Compared with the SUV market, for a long time, the Chinese brand car market has been like a pool of "backwater". There are very few products that can make people shine, and only rely on some "reactive" veterans to silently support a small part of the market share. Although the background of full electrification has more or less improved this situation, it is still stretched to the specific fuel model. Cars have always been the sharpest alchemy to consider the strength of a brand car, for example, when it comes to Toyota, we think of Corolla. When it comes to Honda, we will think of The Civic, Ford, Volkswagen and other brands, which opened the market in China that year, relying on Fox and Santana. Chinese brand cars need a brave game breaker. On November 21 last year, UNI-V, the first sedan product of Changan UNI's high-end product line, was launched worldwide, and the comprehensive advancement of the new car in design and performance inspired a large number of fans' hormones, including Qingge himself.
Finally, a few months later, we waited for the UNI-V test drive. UNI-V was born under the Chang'an Ark architecture, which was the secret weapon that Changan took out when it released a new brand positioning two years ago. I still remember at that press conference, Changan said that the Ark architecture car system has three technical support points of "happy driving", "quality and safety", and "intelligent technology", although it is reflected in the first two UNI sequence products, but for the first car under the architecture, Qingge personally believes that it is more vividly reflected.
Enjoy a ride from the first sight of the UNI-V
How to understand the pleasant driving, then we must first see what breakthroughs there are in the new car under the Ark architecture. First of all, the low center of gravity has always been a topic of discussion among fans. Lower center of gravity can bring smaller centrifugal force, and smaller turning radius, for the improvement of the control immediately, want to take out the TNGA when Toyota took out the low center of gravity to make the Corolla, Camry and other uncley models into sports small fresh meat, and born in the Ark architecture of the first car UNI-V vehicle center of gravity, the longer generation of cars reduced by 30mm, more than the twelfth generation of Corolla's 25mm, at the same time, UNI-V's center of gravity also shifted inwards of 5mm, which makes its handling, Both roll stability and ride comfort have been greatly improved.
The second is weight loss, why are some of the car interiors all torn down, leaving only a "car shell"? Because the weight of the vehicle is the same as the power, it is closely related to the performance of the vehicle. At the same time, it is difficult to reduce weight, not only involving materials, but also involving the initial frame and structural design of the vehicle. Throughout the research and development process, Changan completed a weight reduction of up to 45Kg on the body, which not only reduced fuel consumption by up to 30%, but also laid a solid foundation for power performance.
The third is a powerful powertrain, in fact, the power version that the Ark architecture can be compatible with is very rich, with displacement from 1.2-2.0L, 48V low-voltage hybrid, high-voltage hybrid and plug-in hybrid can be assembled on this platform, and the gearbox with it also reaches 8 kinds. So in order to match this good body plate, Blue Whale's new generation NE1.5T high-pressure direct injection engine, a powerful "heart" that combines a number of global advanced technologies, was installed on the new car, and its maximum power rating was as high as 138kW, which can output all 300N·m peak torque at 1500rpm.
Maybe just look at the numbers are a little pale, let's put it another way, BMW 325 has heard of it? The existence of the domestic 3 series in the same big brother, equipped with a 2.0T engine, and its engine torque and UNI-V, the maximum power is less than 3kW, UNI-V power performance is more powerful, self-evident, not to mention in the gearbox, Changan UNI-V also for the first time using transient torque control technology, can be based on driving intention judgment, the clutch of the transient transmission torque for active control, absorb the impact of the engine on the transmission system when accelerating, bringing a faster and smoother driving experience.
Of course, in Qingge's view, the pleasant driving and riding also contains more factors, such as the most intuitive trait we can find, that is, UNI-V is very good-looking - the front of the car is pressed down, leaning forward and backward, giving people a sense of déjà vu. However, this good look also has the credit of the Ark architecture, because the front pressure is bound to affect the layout of the engine compartment, so the engineers in the Ark architecture support, through the engine length reduced by 13.5mm, the crankshaft center down 12mm, the power arrangement inclination from forward 7.5 ° to backward tilt 10 °, piggyback also let the UNI-V vehicle wind resistance coefficient drop by 8.2% compared with the previous generation of cars.
The body side, the moving curved surface and V-shaped surface design, with the hidden door handle, brings a rich sense of time and shadow and line, and the rear quantum wear taillights are gradually compressed from both sides to the center, and finally connected into one, not only the visual effect is full, but also has the meaning of finishing touches. So I think the first step in a pleasant ride should start from the first sight of UNI-V.
How much is the contribution to the ARK architecture for full empowerment?
At the end of last year, the 2021 China Top Ten Body Selection came to an end, and UNI-V was on the list with outstanding advantages in both driving and safety in this global PK. Driving and riding just mentioned, specific to the safety aspect from the bottom logic to see, the general body steel plate strength can be divided into ordinary strength, high strength, ultra-high strength, thermoformed steel four categories, limited by the cost of consideration, many car companies in the creation of products, only 50% -60% high-strength steel, and Changan UNI-V in the body A-pillar, B-pillar and other core stress structure, widely used more than 1500MPa of thermoformed steel, the overall use of more than 70%.
This makes the overall body stiffness increase by about 20% compared with the previous generation, the cockpit has better anti-deformation ability in the event of a collision, protects all the personnel in the car as much as possible, and completely solves the problems of A-pillar bending and B-pillar fracture common in the crash test of Zhongbao Research Institute, so that UNI-V also passes the highest score of IIHS, global NCAP, and Zhongbao Research Institute.
In terms of active safety, the new car also has a full range of active safety system, integrating LDW lane departure warning, reverse lateral warning, door opening warning, front collision warning, rear rear-end warning, AEB multi-scenario anti-collision and other multiple safety configurations, preemptively strangling the possible crisis in the cradle, bringing a full range of safety and security without dead ends to the driver and occupants. A more special point is that it has the driver trigger lane change function, the driver can dial the steering lever or issue a lane change command by voice, and the vehicle completes the lane change process under the condition of ensuring safety, which should be the only one in the same level of models.
With intelligent technology to give the internal combustion engine lasting vitality
Finally, Qingge would like to talk to you about the most profound point that I personally felt during the test drive - the forward-looking of UNI-V, or the forward-looking of the Ark architecture. From the perspective of user use, the Ark architecture has a smart growth electrical architecture and provides all-scenario smart car services. IMS intelligent cockpit interaction system, support on the car brush face, no sense of login FACE ID super account, automatically call your exclusive vehicle settings, and step in step login FACE ID authorization binding QQ music, Himalaya and other ecological accounts, from then on to say goodbye to cumbersome account binding; when the ignition is turned off, just step on the brakes to directly shut down the engine, as far as possible to simplify the user's car steps.
In addition, under the powerful gesture interaction function, just comparing the fixed gestures, you can realize rich functions such as song switching and navigation home, which is very practical and convenient. The latest voice interaction system of iFLYTEK equipped with UNI-V also allows "Xiaoan" to have strong language understanding capabilities such as multi-round dialogue, context recognition, and cross-scene recognition.
From the macro perspective of the automotive industry, under the Ark architecture, UNI-V can achieve mobile-level response to the iterative upgrade of the vehicle OTA, comparable to the current new forces to build cars, and this function is currently in the global field, only Tesla, Xiaopeng, Weilai, Volkswagen, Geely, Great Wall and other few brands can achieve. Through OTAs, even fuel models can become smarter, safer, and more convenient in each evolution. For example, in the current technology of rapidly changing automatic driving assistance, the Ark architecture has the conditions to carry a higher-level automatic driving assistance system, for the core part has reserved the position of 36 sensors, until the future regulations allow, it can be directly upgraded with more scenario-based automatic driving functions.
According to the official data of Changan Automobile, the total sales volume of Changan Automobile's own brand passenger cars reached 1.2 million units in 2021, an increase of 23% compared with the same period last year, ranking among the best in terms of horizontal or vertical comparison. Among the total sales of these 1.2 million units, the UNI sequence, which focuses on the advanced consumer market, has achieved a sales performance of 120,000 units with only two models, and the empowerment brought by the Ark architecture behind it is indispensable.
To tell the truth, in the context of electrification, Changan can spend time and cost to carry out such research and development, Changan is quite bold, and their starting point is nothing more than to consider the needs of users. It can be seen as the sentiment of the enterprise, can also be seen as the most sincere display of the user-centered, and can also be seen as the responsibility and responsibility of Chinese car companies in the era of electrification and transformation.
Thinking about it, I seem to understand another deep meaning of the origin of the name of the Ark architecture. The legendary Noah's Ark shelters all the creatures on land, and Chang'an's Ark architecture may also allow the internal combustion engine model to be reborn again and again in continuous iteration, so that this old friend can go further, so that people who like it can get a product experience commensurate with the background of the times.