Key information: Toyota production, BYD development, listed at the end of the year, the price is expected to be 180,000-220,000 yuan
introduction:
In March 2020, BYD Toyota Electric Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd., which was established with a 50:50 share ratio, will launch its first model. It is the mass-produced version of the bZ SDN, one of the 16 all-electric concept cars brought by Toyota's strategy conference last December.
Key information:
Unlike the "BYD OEM" of media analysis, bZ SDN is actually BYD responsible for the development of the electric drive system, and Toyota is responsible for the design and manufacturing of the interior and exterior modeling. Tianjin FAW Toyota completed a new energy vehicle project in December last year and plans to put into production three models in 2022, two of which are the bZ4X pure electric SUV that has recently appeared in the latest phase of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's new car catalog, and the sister version of the Xena GRANVIA hybrid MPV. The third model, code-named EV7, is the bZ SDN exposed this time, positioned as an A+ class pure electric sedan similar to the global strategic model Corolla.
BYD is also developing its own pure electric platform sedan "SEAL", which has been registered in the latest phase of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology directory. Judging from the parameter information of Toyota bZ SDN, there is a significant difference with BYD seals in body size, so the two should not be a simple relationship with the platform. The BYD SEAL has a larger wheelbase and wheelbase, but the Chassis parameters of the Toyota bZ SDN are still significantly higher than the long-axle version of the Corolla Toyota Asiatic Lion model with similar body size. Toyota bZ SDN's body and chassis size is very close to tesla Model 3, it is estimated to be used as a benchmark competitor, after all, bZ SDN plans a global strategic model.
The exterior of the Toyota bZ SDN production version almost completely restores the concept car released at the end of last year, including a daily light strip that runs through the front face and the headlights of four LED units. In fact, this is also the face design that is in line with the bZ4X, and will continue to the entire bZ series of pure electric models in the future. The body part also continues the concept car design, including a hidden door handle and the same 18-inch wheel style. The roof is still equipped with the traditional front sunroof, and does not use the all-glass roof common to new energy vehicles. There is no more high-tech configuration such as lidar, and it is not expected that there will be too high intelligent driving applications, after all, Toyota's positioning of the bZ SDN is a model that can go volume, and the focus should be on the economic aspect.
The interior design obviously follows the route of the bZ 4X, with the same knob-type electronic shift mechanism and central control suspension screen structure, but the size of the bZ SDN is larger, there is a separate information display LCD screen on the steering wheel tube column, and in front of it is a floating screen LCD instrument that can integrate the functions of the head-up display system. From the endurance information energy bar on the test vehicle instrument, it is speculated that the comprehensive endurance of the bZ SDN can reach about 600km, which is significantly higher than the 500km of the bZ 4X. This should be due to the lithium iron phosphate blade battery pack system provided by BYD, and from the test car, equipped with BYD TZ200 permanent magnet synchronous motor, it can be determined to use a single motor configuration. Due to the wide variety of byder BYD motors, it is unclear how the power output of the bZ SDN performs.
Key takeaways:
Toyota already has considerable experience in technical cooperation, such as the BMW Z4 with Toyota Supra, the Subaru BRZ and toyota 86. In February this year, BYD surpassed SAIC Volkswagen and won the second place in the manufacturer's sales list, which is the embodiment of the first-mover advantage of Chinese car companies in the new energy track. Even if BYD started by copycat Toyota, Toyota still found BYD, hoping to develop and launch economic pure electric models, shorten the starting process in the field of electric vehicles, and complete the transformation as soon as possible. Through cooperation with Toyota, BYD can actually further enhance its reputation and brand strength.