Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point reporter Shi Peilei Li Yansong intern Zhao Yihan
Every time he had to go out, the psychological pressure of Jinan citizen Peng Yan was particularly great. She should always pay attention to the power consumption of electric vehicles, afraid of suddenly "turning off" again; when the power drops to 30%, Dongying's car advocates that the first thing to do is to find a charging pile to charge; taxi driver Liu Hao when the power is not much, more than 100 kilometers of orders do not dare to pick up...
The problem of "false standard" of electric vehicle endurance plagues many car owners. Some cars are nominally 400 kilometers of endurance, but in fact can only run 150 kilometers, shrinking by more than half, which breaks through the bottom line that users can bear. Similar problems are not uncommon on various complaint platforms, and users use various channels to protect their rights, and generally face the problem of difficulty in presenting evidence.
Xinti's car encountered a thrilling "stall" halfway
The first sudden "stall" occurred on the day of the pick-up. In December last year, Peng Yan, who lives in Zhangqiu, spent more than 40,000 yuan on a Reading mango electric car in Jinan Kuangshan Automobile World, with a battery life of 185 kilometers. On the day of the pick-up, the power display can still travel 150 kilometers, peng Yan confidently feels that the way home is only 60 kilometers, and these electricity are absolutely enough.
Halfway through, she even opened a warm wind for a while because of the cold, but seeing that the battery was dropping very quickly, she quickly closed it. Peng Yan calculated the power and carefully drove in the direction of home, but the unexpected situation still appeared. On a bridge less than 10 kilometers from home, the car showed that it could still travel 27 kilometers, but suddenly "stopped". "It doesn't matter how you start it."
The new car still has 27 kilometers of electricity, but it "stopped" in the middle of the road
Recalling the situation that night, Peng Yan was still very afraid. "It was a big night, it was a very crash, there were a lot of big trucks coming and going, and it felt like danger could happen at any time." In desperation, she called a trailer and finally carried the car home.
The 150-kilometer endurance actually ran about 50 kilometers, and this experience caused a certain psychological shadow for Peng Yan. Driving more, she found that the vehicle's endurance was almost reduced by half, and the 185 kilometers actually often ran about 90 kilometers. "Now a little bit out of the door, the psychological pressure is very large."
"The data displayed on the dashboard is inaccurate, and the actual endurance can only be explored by experience." Dongying's new energy vehicle advocates Wei sighed, and there is a certain gap between the mileage advertised by the merchants and the actual endurance. His new energy vehicle has a nominal endurance of 520 kilometers, but can only run 300 kilometers in winter.
In Zhang Wei's car, the Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter saw the situation of the dashboard data "fighting". The dashboard showed that Zhang Wei turned on the air conditioner that day, used 14% of the electricity, and ran 36 kilometers. According to the calculation of this power consumption, 100% of the power can run 257 kilometers, and the remaining 84% of the power can run about 220 kilometers, but the dashboard shows that the remaining power can run 453 kilometers.
Zhang Wei said that because of the large endurance moisture, he only dared to use this car as a commuter car in the city. "When the battery reaches about 30%, I start to panic, and I have to find a place to charge." If he runs a long distance, he will generally choose to drive a gas car at home.
The actual battery life of the tram greatly affects the habits of car owners, especially taxi drivers. After changing to a new energy vehicle, taxi driver Liu Hao adjusted the temperature to 23 degrees in winter, which is a bit cool but more power-efficient. When he encounters a long job, he must first weigh the power situation. "A colleague of mine went to Rizhao to deliver a customer, 400 kilometers away, and charged 5 times on the way back and forth. Charging time may be catching up with the time on the road. ”
With an endurance of 400 kilometers, his car can run about 270 kilometers. When you go out, you are fully charged, and then you can use the meal time to charge at noon every day, which can basically meet the operation of the day. In the afternoon, he picked up the car an hour early and went to charge his companions on the night shift. Liu Hao said that some drivers change the new energy vehicle endurance shrinkage is very serious, running a class needs to charge two or three times, spending three hours, very uneconomical, "the night shift driver who partnered with him later did not do it with him." Liu Hao sighed that the cost of new energy vehicles is low, "If the problem of battery life can be solved, it will be too perfect." ”
Ten new energy vehicles, four endurance shrink by more than half
Similar car experience is very common, in the Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter consulted ten new energy vehicle users, they frankly said that the actual mileage of the vehicle is lower than the endurance of the vehicle, and only one owner said that the actual endurance in the summer can reach more than 80% of the nominal endurance. The actual battery life of most users is less than 70% of the nominal battery life. Especially in the winter, the vehicle endurance has declined, and four users said that the actual endurance is not even half of the nominal endurance, such as Mr. Zhou, the owner of Beijing, who bought a 400-kilometer new energy vehicle, and can only run to 150 kilometers in winter.
The problem of "false standard" of battery life has broken through the bottom line of acceptance of some users, and complaints about the battery life of electric vehicles are not uncommon on various complaint platforms. On the black cat complaint platform, with "endurance" as the keyword search, there are more than 3300 complaints, the vast majority of which are related to electric vehicles. Some users reported that they rented an electric car on a car rental platform, and due to inaccurate endurance, they could not reach the return point, and they had no choice but to pay a dispatch fee of 60 yuan.
The "2020 National Consumer Association Organization Acceptance of Complaints Analysis" released by the China Consumer Association shows that at this stage, the problem of new energy vehicles is prominent, and the hardest hit areas of complaints include the mileage "discount", especially when the temperature is low, the battery power drops too fast, the charging speed is inconsistent with the publicity, in addition, battery quality problems, power disappearance problems, and low after-sales service levels are also common complaint points.
The China Consumers Association proposed that new energy vehicle manufacturers should strengthen publicity and marketing management, truthfully inform consumers of the actual mileage, charging speed and influencing factors of vehicles, and suggest that relevant government departments strengthen the supervision of consumers in the field of automobile sales, such as disguised price increases, hidden charges, compulsory tying, false publicity, and vehicle safety.
A search for "battery life" on a complaint platform shows more than 3300 complaints, mostly related to the battery life of electric vehicles
It is understood that in the early stage of the listing of new energy vehicles, in order to cater to the psychology of consumers who value endurance, some manufacturers played signs such as "maximum endurance" and "iseltometric endurance". For example, some manufacturers have advertised "60km/h constant speed cruising range", which is the most ideal data obtained under specific experimental conditions and does not have practical reference significance. With the growing voice of consumer doubts and the increasing standardization of the entire industry, slogans such as constant speed endurance and maximum endurance have withdrawn from the market.
Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point reporter visited a number of new energy vehicle 4S stores in Jinan and learned that the vast majority of electric vehicles are currently marked with NEDC comprehensive working conditions.
In a car 4S shop, the reporter saw in the brochure that the mileage was 520 kilometers, but the actual endurance was not marked. A staff member said that it is no problem to run 400 kilometers in summer and 350-380 kilometers in winter. "I'm conservatively saying, not to fool you, our family is almost a 70% or 20% discount, other brands have to press half to fold it."
In the Euler Automobile 4S shop, the staff introduced a 401 km endurance car said that the actual endurance of the car in winter is about 270 km, "the target endurance is experimental data, the reality is impossible to achieve, there is no way to prove, anyway, winter can run these (270 km). ”
Speaking of the difference between the labeling endurance and the actual battery life, most 4S stores do not shy away from it. However, there is still a certain difference between the actual battery life introduced by the 4S store and the actual battery life of the user. The 520-kilometer endurance car can not actually drive the 350-380 kilometers said by the staff in winter, according to the actual feedback of users, the actual endurance of the car is only 300 kilometers.
The shrinking endurance of new energy vehicles often causes users to recharge anxiety
Battery-related data is monopolized by manufacturers, and it is difficult to prove new energy vehicles
Why the actual endurance of new energy vehicles is generally lower than that of labeled endurance is related to the current test standards for electric vehicles in mainland China. It is understood that the current endurance test method used in the mainland has been implemented since May 1, 2018, that is, the "Electric Vehicle Energy Consumption Rate and Mileage Test Method", which adopts the NEDC cycle working condition test standard.
Specifically, the NEDC experimental cycle consists of 4 urban cycles and 1 suburban cycle program, with a theoretical experimental distance of 11.022 km and a time of 19 minutes and 40 seconds. The urban conditions consist of four circulating units, with a maximum speed of 50km/h and an average speed of 19km/h during the test, for a total of 4.052km. The suburban working condition test has a total of one cycle, with an average speed of 62.6km/h and a total driving distance of 6.955km.
The NEDC is in a constant speed for most of the time, and the acceleration is constant even during acceleration and deceleration. And the test is performed at a room temperature of 20-30 degrees. The operating conditions of the vehicle are relatively stable, and the energy consumption of the vehicle is generally very low.
Li Wei, a professor at the School of Automotive Engineering of Shandong Jiaotong University, said that the NEDC working condition test was carried out in a test environment, and during the test, all loads such as air conditioners, headlights, and heated seats were turned off, which was inconsistent with the actual usage habits of users. In the actual use process, the size of the battery capacity, the weight of the vehicle, the overall dimensions, the road conditions, the tire pressure, the ambient temperature and the user's driving habits will affect the actual endurance. Like turning on air conditioning in summer, turning on warm air in winter, and driving at high speed for a long time and continuous high-power discharge, will make battery energy consumption increase consumption.
"When the temperature decreases in winter, the activity of lithium batteries decreases, the amount of lithium electron embedding and precipitation will be reduced accordingly, the battery storage will be reduced, and the endurance will also be reduced." Li Wei said.
Zhang Xiaorong, president of the DeepInn Science and Technology Research Institute, said that the data under the NEDC standard is more beautiful than the actual data, "Now manufacturers will publicize this kind of laboratory data, which has become a marketing routine, who does not falsely bid who suffers losses." ”
It is precisely because the actual endurance of electric vehicles is affected by comprehensive factors such as batteries, external environments and user habits, once the endurance is greatly reduced, users often face the problem of difficulty in proof. Ms. Peng Yan of Jinan has repeatedly sought out 4S stores on battery life, and has also complained to the market supervision department, and she suspects that there is a problem with the battery. The market supervision department said that the battery did not find quality problems, and the shrinkage of battery life was caused by winter.
The battery life displayed on the dashboard of new energy vehicles is often inaccurate, and the actual endurance depends on experience
Recently, more than 100 users of a certain brand of cars have also encountered difficulties in defending their rights and providing evidence. After participating in a free maintenance, the vehicle's endurance was reduced by 50 kilometers, and users suspected that the battery was "locked". According to the user Mr. Zhou, the brand of cars has had many spontaneous combustion accidents before, "the battery may have quality defects, they lock the power to prevent the charge is too full, in order to reduce the spontaneous combustion rate." "Users generally believe that manufacturers are using infringement of users' rights and interests to pay for themselves.
In the process of safeguarding their own rights and interests, users reflected that the car manufacturer only let them go to the 4S store for testing, but never released the relevant data of battery testing. Users entrusting third-party institutions to test also encountered difficulties, one is that the testing cost is expensive, and the other is that the manufacturer does not cooperate. At present, Mr. Zhou has jointly entrusted lawyers with more than 170 other car owners to send lawyer letters to the manufacturers, requesting apologies and compensation. "We asked them to pay attention to the user's demands and take the initiative to take responsibility, but now that a month and a half has passed, there is no response."
According to the "2021 National Consumer Association Organization Acceptance of Complaints Analysis" issued by the China Consumer Association, the problem of consumers' difficulty in presenting evidence is very common in the field of new energy vehicles, and with the improvement of the intelligence of new energy vehicles, the relevant data is monopolized by manufacturers and refused to provide, and disputes occur. Consumer associations say that merchants should protect consumers' right to know data. Automobile data is an important certificate for consumer rights protection, and consumers have the right to know, consult and obtain raw data related to themselves without tampering.
The standard is changing, and the WLTC standard will be closer to the real battery life
The test standards for the endurance of new energy vehicles are ushering in changes. In 2021, the mainland issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles", which proposes that the test method standards for new energy vehicles in the mainland will be updated in 2021. From the details of the subsidy standard, the test cycle should be changed from the current NEDC to WLTC.
On February 20, 2021, the Mandatory National Standard (GB 19578-2021) of the "Fuel Consumption Limits for Passenger Cars" organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was approved and issued, and will be implemented from July 1, 2021. After implementation, the new models applying for type approval need to be implemented according to the new WLTC standard.
The document proposes that by 2025, the test conditions of traditional energy passenger cars and plug-in hybrid electric passenger cars will be switched from NEDC to WLTC, and the change of working conditions will affect the comprehensive fuel consumption of vehicles.
Dongying new energy vehicle owners are driving electric vehicles
Compared with the NEDC working conditions, the WLTC test conditions are more stringent, divided into low speed, medium speed, high speed and ultra-high speed four cycles, the corresponding duration is 589 seconds, 433 seconds, 455 seconds, 323 seconds, the corresponding maximum speed is 56.5km/h, 76.6km/h, 97.4km/h, 131.3km/h, and set up different operations such as parking, braking, and sharp acceleration, and also integrates the rolling resistance, gear, weight and other factors of the vehicle into the test.
Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Deepin Science and Technology Research Institute, said that the battery life data under the WLTC working conditions endurance standard is closer to the actual data used, which will have a certain inhibition effect on the phenomenon of "false standard" data, and it is also more reference value for consumers.
The reporter learned that at present, although the relevant policies of the WLTC working condition test standard only cover the gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in the field of new energy vehicles, there are no clear requirements for pure electric vehicles, and many pure electric vehicles still use THE NEDC test standards. "WLTC needs to invest more costs, and although the data obtained is more objective, it is 'shrunk' compared to the former, and there is no advantage in advertising." Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Institute of DeepIn Science and Technology, said. However, many people in the industry believe that it is only a matter of time before the new test standards for electric vehicles are changed, and from the consumer side, consumers' demand for new standards is very urgent.
(At the request of the interviewee, the interviewees in this article are pseudonyms)