In the first two months of this year, the cumulative sales of plug-in hybrid models in China reached 167,000 units. Although there is still a big gap compared with the 623,000 pure electric models, the share of PHEV in the new energy vehicle market has shown an upward trend, which is also an important reason why domestic mainstream car companies have released hybrid technology brands.
In the view of Yang Dayong, vice president of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd., plug-in hybrid models will be equal to pure electric vehicles in the new energy market, "in the next decade, PHEV will still be an important player in the market, and it is currently undervalued." The China Automobile Association predicts that the sales scale of new energy vehicles this year will reach 5 million vehicles, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%; the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" issued by the relevant departments proposes that the sales volume of new energy vehicles will account for 20% by 2025. In other words, in the next few years, plug-in hybrid sales are likely to move from 100,000 to millions.
The recently listed UNI-K iDD is the first product of Changan Blue Whale iDD hybrid technology, and it is also the "first shot" of Changan's real new energy vehicle market.
Behind 130 km of pure electric endurance
As "a new step for Changan Automobile to the new energy market", UNI-K iDD can be said to be the culmination of Changan Blue Whale iDD hybrid technology. Three-clutch electric drive transmission, IGBT double-sided cooling technology, 30.74kWh large-capacity battery pack, A-ECMS energy management algorithm, including the power system including the vehicle OTA, etc., UNI-K iDD mass production of a lot of Changan hybrid core technology, which also allows the new car to have 130km of pure electric endurance, comprehensive cruising range of 1100km, 100 km fuel consumption of 0.8L and many other product highlights.
Behind such a "heavy investment" UNI-K iDD product is Changan's repeated judgment and bold decision-making on the new energy vehicle market, and it is also the industry trend.
Yang Dayong said that in the past many years, Changan has been supported by "oil to electricity" in the field of new energy, because China's new energy vehicle market is unstable. In the dumbbell-shaped new energy market with two large ends and small in the middle, there is still a problem of high-end scale and low-end no profit. From the perspective of first-time car buyers, PHEV is an ideal mobility solution. At present, in addition to the EARLY LAYOUT OF BYD DMi, the Great Wall DHT, Dongfeng Mach Power MHD, Chery Kunpeng Hybrid have all landed products, and Geely Leishen Power and GAC Green Engine Hybrid Technology have also been on the string.
UNI-K iDD will be the beginning of Changan's farewell to "oil to electricity" and officially launch new energy. Chang'an, which has been involved in new energy since 2001, has been using "oil to electricity" or entry-level products to operate at low cost, and it is more important to run through the business model than rounds of short-term market opportunities. "Changan Automobile will figure out the business model will be ALLIN," Yang Dayong said: "UNI-K iDD officially sounded the clarion call of Changan's development in the field of new energy, and this year will be the first year of Changan's official development in the new energy market, and it is also a big year for new energy products." ”
According to reports, Changan will put on the market 5 new energy models this year, covering new energy products such as EV, PHEV, REV and FCV; among them, Changan will also mass-produce China's first FCV sedan. Next, UNI-V will also launch PHEV models, C385, Avita 11, and an A00-class product A185 will be launched one after another, and Changan's three new energy platforms will also be put into mass production models one by one. From product development to self-research of core technologies such as batteries, electric drives, electronic controls and electric platforms, Changan is ready.
For the user "floating loss" 2000 yuan
From the pricing of UNI-K iDD, it can also be seen that Changan has made systematic preparations for entering new energy.
In the past half a month, according to the incomplete statistics of star car yards, nearly 20 new energy companies have officially announced price increases, involving as many as 40 models. The reason behind it is well known - the price of lithium carbonate, the core raw material of power batteries, soared ten times a year, as high as 500,000 yuan per ton. As the CURRENT PHEV model with the highest pure electric mileage, Changan UNI-K iDD has a battery pack capacity of more than 30kWh, and the cost can be imagined.
As early as January this year, Changan UNI-K iDD officially launched the pre-sale, the pre-sale price of 176,900-192,900 yuan, and the current listing price is no different. Li Guoliang, the head of the UNI brand, revealed that Changan had considered the official price of UNI-K iDD to increase by 2,000 yuan to alleviate the cost pressure caused by the soaring price of power batteries and chips, and finally decided to benefit users.
And UNI's "user thinking" is also reflected in services and products. At the service level, Li Guoliang introduced that the next UNI Service will add brand experience space, UNI workshop responsible for rapid repair and fast maintenance, and self-made space to provide users with modification services, and this year will authorize more than 50 terminal service centers to build the service system and continuously improve the user ecological construction. At the product level, Changan UNI-K iDD joins the i-X Aichuang space model, which allows users to add custom driving modes according to their own preferences to achieve co-creation of driving styles with users; in addition, the UNI brand will also achieve quarterly vehicle OTA on new cars, which will also allow the UNI brand to try to carry out differentiated services of "thousands of faces".
The UNI brand originating from traditional central enterprises can accomplish many innovations, which is not unrelated to the company's own mechanism innovation. In fact, from the independence of Changan New Energy, to the rise of the middle and high-level people, and then to the release of the innovation and entrepreneurship plan 5.0, the transformation of Changan Automobile has been accelerating. "The independent operation of Changan New Energy is to invigorate the mechanism" Yang Dayong revealed that Changan New Energy is the vanguard of the group's transformation, and the Changan brand is also accelerating the transformation to electrification.
Yang Dayong's personal resume can also be regarded as the epitome of Chang'an's transformation. From leading the reform of Chang'an New Energy, to "assisting" Avita Evolution, to returning to the Group to coordinate the new energy business, the business transformation with electrification as the core has not changed. Among the middle-level cadres in Chang'an, this kind of cross-field talent training has also been carried out for many years. Xiang Wei, project manager of UNI-K iDD, is a member of the R&D team who goes to the sales line. "After a few years of exercise, you will find that many middle-level people in different business sectors are 'comrades-in-arms' who have gone to the front line, have a highly consistent understanding of user needs, have no barriers to communication, and promote the project more smoothly."
It can be said that from the enterprise mechanism, business philosophy, service model, product development, Changan has made all the preparations for users. "Changan needs to use its actual ability to prove that it can successfully transform," Yang Dayong said firmly, this year's new energy sales of Changan Group will reach 300,000 vehicles, doubling next year, and impacting millions of vehicles in the next year!