At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, in the plug-in hybrid vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "plug-in hybrid car") market, new models continue to emerge, and these new models have a higher pursuit in terms of mileage, with a comprehensive driving range from 1000km to 1400km, and some models even exceed 200km.
It is not difficult to see that the race to insert the mileage of the mixed car has begun.
1
The plug-in model sets off a race for mileage
A few days ago, Changan iDD opened pre-sale, and the comprehensive driving range reached 1100km is a major selling point of this car. According to official data, The Changan iDD is equipped with the Blue Whale iDD hybrid system, which is composed of a 1.5T four-cylinder engine and an electric motor, with a maximum power of 126kW, a maximum torque of 260N·m, a maximum power of 86kW and a maximum torque of 330N·m. At the same time, the car has a built-in 30.74kWh battery, the comprehensive driving range can reach 1100km, and the fuel consumption of 100 kilometers is 0.8L.
On December 24 last year, Geely Automobile released the Leishen Intelligence Engine HiX hybrid technology. According to official data, the system integrates a fuel engine and a 3-speed DHTPro motor, with fuel consumption as low as 3.6L per 100 kilometers, thermal efficiency of 43.32%, and a comprehensive driving range of more than 1300km. In order to highlight its advantages in mileage, Geely even held a competition called "Star-Over L Thor Hybrid 1300km Ultra Long Endurance Open", competing with many hybrid models in terms of mileage. X oil-electric hybrid version, handed over the lowest average fuel consumption of 3.9L/ 100km, the longest driving range of 1426km, the mileage of the plug-in hybrid car to a new height.
The driving range of Weipai DHT and BYD DM-i in pure electric driving has attracted much attention. Among them, the Weipai DHT consists of a 1.5T engine, a highly integrated transmission, a 39.67kWh battery pack, and a 135kW electric motor is added to the four-wheel drive model. The all-electric driving range of the four-wheel drive version reaches 175km, and the comprehensive driving range can reach more than 1000km. BYD Han DM-i is about to launch a pure electric driving range of 210km, with a comprehensive driving range of up to 1200km.
2
High driving range becomes an important publicity gimmick
Driving range has always been a hot issue in the development process of new energy vehicles, from the mileage anxiety of pure electric models to the reasonable value of pure electric mileage of hybrid models, all parties have always had different opinions. In the past year, with the continuous improvement of infrastructure construction, the attention to the driving range of pure electric vehicles has not been so high, but the pursuit of mileage by plug-in hybrid vehicles has opened a new round of arms race.
However, this time, the industry's attention to the mileage of plug-in and mixed cars lies in the hot sales of products. According to the statistics of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2021, the production and sales of plug-in and mixed vehicles in the mainland reached 84,000 and 82,000 units respectively, an increase of 1.6 times and 1.2 times year-on-year, respectively, which is the highest growth rate of all models of new energy vehicles. Especially when more and more range extender models take advantage of the advantages of "oilable and electric" to occupy the market, the sales of hot-selling models represented by the ideal ONE continue to increase at the sales end, so that all walks of life continue to pay more attention to the plug-in and hybrid car market, and various new models have been launched.
In order to highlight their respective technical advantages, car companies have taken the mileage as a selling point of product marketing, and the mileage of the plug-in and mixed car has refreshed one record after another under the impetus of different models, from 800km, 1000km, to 1200km, or even higher, and new records are constantly born. The ideal ONE's driving range of close to 800km seems to have become the lowest threshold for this type of product to some extent. In fact, to improve the comprehensive mileage of the plug-in and hybrid car, it is not too difficult in technology, as long as the battery is increased and the fuel tank capacity is increased, it is easy to do.
Regarding the pure electric mileage of plug-in hybrid cars, each car company has different strategies.
"In 2021, after the rainstorm in Zhengzhou, the picture of a certain brand of plug-in and mixed models providing external power supply to the public was on the hot search, and it also became a hot marketing hotspot of the brand, driving all parties to pay attention to the pure electric mileage of plug-and-mix models." A senior marketing expert in the industry told reporters that this kind of marketing hotspot event amplifies the demand for pure electricity mode of plug-in and mixed models to provide electricity, and in order to create new marketing hotspots, car companies will inevitably increase and enlarge the pure electric mileage of the products in order to create new marketing hotspots. As a result, various new plug-in models are increasing the number of batteries they carry. But in essence, the increase in power is not too difficult, but it will inevitably bring about an increase in cost and an increase in body weight.
3
How much the driving range is reasonable depends on the market demand
In fact, this is not the first time in the industry and outside that pure electric mileage of plug-and-mix models has been paid attention to.
As early as the early stage of the promotion of new energy vehicles, when the subsidy policy finalized the subsidy threshold, the industry discussed this issue. "The earliest brand calculated that the pure electric mileage of the plug-in hybrid car reached 30km, which can achieve the best economy, but then the subsidy threshold was set at 50km, which is a fixed adjustment for the pure electric mileage of the plug-in hybrid car." The above experts said.
In the past few years, regarding the pure electric mileage of plug-in hybrid vehicles, different policies also have different requirements, the most recent modification is last May 13, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation adjusted the exemption from vehicle purchase tax new energy vehicle product technical requirements, plug-in (including extended range) hybrid passenger car pure electric mileage should meet the conditional equivalent full electric mileage, from the original 50km to not less than 43km. At that time, the industry generally believed that this adjustment was to improve the inclusiveness of the policy, but it had little impact on technological development. It is also true that although the threshold for pure electric mileage has been lowered, it has not had much impact on the actual driving range of the vehicle. Since then, many new models have not lowered the standard of pure electric mileage, but have continuously introduced products with higher pure electric mileage.
"I think that whether it is a comprehensive driving range of more than 1,000km or a pure electric driving range of more than 200km, it is more convenient for consumers to use." Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, stressed in an interview with the reporter of China Automobile News that the development of new energy vehicles to this day has reached the stage of being determined by the market, and the mileage of the plug-in and mixed car is reasonable, and it should also be decided by the market. There is nothing wrong with the continuous improvement of the mileage of various new models in order to cater to the needs of consumers and bring consumers a better car experience.
In Xu Haidong's view, the consumer market is the ultimate referee to determine the development of technology, and today's pursuit of the mileage of various car companies around the plug-in and hybrid models is also the result of market choice. As long as there is consumer demand, the policy does not need more intervention. Instead, it is necessary to give better play to the role of the market in determining technological development, so that various technologies (models), including plug-in and hybrid cars, can develop freely in consumer choices.
It is worth noting that in the process of continuously pursuing the driving range, the car companies have not given up the pursuit of reducing fuel consumption, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of various new models has also shown a downward trend. On the one hand, the reduction of fuel consumption is a policy requirement and conforms to the development trend of the industry; on the other hand, it also brings better economics to consumers. Some analysts pointed out that consumers will become more and more rational in the use of the process, will not overly pursue products with excessive mileage, but choose products that are more suitable for their own consumer needs, and the race in the mileage of plug-in models may cool down.
Text: Wang Jinyu Editor: Guo Chen Layout: Zhao Fangting