People are inert, and so are car companies.
The Chinese market's pursuit of European car brands has allowed European brand cars to earn almost money lying down in the past ten years.
As a result, Volkswagen's EA888 has not been replaced for more than a decade, and Mercedes-Benz can make the most profits as long as the car logo is as large as the washbasin.
In the matter of embracing new energy, Mercedes-Benz has taken a bad lead, and European automakers are really lagging behind.
In recent years this year, Mercedes-Benz has accelerated the launch of new energy products. EQA, EQB, EQC, EQS and EQE have appeared one after another, and also cover categories such as sedans and SUVs.
However, compared with the average level of new energy power models in the world, Mercedes-Benz's new energy vehicles are still stuck in the era of oil to electricity.
This can be seen from the current Mercedes-Benz pure electric vehicle product series, EQA is the electric version of Mercedes-Benz GLA, EQB is the electric version of Mercedes-Benz GLB, and so on.
Taking the Mercedes-Benz EQC as an example, in the design of the body structure, the Mercedes-Benz EQC basically continues the body proportion consistent with the Mercedes-Benz GRC, which means that the side inner panel of this car is largely compatible with the Mercedes-Benz GRC.
The side wall inner plate is maintained universally, and the high probability of the situation means that the floor of the Mercedes-Benz EQC is also consistent with the Mercedes-Benz GLC.
For example, this is a separate subframe design for the Mercedes-Benz EQC.
From this structure, it can be clearly seen that in the area behind the inverter, this independent subframe also extends an additional piece, and this piece of space corresponds to the Mercedes-Benz GLC, which is the area where the longitudinal gearbox exists.
Because it is a platform for oil to electricity, this area must be reinforced with such a structure, otherwise the safety will be greatly reduced.
At the same time, the platform of oil to electricity also allows an extra battery area under the threshold of the Mercedes-Benz EQC, reducing its ground clearance.
The same problem also exists in Mercedes-Benz's EQA, EQB and other models.
Even with the latest Mercedes-Benz EQS, there is still a bulge under the floor. At this point, Mercedes-Benz has adopted a flat floor or even a skateboard platform for those cars, and the new forces of car manufacturers are not on the same starting line.
In addition, the motor is also a problem.
Mercedes-Benz EQC is equipped with an AC asynchronous motor, which is very rare in the field of new energy vehicles, and the mainstream models use permanent magnet synchronous motors.
The difference between the two is that the permanent magnet synchronous motor is a magnetic field at any time, and it can be powered at the beginning. The AC asynchronous motor needs to try the magnetic field first, and then the motor can work.
The advantage is that the performance is really good, but the disadvantage is that an additional cooling system is required to ensure the normal operation of the motor.
At present, the mainstream permanent magnet synchronous motors in the industry have achieved the same high performance through technological upgrades.
Not long ago, Mercedes-Benz officially announced the recall of Mercedes-Benz EQC, the reason is that the cooling system of this AC asynchronous motor has the possibility of failure, resulting in abnormal burnout of the motor.
In the previous feedback on quality problems, the problem of Mercedes-Benz EQC burning motors has almost become a high-probability event.
Of course, at this stage, Mercedes-Benz's oil to electricity is not deliberately done by Mercedes-Benz, because Mercedes-Benz and even the entire European automobile industry have lagged far behind in the amount of new energy.
In fact, since the end of the 1990s, the European automobile industry has embarked on a road of test-taking education on the development route of power systems.
In the mid-1990s, all automotive companies found that existing power technologies were no longer sufficient to meet the more stringent emissions regulations and fuel consumption standards of the 21st century.
Thus, in the late 1990s, European auto companies put pressure on the EU to introduce NEDC test procedures that were more in line with laboratory conditions.
At the same time, in accordance with the NEDC test method closer to the laboratory conditions, the small displacement turbocharging technology and the direct injection technology in the cylinder were introduced, which realized a round of test-taking upgrades.
During this period, Japanese auto companies began to touch the development of electric vehicles, and achieved a reduction in economy and emission levels with the large-scale and industrialized introduction of hybrid technology.
The introduction of hybrid technology has actually allowed Japanese auto companies to take the lead in entering the industry of the electric vehicle era, and the most important link here is power management technology.
China's local auto companies are currently the most dynamic in the global auto industry. The local brands that we once thought were gray-headed have now proved in two decades that China's development is really much faster than that of developed countries.
Since around 2014, China's local brands and new car manufacturers have begun to promote the development of the entire new energy industry, and in the process, they have quickly bred world-class new energy battery unicorns like the Ningde era.
After following the European auto companies to take a step in the technical route of small-displacement turbocharged engines, local auto companies are now beginning to quickly catch up with Japan's advantages in the field of hybrid power.
Judging from the technological development of a series of new strong hybrid technologies such as BYD DM-i and Great Wall DHT, local brands have become more and more powerful at the level of the new energy industry. And Europe's auto companies have achieved almost nothing in the past two decades.
The lying flat of European auto companies in the field of new energy has directly driven the European automotive industry supply chain in the field of new energy. So when Mercedes-Benz looked back and found that it was now the world of new energy, it was too late.
There is no platform, no qualified power battery technology, no power management technology, what to do, cold mix.
As the inventor of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz has lagged behind this era. Otherwise, what is the purpose of the joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and BYD to establish Denza?