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From the pure electric storage in the past few years to the resurgence of the hybrid in the past two years, several independent giants under the trend of new energy, Geely, Great Wall, BYD, and Chery have followed every change of the trend, but Changan has not been hurried to walk its own rhythm.
The new generation of hybrids is the main theme of at least the first half of 2020s, which does not need to be emphasized more times. In fact, in the middle of last year, Changan announced the hybrid technology iDD in its own blue whale power strategic planning. About half a year of preparation, yesterday the Blue Whale iDD hybrid was installed on the Changan UNI-K iDD model for the first time.
Hybrid this is not a new track, in the past year, there have been BYD DM-i, Great Wall Lemon DHT, Geely Thor Hi · X, Chery Kunpeng DHT and other gods gathered, which is not counting the joint venture brands that have been in the market for a long time. The late-starter Blue Whale iDD did not invariably adopt a dual-motor series parallel hybrid architecture like the previous ones, but continued to try to tap the potential of single-motor hybridization.
The basic structure of Blue Whale iDD hybrid technology is not complicated nor strange, one of its core is the Blue Whale NE 1.5T engine specially developed for hybrid, the second is the Blue Whale triple-clutch electric drive transmission; because the UNI-K iDD, which debuted the technology, belongs to the PHEV model, and it is indispensable to a large-capacity battery pack of up to 30.74kWh.
Hybrid engines are actually not unfamiliar to us, let's talk about the more unique electric drive transmission. Blue Whale iDD reversed the trend of dual motors and chose a triple-clutch, single motor. This triple clutch is essentially based on the dual-clutch six-speed transmission that we are familiar with, adding a P2 motor upstream of the dual clutch, and the third clutch between the motor and the engine.
Because the structure is relatively simple, the Blue Whale iDD does not have so many book-like working modes. The clutch between the engine and the motor is disconnected to achieve pure electric driving; the combination of the two is equivalent to the 6DCT hybrid of the parallel motor, the P2 motor can provide torque to drive together, and can also store the excess energy of the engine into the battery; when the 6DCT dual clutch is disconnected, the battery can be charged at engine idle speed.
Such a hybrid structure is actually closer to Volkswagen's P2 hybrid based on DSG transmissions. Unlike previous P2 hybrids, the Blue Whale iDD has a "special" engine developed specifically for hybrids, which other mature P2 hybrid systems such as Volkswagen, PSA, Hyundai Kia and other mature P2 hybrid systems have not been able to enjoy in the past.
When Changan developed the Blue Whale iDD, the overall new energy strategy was to favor plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and pure electricity, while paying attention to non-plug-in hybrid HEV but not focusing on it. As a result, the Blue Whale NE 1.5T engine on the UNI-K iDD has a miller cycle, electrified front-end accessory wheel train that is more conducive to improving efficiency, without having to worry about the needs of non-hybrid models.
Also because of the focus on plug-in hybridization, Changan equipped the UNI-K iDD with a large-capacity, bottom-mounted battery pack of up to 30.74kWh, and the pure electric endurance reached 130km under the NEDC standard. These two figures, among the highest levels in the current home PHEV, battery capacity and pure electric endurance are more than twice the common PHEV models on the market.
Although the Blue Whale iDD does not belong to the popular DHT hybrid system, for a medium-sized SUV with a length of more than 4.8 meters, the UNI-K iDD still controls the fuel consumption of feeder fuel under the NEDC standard at only 5L/100km. This performance is comparable to the bydder BYD Tang DM-i, Wei brand Mocha DHT-PHEV and other models of the same size, and even has a small advantage.
Although the specific actual fuel consumption performance is still subject to the actual vehicle experience; and the DHT hybrid system often reflects the advantages in a congested environment, the Blue Whale iDD low neDC feed fuel consumption of 5L can still show to a certain extent that it is different from the previous plug-in hybrid.
The single motor + 6-speed dual clutch also makes it easy for the UNI-K iDD to have rear-end acceleration performance comparable to that of fuel vehicles. The 1.5T engine has a maximum power of 125 kW and a maximum torque of 260 N·m, the motor power is 85 kW, and with the help of a 6-speed transmission, the UNI-K iDD has reached a maximum speed of 200 km/h, which is a higher level than the common single-gear DHT hybrid.
Because the battery pack is arranged under the car, the UNI-K iDD can enjoy a large battery power of 30.74 kWh, which supports both slow charge and fast charge, and DC fast charge can complete 30%-80% charge in half an hour. The large battery also brings external discharge capability, as the standard discharge power is 3.3kW, which can meet the power requirements of general wilderness camping.
Is this the end of it? Compared with the scramble stacking of DHT's dual motor start, the blue whale iDD's single motor + 6DCT structure gives it an inherent advantage in terms of cost. UNI-K iDD as a large battery PHEV, under the premise of having a 30.74kWh ternary lithium (not lithium iron phosphate) battery, the final announced guidance price is only 176,900 yuan (consistent with the previous pre-price).
In the case of model size, power level, and fuel consumption, bydir Tang DM-i is almost 20,000 yuan more expensive even if it is 52km version, let alone the 112km version; Wei brand Mocha DHT-PHEV is much more expensive due to different brand positioning; Geely Xingyue L Raytheon Hi · X currently only launches a HEV version, but it is only 3,000 yuan lower than the UNI-K iDD, a PHEV with a pure electric endurance of 130km.
Cost and cost performance may be the core advantages of Changan Blue Whale iDD over the DHT camp, and this advantage comes from the simple structure of P2 single motor hybrid. Perhaps in addition to the chaotic DHT brain-burning battle, it is also a feasible way to dig the potential of the existing simple hybrid layout to the end.