its global power technology brands - Raytheon Power and Raytheon Intelligence Hi · X Modular intelligent hybrid platform. Some industry insiders pointed out that following the Great Wall Motor's lemon DHT hybrid system, Lei Shenzhi Qing Hi · X has become another hybrid system of an autonomous car company that adopts a high thermal efficiency special engine + multi-motor transmission + a variety of series and parallel drive modes. Chery's fuel and hybrid solution "Kunpeng Power" includes fuel, hybrid, pure electricity and hydrogen power in a variety of energy forms, which can meet a variety of travel scenarios.
Regardless of the direction of policy or market demand, in recent times, the enthusiasm of independent vehicle companies for hybrid technology has been stimulated. Cao Guangping, an independent researcher of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles, said that since last year, Geely, Chery, BYD, Great Wall, etc. have set off a wave of products in the hybrid technology route, in large part because the current pure electric technology route on the battery technology breakthrough is limited, in the solid-state battery and other technological breakthroughs before the arrival of a certain period of time to develop hybrid technology; another part of the reason is also related to the hybrid model fuel negative integration is less. At the same time, more and more users in the market have begun to recognize hybrid, and the development of autonomous hybrid vehicles is ultimately due to long-term technical accumulation.
"From the perspective of technical routes, hybrid technology is still an important option for automobile energy saving, especially in the case of China's automobile market has a consumer preference for SUVs and large-size models, hybrid technology is of great significance for vehicle companies to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction." The relevant person in charge of a new energy automobile enterprise told reporters that it is an inevitable trend for new energy vehicles to gradually replace traditional fuel vehicles. However, as a long-term fuel vehicle, the blessing effect of hybrid technology to reduce emissions is indispensable. Independent brands have laid out hybrid technology, which is also one of the technological innovations developing in the field of new energy vehicles, which is higher in technical difficulty.
Foreign car companies "skip"
Compared with the self-owned brands of hot and heavy hybrid models, some foreign-funded enterprises have chosen to directly "skip". Recently, Acura Motor said that it plans to skip the hybrid stage that the Honda brand is currently experiencing and fully invest in pure electric models. Similar to Acura, Jaguar and other car companies that aspire to transform pure electric vehicle brands have chosen to "skip" the hybrid stage and transform pure electric vehicles in one step.
In this regard, some insiders pointed out that from the current growth rate of new energy vehicles, this trend does have a certain foundation, for example, Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice chairman of the China Electric Vehicle Hundred Association, predicted that the annual sales of new energy vehicles in China can reach about 7 million to 9 million in 2025, and about 17 million to 19 million in 2030.
"Some companies skip hybrid technology to engage in pure electric vehicles, and some companies insist on the launch of hybrid products, which is an understandable situation in the market." Cao Guangping believes that "some car companies adhere to the forward-looking layout of products, explore the product margin of pure electric vehicles as much as possible, in order to wait for the time point of battery technology breakthrough, while avoiding competition with hybrid giants such as Toyota." Some companies do not give up hybrid products, because they see that the hybrid model is better than the profit model of the pure electric model, and it is a fan of many potential users in the market. ”
"Compared with pure electric vehicles, hybrid technology is considered an intermediate technology, and the core technology and market have been occupied by Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda, so many foreign brands are not willing to spend energy and financial resources to compete for the hybrid market." The relevant person in charge of the above-mentioned new energy automobile enterprise said.
Previously, Guangqi Honda released its first pure electric vehicle model e:NP1 in its e:N series, which adopts an intelligent and efficient pure electric architecture e:N Architecture; Toyota released the official map of the mass production version of the sUV bZ4X based on the e-TNGA platform. As a fan of the hybrid technology route, the release of Toyota and Honda pure electric products is considered by the industry to be a sign of its transition from hybrid to pure electric.
A year ago, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda said that pure electric vehicles were overhyped. A year later, in 2021, on December 14, Akio Toyoda released 15 new pure electric concept cars at the Toyota Global Electric Vehicle Strategy Conference. "Judging from the general trend of the future, the mainstream product is definitely pure electric vehicles." Zheng Yun, global senior partner and vice president of Greater China at Roland Berger, told reporters.
The hybrid market cannot be ignored
From the perspective of market performance, hybrid vehicles take into account the performance of fuel vehicles, and there is no mileage anxiety of pure electric vehicles, and after the subsidies for new energy vehicles gradually decline, they begin to gain the attention and favor of consumers. Relevant data show that in 2020, China's hybrid passenger car sales will be about 414,000 units, an increase of 40% year-on-year. In this segment, the sales performance of some self-owned brand hybrid models has been very hot.
According to the "Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0" issued in 2020, in 2025, China's new energy vehicles will account for about 20% of total automobile sales, and the sales of hybrid vehicles will account for more than 50% of the sales of traditional energy passenger cars; in 2035, new energy vehicles will become the mainstream of the domestic automobile market (accounting for more than 50% of total vehicle sales), and hybrid vehicles will account for 100% of traditional energy passenger car sales.
From this planning point of view, the market space for hybrid vehicles is indeed not small, and the proportion of pure electric vehicles has reached 55.5.
"At present, there are two main forms of hybridization, one is plug-in hybrid supported by national policies, and the other is electromechanical hybrid. The attitude of each OEM to the face of hybridization is selected according to its own accumulation, and the competitive market is also in different segments, so the market space exists. Zheng Yun said. The whole competition is in the market segment, based on the competition of its core customers, not the competition on the large scale as before. ”
For OEMs, the use of hybrid technology to reduce fuel consumption is a top priority. According to the revised version of the "Measures for the Parallel Management of Average Fuel Consumption of Passenger Car Enterprises and New Energy Vehicle Credits", in addition to increasing the output of pure electric vehicle models, car companies should also strive to reduce the fuel consumption of traditional fuel vehicles, and the hybrid route will be an important option.
"Hybrid models have entered a period of controversy, and many OEMs are launching hybrid models, which is expected to usher in a climax of market outbreak." The relevant person in charge of the aforementioned OEMs said. At present, BYD, Great Wall, Changan, Chery, GAC, Geely and other independent brands have plans to further expand hybrid products. According to Geely's plan, Ray's mind is in the air. X will be installed first on the "China Star" model, will provide a variety of power combinations including strong mix, long mileage plug-in hybrid and extended range hybrid, in Geely, Lynk & Co and other brands of more than 20 models will also use this set of Lei Shen Zhi Qing Hi · System X.
"At present, hybrid power is still a very good choice for users who are inconvenient to charge and want to get a high fuel saving rate. Some of these users are online car users, some are home users who are more identified with fuel-saving economy, and high-end environmental protection users also favor hybrid models. Cao Guangping said.
Text: Zhao Lingling Editor: Guo Chen Layout: Liu Xiaoye