Changan Automobile is entering the fast-growing PHEV market, but the market performance of UNI-K iDD still needs to be verified, mainly because Changan Automobile has not launched mature PHEV products before, and how its hybrid technology needs to be tested by the market and users.
With the hot sales of BYD DM-i models, more and more Chinese brands have begun to launch PHEV models, and Changan Automobile has become the latest player in this market. On January 6, during the 4th Haikou International New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle Exhibition, Changan Passenger Vehicle launched a new PHEV model UNI-K iDD, with a pre-price of 176,900-192,900 yuan.
The hot sales of BYD's DM-i models are stimulating other car companies to accelerate the launch of PHEV models. Coupled with the "double carbon" goal, the proportion of new energy vehicles in the product portfolio of car companies will become higher and higher, otherwise it will be difficult to meet the government's emission requirements. However, due to the limitations of pure electric models themselves, it is impossible to completely replace traditional fuel vehicles in the short term, so car companies will launch more PHEV for users to choose in addition to launching new pure electric products.
In addition to BYD DM-i, Great Wall Motors' lemon hybrid DHT technology, Geely's Lei Shen Zhi Qing Hi · X-hybrid technology is accelerating mass production. In addition, GAC motor and SAIC motor will also launch PHEV models.
The UNI-K iDD is the first PHEV model of the UNI sequence of Changan passenger cars and the first model equipped with the Blue Whale iDD (intelligent dual drive) hybrid system. EV Century has already preemptively test-driven this model before, for details, see "This "horse" is incredible, and it can run and eat less!" Test drive Changan UNI-K iDD".
In January 2020, Changan Automobile launched the CS75 PHEV, but this car has not received much response in the market and has been discontinued. UNI is a high-end product line for Changan passenger cars, and the first model, UNI-T, was launched in June 2020, and the market response was good. This time, Changan Passenger Vehicles was equipped with its Blue Whale iDD hybrid system on the UNI-K, showing the company's confidence in UNI sequence products.
UNI-K iDD launched a total of two models, the pre-price of the excellent model is 176,900 yuan, and the premium version is pre-priced at 192,900 yuan. In addition, there are iDD sports streamer kits priced at 1699 yuan and iDD comfort super sense kits priced at 1999 yuan to choose from. Changan Passenger Car has also launched car purchase policies such as "0" pressure on car purchase, "0" pressure on car use, and "0" pressure on car sharing.
Compared with the earliest PHEV, the current PHEV product strength, intelligence and cost performance are higher. Many PHEVs use dual motors, large battery pack solutions, strong power, pure electric driving range of up to 100-200 kilometers, the total mileage of up to 1000 kilometers, comprehensive energy consumption and emissions are lower. Compared with pure electric models, the driving experience is comparable, the mileage is higher, and there is no mileage anxiety. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, energy consumption is lower and the cost of ownership is getting closer and closer.
The product design of UNI-K iDD is also in line with the current trend of PHEV development on the market, which is equipped with Changan Automobile's self-developed Blue Whale iDD hybrid system, which has the capabilities of "full speed domain", "full field domain", "full temperature domain" and "full time domain", which solves the user's high fuel consumption anxiety during urban commuting, charging and mileage anxiety during long-distance travel, and electricity anxiety when camping in the suburbs.
Blue Whale iDD hybrid system is composed of four parts: Blue Whale NE 1.5T hybrid special engine, Blue Whale three-clutch electric drive transmission, large-capacity PHEV battery and iDD intelligent control system, and the comprehensive output power of the system is 210kW.
Among them, the maximum power of the engine is 125 kW and the maximum torque is 260 Nm. The engine also featured intelligent lubrication, efficient combustion and electrification of the front gear train for the hybrid system, and eliminated the traditional starter motor.
The P2 motor, integrated in a triple-clutch electric drive transmission with a maximum power of 85 kW, can drive the vehicle alone or act as a starter to drive the engine.
The special battery capacity of the PHEV is 30.74 kWh, which can allow the vehicle to travel 130 km in pure electric condition (NEDC condition). The power battery supports AC/DC charging, and in DC fast charging mode, it takes about 30 minutes to charge from 30% to 80%. The endurance is more than 1100km in a single full-oil state, and the fuel consumption is only 5L/100km under the state of low power.
UNI-K iDD has an external discharge function, the discharge power can reach 3.3kW, in the camping can use coffee machine, juicer, hot pot and other camping life appliances that can be taken out, increase the fun of life.
In terms of driving pleasure, the UNI-K iDD has three driving modes: HEV, EV and i-X. Among them, in the i-X mode, users can choose "surging power", "Buddhist long endurance" and "camping mode" according to their needs, and they can also customize various options.
In the "surging power" mode, the engine and the electric motor work together to drive the vehicle, providing a more passionate driving experience. Based on core technologies such as the Blue Whale triple-clutch electric drive transmission, the UNI-K iDD has basically the same power performance whether it is full or fast, and it can easily accelerate overtaking. Camping mode is similar to the power retention function, which maintains the battery level at 70% SOC for more calm in post-external discharge.
Through UNI-K iDD, Changan passenger cars are entering the fast-growing PHEV market. According to the Statistics of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to November 2021, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China reached 2.99 million units, an increase of 1.7 times year-on-year. Among them, plug-in hybrid vehicles sold 522,000 units, an increase of 1.4 times year-on-year. The proportion of PHEV in non-restricted cities in 2021 has exceeded 50%, and total sales are expected to reach 600,000 vehicles, and it is expected to at least double to more than 1.2 million units in 2022.
UNI-K iDD should be a PHEV product that Has high hopes for By Changan Passenger Car, but its market performance still needs to be verified, mainly because Changan Automobile has not launched a mature PHEV product before, and the market and users need time to test how its hybrid technology is, such as power performance, especially the power performance in the state of power shortage, whether the matching of the engine and motor is smooth, whether the comprehensive fuel consumption is as low as the manufacturer announced, and so on.