According to the statistics of the Association of Automobile Associations, in the case of a year-on-year decline in all major categories of vehicles, only new energy models have shown positive growth, with an increase of 128.9% in December 2021 and an annual growth rate of 169.1%. The current new energy vehicles are roughly divided into three categories, one is pure electric, the second is plug-in hybrid, and the third is the extender range, compared with the first two, the range extender car was not very optimistic in the past. But today, people are much more receptive to range extenders than expected.
In the sales ranking of high-end electric SUVs above 300,000 in December, the ideal ONE won the first place in the list with a score of 14112 units, far ahead of the second-place NIO ES6, which sold only 4912 vehicles.
In addition to the high sales of the ideal ONE, the results of the Lando FREE are also very good, with sales of 3138 vehicles, surpassing the two models of NIO EC6 and ES8. Among the many pure electric models, these two models with range-extended power have successfully stood out. So why did the range extender cars, which used to be unpopular and considered to be stripped of their pants and farts, suddenly start to counterattack?
1 The product itself is highly competitive
Of course, not every extended-range electric car sales can do well, in addition to the ideal ONE, Landu FREE, the other two Cyrus SF5 Skyline ME5 is relatively average. Skyrim ME5 may be more of a failure in marketing, and the brand is estimated that many people have not heard of it. The Cyrus SF5 is just beginning to get on track, but it is halfway to kill a Huawei Q&A M5. However, more and more car companies have joined the field of range extenders, which to a certain extent also reflects the heat of this market segment.
Ideal ONE and Lantu FREE in the same level of competitiveness is relatively strong, the ideal ONE comprehensive endurance can also break thousands, the overall design is stable, the interior luxury and the atmosphere of science and technology are in place, the design of the large 6-seater whether it is home or some business reception is no pressure, the configuration of the full is far better than the same price rival, belongs to a very comprehensive, not too much hard damage model.
And Lantu FERR product strength should not be underestimated, technology and safety driver assistance configuration is also pulled full, triple lift screen, panoramic canopy is rare, and pay more attention to the performance of performance, equipped with front and rear dual motors and 1.5T engine as a range extender, 4.5S to complete zero hundred acceleration, the chassis uses an all-aluminum alloy front double wishbone rear multi-link suspension and equipped with air suspension, handling and comfort have been better taken into account.
2 No charging anxiety and battery life anxiety
In the past, people attacked the range extender car because it was not electrified enough, not environmentally friendly enough, and burned oil. But in fact, to today, pure electric vehicles still have many drawbacks, the clichéd endurance anxiety problem has not been completely solved, even if many manufacturers have begun to do the mileage to do, many models have been able to do the endurance to about 550-700KM, such as Xiaopeng P7 Weilai ET5, etc., and even models can break through to 1000KM+, such as Aion LX Plus, but the endurance really does not mean that the mileage anxiety has completely disappeared.
First, long endurance is largely done by increasing the capacity of the battery, that is to say, the longer the battery, the heavier the battery, the higher the cost, and the negative impact of the increase in the weight of the car on the vehicle is actually very obvious, that is, the increase in power consumption, which is actually not conducive to endurance. And in winter, the battery life will generally be greatly reduced. Some time ago, in the winter endurance test conducted by The Car Emperor for 41 mainstream pure electric vehicles, the WEILAI EC6, which has the longest endurance, can only reach 336.9 kilometers, and the original factory calibration endurance is 615KM.
Second, the larger the battery capacity, the longer the charging time will be consumed. At present, the construction of domestic charging facilities is still very imperfect, not every pure electric vehicle owner has the conditions to install private charging piles, and public charging piles may not be able to grab. One of the big reasons for Tesla's high sales in the Chinese market is that it has done more than many brands in terms of basic charging facilities.
Range extender cars have no anxiety in this regard at all, mainly electric drive, the engine is only used to charge the battery, greatly reducing fuel consumption, more fuel-efficient and economical than fuel vehicles, small battery capacity, shorter charging time than many pure electric vehicles, and the convenience of long-distance driving and refueling is far higher than that of pure electric vehicles. Urban electricity, long-distance use of cars, it is very worry-free to use. From a practical point of view, range extender cars have many benefits.
However, with the advancement of new hybrid technologies such as BYD's DM-i super hybrid technology and the Great Wall DHT PHEV, it is also a challenge for extended-range electric vehicles. In the future, who will be able to laugh to the end, or leave it to time to answer.