In November 2021, rivian, a foreign skateboard chassis company, was officially listed; in December, the domestic Yo-Run Technology also released the Yo-Run UP Super Chassis. For a time, the skateboard chassis became a hot topic of discussion in the autonomous driving industry.
Everyone is discussing, will the market for skateboard chassis really exist? And which customers will use skateboard chassis? This article will elaborate on the skateboard chassis from four aspects, including what the skateboard chassis is, the advantages and challenges of the skateboard chassis, the competitive pattern and business model of the skateboard chassis, and the direction of future scenario landing.
First, what is the skateboard chassis
1.1 Definition of Skateboard Chassis
The skateboard chassis is to integrate the steering, braking, three electricity, suspension and other systems on the original electric vehicle into the chassis of the electric vehicle in a modular manner, and the corresponding modules can be changed according to the requirements of different models, thereby shortening the development cycle and realizing the decoupling development of the upper and lower vehicle bodies. The reason why it is called a skateboard chassis is mainly because its shape is similar to the shape of a skateboard.
Skateboard chassis should be understood as a platform concept, as early as the era of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles has appeared platform production mode, but skateboard chassis is a new platform production mode in the era of smart cars. By changing the traditional supply chain model and the production method of the whole vehicle, the skateboard chassis will reshape the chassis development and manufacturing process of the future car.
Bai Junbo, CTO of E-Cafe, said: "The platform model is not a new concept in the automotive industry, and its main feature is the generalization of components. It is mainly reflected in the generalization of systems, subsystems, components, interfaces, etc. in different models, which is a visible part. At the same time, in some invisible parts, it also shows a strong degree of generalization, including design and development processes, manufacturing and production methods, etc. ”
1.2 Development and evolution
Throughout the development process of the entire automobile, there are platform-based development models in different development periods.
Bai Junbo introduced: "With the development of electrification and intelligence, the requirements of the automobile industry for the platformization of automobiles have been upgraded. Platformization can be divided into three eras, including the era of fuel vehicles, the era of electric vehicles, and the era of smart cars. Among them, the era of fuel vehicles is platformized 1.0, with the generalization of 'mechanical parts' as the core; the era of electric vehicles is platformization 2.0, with the generalization of 'mechanical parts + electrical devices' as the core; the era of smart vehicles is platformization 3.0, mainly with 'hardware universal + software platform + standard interface' as the core. ”
Let's take a look at how the automotive industry has achieved platformization in three different eras.
(1) The era of fuel vehicles
In the era of fuel vehicles, OEMs have mastered the independent research and development and design capabilities of chassis and body, in order to minimize the cost of supply chain, each level of models have their own general manufacturing platform for parts, such as A-class cars or B-class cars, will have their own set of platforms, and some parts between different platforms can also be shared with each other.
For the parts that can be used universally, Bai Junbo shared: "The general part includes the front cabin firewall, steering system, part of the chassis parts, tires, part of the body-in-white, fixed driver and passenger sitting posture, instrumentation, central armrest and seat, air conditioning system, etc. ”
(2) The era of electric vehicles
In the era of electric vehicles, its platform concept is very close to that of fuel vehicles, which is nothing more than the engine, gearbox and other kits into the current three-electric system. Therefore, compared with the era of fuel vehicles, the platformization of this stage has added some generalized components of electrical devices.
(3) The era of smart cars
In the era of smart cars, the status of software services has gradually improved, resulting in the development mode of the whole vehicle becoming a model of "hardware universal + software platform + standard interface".
On the one hand, the development of the whole vehicle is to promote the hardware first, so that the hardware modularization, integration, standardization, and strengthen the versatility of parts; on the other hand, the standardization of hardware interfaces can access the components of different suppliers. In the case of the increasing convergence of hardware technologies, the importance of hardware is declining, and the focus of technology development in vehicle development will shift from hardware to software development platforms at the chassis.
Because the skateboard chassis has the above two characteristics, it belongs to the next new platform product of the smart car era. Many times, we can also think of the skateboard chassis as a "large part".
1.3 Common Misconceptions About Skateboard Chassis
(1) Differences from traditional non-load-bearing bodies
Many people in the industry equate the skateboard chassis with the non-loader body, and the author believes that this view has a certain misunderstanding of the skateboard chassis.
Non-load-bearing body has appeared as early as the era of fuel vehicles, mainly used in SUVs or off-road models, the entire chassis is a girder structure, and the body body is suspended on the frame, connected by elastic elements.
Pictured: Non-loader body
Compared with the load-bearing body, the advantages of the non-load-bearing body are: First, the stiffness is high. With the girder structure, the stiffness of the whole vehicle is high, which makes the body and frame less deformed and safer in the event of a vehicle collision. Second, easy to modify. The upper body is mounted on the top of the chassis, and it is easy to modify various special vehicles according to actual needs, such as forest fire trucks, ambulances or RVs converted from trucks.
The disadvantages of non-load-bearing bodies are also more obvious: First, the weight is large. The weight of the two stout girders, combined with the weight of the upper body shell, results in a larger weight of the vehicle than the load-bearing body, thereby reducing the acceleration capacity of the vehicle and increasing fuel consumption. Second, poor control. The engine and transmission system of the fuel vehicle are large in size and can only be placed above the entire frame, resulting in the center of gravity of the vehicle moving upwards, which is not conducive to control. Third, the cost is high. Since more steel is used for separate frames and bodies, production costs are high.
Why do you equate the skateboard chassis with a non-loader body? Mainly there are some similarities between the two: First, in the form of production and manufacturing, they are separated from top to bottom. Second, the chassis has a rigid structure. The skateboard chassis was reinforced with beams on both sides to protect the battery pack. Third, the chassis is integrated with powertrain, suspension, braking, steering and other modules.
The difference between the two is mainly reflected in two points: first, the skateboard chassis is dominated by a low floor structure, with a lower center of gravity and stronger stability; second, the engine of the fuel vehicle is missing, and it becomes a battery, motor and electronic control (smaller and lighter), while the entire three-electric system is integrated in the center of the chassis.
Combined with the above content, the skateboard chassis is only similar to the non-load-bearing body structure in the connection of the upper and lower body, but the latter lacks the important features of the skateboard chassis, that is, the decoupling development and standard interface of software and hardware, so the non-load-bearing body is not a necessary condition for the skateboard chassis.
(2) Differences from the platform model of electric vehicles
At present, some traditional car companies on the market have launched their own new electric vehicle platforms, such as Volkswagen's MEB, Hyundai E-GMP, Toyota e-TNGA, etc. Many people in the industry believe that the development mode of such electric vehicle platforms is very close to the skateboard chassis, but the author is also thinking about the similarities and differences between the two.
Figure: Volkswagen MEB platform
First of all, the similarity between the two is mainly reflected in: first, from the structure, in order to protect the battery pack, they are equipped with the same side beams to strengthen safety; second, from the degree of integration, because there is less engine and gearbox, so the chassis is also highly integrated; third, from the modular, both use modular components and assemblies, simplifying the production process and reducing manufacturing costs.
Secondly, in terms of differences: first, although this type of electric vehicle platform mode is also a platform architecture, but still the bearing body structure, can not really achieve the separation of the upper and lower car bodies, still belongs to the integrated development mode; second, this type of electric vehicle platform with modularity, standardization, generalization characteristics, the model development cycle is relatively short, but the development cycle of the skateboard chassis will be shorter.
It can be found that the biggest difference between the two is the difference in development methods, is it not the platform model of the smart car era, which must be the shape of the upper and lower splits?
In response to the author's question, Bai Junbo explained: "First of all, the skateboard chassis is a split form of platform 3.0 in the era of smart cars, but it is not necessarily a split development for platform 3.0. Secondly, in order to achieve the smart car era 3.0, it is necessary to have a real domain control architecture, and there are also different domain control decomposition methods between different enterprises and products. Taking Tesla as an example, its domain control architecture is based on physical space distribution, and Tesla's parts generalization rate has reached about 70%, although it does not use split development, it still has the important characteristics of platform 3.0. ”
From this point of view, the development model of Tesla or other electric vehicle platforms belongs to a model of intelligent 3.0, but unlike the split development of the skateboard chassis, it is an integrated development.
1.4 Development Opportunities
(1) Under the trend of electrification, the supply chain system of the whole vehicle is broken
After the form of the terminal product changes, it will affect the upstream parts supply chain system, and will also affect the product development and design process.
On the one hand, because the architecture of the fuel vehicle is completely different from the chassis architecture of the electric vehicle, the fuel vehicle has an engine and a gearbox, while the electric vehicle is mainly battery, motor, and electronic control. Under the trend of oil to electricity, the pattern of some parts required by the vehicle is broken, resulting in changes in the design of parts on the chassis, such as the volume and structure of parts, the location of installation, etc.
On the other hand, when the original oem designed the fuel vehicle, it was mainly an integrated body, and the development and design was a complete set of mature processes, and this design process was too complex and the fault tolerance rate was low, which was not easy to quickly iterate the product. For some new entrants, the development of electric vehicle chassis requires a new team, and it needs to continuously invest a lot of money and time, which is not conducive to quickly breaking out of the siege.
With the blessing of two factors, the skateboard chassis, as a highly integrated and standardized product, does have some market opportunities.
(2) The importance of hardware optimization is declining
The increasing convergence of technologies for electric vehicles at the hardware level has resulted in a limited brand premium.
A start-up chassis engineer mentioned: "At present, there is not much room for optimization and innovation of electric vehicle hardware technology, and the gap is getting smaller and smaller. ”
In the context of hardware convergence, car companies have placed the point of differentiated competition on software and user operations.
The original chassis development process has changed, and new car-making forces such as Wei Xiaoli define products from user needs through Internet thinking, mainly driven by user needs, and thus push backwards to product design.
Zhu Xiaosong, a partner at PIX Moving, told Jiuzhang Zhichao: "Looking back at the history of oil to electricity, the reason why the traditional car-making force has declined is because it is still built with the logic of manufacturing. Until the emergence of Tesla and several new forces in China, the way the main engine factory defines the product has changed, starting from the user's needs, and the main focus is on the user. ”
(3) The definition of "OEM" has changed
The definition of "OEM" has changed. Different types of enterprises have laid out the era of smart cars, some of which are new entrants do not pay much attention to hardware, more concerned about the user experience of the back end, if the skateboard chassis can achieve the advantages of low cost and short development cycle, they will also be willing to adopt. For example, Didi's "Da Vinci" plan is currently a strategy for cooperation with the main engine factory, but once the above advantages of the skateboard chassis are revealed, the car-making mode using the skateboard chassis may also be possible, after all, the flexibility of product definition will be better than the main engine factory.
Bai Junbo explained: "Taking the skateboard chassis company REE as an example, it reshapes the industrial division of labor for automobiles, inserting a new ecological chain between the downstream OEMs and the upstream Tier 1. REE believes that downstream customers are not only OEMs, and players entering the automotive industry in the future may undergo structural changes, including brand owners, logistics companies, fleets, technology companies, commercial owners or real estate holders, while traditional OEMs are in a relatively low position, which means that the emergence of skateboard chassis will change the downstream ecology. ”
After the definition of "main engine factory" has changed, the entire ecological chain and division of labor model have also changed. Originally, the automotive industry was dominated by "OEMs", but now different types of companies have joined the smart car team, they are more concerned about the end-user experience and iteration of software algorithms, and the hardware side will be outsourced to third-party enterprises.
Second, the advantages and challenges of the skateboard chassis
2.1 Advantages
(1) Independent research and development of the upper and lower car bodies
The biggest advantage brought by split R&D is that it allows OEMs or subdivision scenario customers to focus on the design of the upper body vehicle, which is much easier than the development difficulty of the integrated type.
For passenger cars, first, with full-line control and a high degree of integration, a chassis can be adapted to multiple body shapes; second, in the face of the individual needs of C-end users, the standardized development mode of the skateboard chassis can be applied to achieve the differentiation of the upper body; third, the skateboard chassis of the passenger car adopts a low-floor structure, which can release the space of the upper body to a certain extent.
For commercial vehicles, the skateboard chassis is mainly used in unmanned vehicles in low-speed scenarios, the speed will not exceed 20 kilometers per hour, all the requirements for the chassis are mainly versatility and durability, and the differentiation is concentrated in the upper body part.
Peng Xu, general manager of Changsha Yuwan Technology, said: "The skateboard chassis is more of a capacity platform, and it is important to make changes to the corresponding scene functions of the upper part. The upper part is mainly the specific operating system, the automatic driving computing platform and related sensors, while the chassis only needs to have a communication interface and a power interface. From the perspective of the modification logic of commercial chassis, unmanned sanitation vehicles are equipped with sanitation systems above the girder of the skateboard chassis, such as road sweepers, cleaning vehicles, garbage transfer vehicles and so on. ”
(2) Software and hardware decoupling
When end users buy electric vehicles, the focus is on autonomous driving and intelligent interaction experience in the cockpit, and the chassis is not their most concerned. In this case, through a third-party chassis, the OEMs can focus on the interactive experience of the end user and the polishing of channel relationships.
Bai Junbo also mentioned: "The speed of intelligent development is getting faster and faster, resulting in a rapid increase in functional applications on vehicles. If hardware and software cannot be decoupled, any new features can be adjusted or added, which is quite a challenge for hardware. ”
(3) Shorten the development cycle of new models
Traditionally, a new car can take about three years from the architecture stage to the product and production maturity stage. However, the skateboard chassis can speed up the iteration speed of the product due to the modularization of various functions, such as Canoo advertising that a new car can be developed in 18-24 months based on its skateboard chassis.
Bai Junbo also mentioned that taking the braking system as an example, in the field of low-speed cars, when we need to replace a brake part, because the skateboard chassis has achieved software and hardware decoupling, the relevant interface can be plugged and played, and there is no need to do a lot of calibration or testing. From this point of view, the skateboard chassis is indeed conducive to shortening the development cycle of the whole vehicle.
2.2 Challenges
2.2.1 Technical challenges
(1) Wire control technology is a key technology, but the wire control steering technology is not yet mature
In-line technology is one of the most critical technologies for skateboard chassis, especially wire-controlled actuation (EHB/EMB) and steer-by-wire (SBW). As mentioned above, one of the advantages of the skateboard chassis is the development of the upper and lower splits, if you want to do so, you must go to "mechanization", so as to use wire control technology, in order to truly achieve a man-machine decoupling driving experience.
How mature are wire-controlled and steer-by-wire technologies today? A chassis engineer of a skateboard chassis start-up told Jiuzhang Zhichao: "From the perspective of the head's Tier 1 product, the line control dynamic (EHB) is relatively mature at present, but the wire steering technology has not really been mass-produced. ”
The current steer-by-wire technology only stays in EPS, does not completely remove the mechanical connection, and the steering signal still comes from the driver's operation, which cannot truly achieve the decoupling of driver operation and vehicle control. The SBW completely removes the connection between the steering wheel and the gear connection, and the turn signal comes from the algorithm, which is more in line with the development direction of automatic driving, but the technology is not yet mature.
At present, most of the skateboard chassis on the market are used in semi-enclosed and low-speed scenes, which do not require redundant safety, so it is "acceptable" to use EPS for such scenarios. However, for high-speed environments, especially in the field of passenger cars, future high-end automatic driving will inevitably be directly controlled by algorithms, and SBW is an unavoidable technical path.
(2) The suitability of the hub motor is low
Many people in the industry say that the wheel motor can be used on the skateboard chassis, but the author believes that the wheel hub motor is unlikely to be applied to the skateboard chassis in the short term. The main reasons are: first, the technology is not yet mature; second, the industrial maturity is not enough, there are fewer domestic optional wheel motor suppliers, and the cost is higher; third, the under-spring quality is increased, which will affect the handling performance of the vehicle.
For commercial vehicles, wheel hub electric opportunities are used in vehicle chassis in some special scenarios, such as unmanned freight. However, most low-speed commercial vehicles do not use in-wheel motors, mainly because of the high cost and low practicality, which is contrary to the concept of most low-speed driverless cars.
For passenger cars, large-scale applications are less likely. For most audiences (low-end models), the wheel hub motor is not practical, the replacement cost is very high, but it will become a burden, unless it is a very high-end model, as a selling point to attract consumers.
Wheel in-wheel electric opportunities are a direction for the future development of electric vehicles, but under the premise that the safety and stability of products have not yet achieved a large number of reliable verifications, its large-scale promotion in the field of passenger cars will inevitably slow down.
2.2.2 Engineering challenges under the CTC trend
Many people in the industry agree that CTC batteries are the technical direction of future power batteries, and many skateboard chassis companies have also laid out CTC batteries in future planning. What is a CTC battery? Why is the CTC battery suitable for skateboard chassis?
CTC batteries are the batteries are arranged directly on the chassis, eliminating the concept of battery packs. On the one hand, the skateboard chassis has an independent structure and strength, so the load carried by the battery cell will be smaller, reducing the role of the battery pack. On the other hand, the design of the battery directly integrated into the chassis can not only install more batteries to improve the range of the vehicle, but also reduce the cost of the battery pack.
The purpose of CTC battery is highly integrated and modular, on the basis of simplifying the assembly process and reducing costs, the pursuit of an integrated design, which is very close to the concept of skateboard chassis, and the increase in energy density it brings will also become a selling point of skateboard chassis.
However, the disadvantages of CTC batteries are also very prominent, the cells are directly assembled into battery packs, and each cell is encapsulated into a whole through the colloid, and at the same time is wrapped in multiple layers of protective materials. This will lead to a single battery can not be repaired and replaced, once the battery problem, you need to take out the battery from the opening of the chassis design, remove the sealant, maintenance is very difficult, and even need to return the chassis to the factory for repair.
2.2.3 Supply chain challenges
Most of the players in the skateboard chassis are start-up companies, and the current supply chain system has not yet been built, and the supply chain control of core components is not high.
On the one hand, there are not many core component suppliers to choose from. From the perspective of the domestic market, some domestic suppliers have achieved mass production of line control (EHB/EMB), while the switch-by-wire (SBW) technology is still in the hands of international giants, but the maturity of the switch-by-wire steering technology is still early.
On the other hand, the original supply system has been very mature and solidified, and the skateboard chassis, as a new product form, is difficult to break the original supply chain system. When there was no sales volume in the early stage of the skateboard chassis, the supply chain price did not dominate.
Third, the competitive pattern and business model of the skateboard chassis
Upstream: Parts suppliers, such as three electricity, wire control system, BMS, tires, etc.
Midstream: Skateboard chassis R&D and manufacturing enterprises, such as skateboard chassis R&D enterprises, skateboard chassis solution providers, Tier1, etc.
Downstream: Use and services, such as users in different subdivision scenarios (sanitation, terminal distribution, mining, etc.), travel service companies, logistics companies, passenger car OEMs, etc.
3.1 Player Types
For the potential skateboard chassis player type, the author divides the player type into three categories according to the layout of the relevant companies in the current market, mainly including Tier 1, scene side enterprises, and skateboard chassis start-ups.
(1) Tier 1 (Bosch, Ningde era, etc.)
Advantages: Mastering the core components of some skateboard chassis, such as batteries, wire control technology, etc., has a certain right to speak about the supply chain price and the spatial design structure inside the chassis.
Challenge: As the technology matures, there will be more options for component suppliers in the market. For example, wire control technology, domestic suppliers are also gradually layout.
(2) Scenario-side enterprises (Yu Wanzhi Driving, Xingshen Intelligence, Xijing Technology, etc.)
Advantages: On the one hand, the development ability of such enterprises' automatic driving functions is strong; on the other hand, they have a deeper understanding of the scene and have certain operational data, which can produce skateboard chassis products that meet their own needs.
Challenge: Unless it is a head enterprise with a certain capital strength, the early development cost is high, which will affect the continuous iteration of the product. In addition, how to adapt to different top functions will also be a difficult point for research and development.
Peng Xu, general manager of Changsha Yuwan Technology, said: "Yuwan's advantage is to deeply cultivate the sanitation scene, have its own independently operated sanitation projects, have a deep understanding of the scene, and can produce a skateboard chassis that meets its own needs according to the existing operating data. The biggest difficulty is integration, such as brake steering, batteries, motors and other components, simple accumulation is relatively easy, but to adapt to unmanned and unmanned sanitation operations, which requires a certain technical content. ”
He continued: "The reason why Yu Wan chose the self-developed skateboard chassis is the first is the price; the second is that the interface of the external mining vehicle will not be open to the public. In the sanitation industry, due to the principle of commercial confidentiality, the traditional chassis of the external procurement does not allow customers to use their own superstructure domain controllers to control the engine and steering, and will not let customers read the information of the chassis. ”
(3) Skateboard chassis start-ups (PIX Moving, E-Car, Yo-Yo Technology, Rivian, Canoo, REE, etc.)
Advantages: It can provide a highly versatile chassis that can cover models within a certain range of conditions, which can reduce the development cycle of models for OEMs or scene customers and accelerate the iteration speed of products.
Challenges: First, it is necessary to find market segments that can quickly start volume; second, the cost of the supply chain will be higher in the case of early volume.
3.2 Main Modes
(1) Three types of business models
Self-use: The representative company is Rivian, which produces its own skateboard chassis and sells its own brand vehicles.
Provide solutions for skateboard chassis: Representative enterprises such as PIX Moving, E-Cafe, REE, etc., the products are mainly concentrated in commercial vehicles.
Provide solutions for skateboard chassis or complete vehicles: Representative enterprises such as Yo-Run Technology can output complete vehicle solutions through third-party factories, or only provide solutions for skateboard chassis.
In terms of profit model, at this stage, it is mainly based on the sale of the entire set of hardware of the skateboard chassis. In the later stage, while providing hardware upgrade services and accessories installation, some companies may also provide software services.
(2) R & D model
The research and development of the skateboard chassis focuses on the integration and adjustment of the chassis, which can be regarded as the outsourcing of chassis design and development and production.
Most skateboard chassis companies do not directly build cars, but focus more on the modular integration and tuning technology of the chassis, as well as the rapid iteration ability of the product.
There are also many skateboard chassis companies that will have their own software algorithm teams, but the scale is not large, and more is to improve the value of the vehicle for their customers. On the one hand, some scene customers themselves are also start-ups, the strength of early research and development is not strong, if the skateboard chassis comes with some algorithm functions, it will also become a highlight of the product; on the other hand, for some large customers in the scene, their understanding of the scene and algorithm iteration will inevitably be stronger than the skateboard chassis company.
(3) Production
For low-speed commercial vehicle skateboard chassis, the commercial vehicle skateboard chassis will mainly build its own production line. The technical barriers to chassis research and development are relatively low, and the construction of the production line does not require strict regulatory qualifications, and the self-built industry is conducive to diluting the cost of the skateboard chassis after the later scale. Domestic head skateboard chassis companies, such as PIX Moving and Yijia Zhiche, have built their own production lines.
The skateboard chassis of passenger cars needs to have car-making qualifications, unless it is like Rivian, who makes and sells his own cars, otherwise in the case of low volume in the early stage, it is mainly based on external cooperation.
3.3 Inventory of typical companies at home and abroad
(1) Foreign enterprises
(2) Domestic enterprises
3.4 Customer Types
The main customers of the skateboard chassis can be divided into 3 categories, namely the scene side, the automatic driving solution provider, and some OEMs, and the order of the landing difficulty of the scene is also the same.
(1) Scene side
The scene side customers have a more in-depth understanding of the subdivision scenario, mainly focusing on low-speed scenarios, such as sanitation, terminal distribution, etc.
This type of customer is the company most likely to land on the skateboard chassis. Its most important feature is that the technical requirements of low-speed vehicles for key components such as wire control technology and three electrics are relatively low, and the focus of the scene side is mainly on the operation of the scene, paying more attention to versatility and durability, while the requirements for comfort and driving space in the car are not high.
Bai Junbo also mentioned that taking the terminal unmanned delivery as an example, this is a scenario that belongs to AI+ business, including instant delivery, terminal delivery, etc., and the chassis is more responsible for the role of the mobile platform. The use of models is mainly commercial vehicles, so the biggest demand of such enterprises is cost and stability, and the main differentiation lies mainly in the body unit.
The motivation for the scene side to purchase the skateboard chassis is mainly two points:
First, reduce the cost of model development. The volume of each subdivision scene is relatively small, and if it is a self-developed model and chassis in the early stage, the initial investment will be very high, and the fault tolerance rate is also very low. In the case of not yet starting, self-research is not necessarily the best way, but will increase the operating costs of enterprises.
Second, improve the flexibility of vehicle modification. The externally mined vehicle is not conducive to the transformation of automation, can not be customized development, and the vehicle interface of some scenarios will not be open to customers.
(2) Autonomous driving solution providers
Autonomous driving solution providers are mainly Robotaxi, Robobus, Robotruck and other enterprises.
On the one hand, the advantage of such companies lies in the ability to develop high-end autonomous driving functions, but the engineering capabilities are weaker, and the skateboard chassis can quickly help them launch new models.
Zhu Xiaosong, a partner at PIX Moving, mentioned that in PIXRobobus as an example, the development cycle from 0 to 1 is completed in less than 1 year, and if the traditional development model is followed, it will take at least 2-3 years.
On the other hand, the required chassis has the characteristics of high standardization and strong versatility, which is highly consistent with the concept of skateboard chassis.
(3) Part of the main engine factory
Some OEMs mainly refer to those OEMs that have been focusing on the fuel vehicle market in the early stage, but have slowed down in the process of electrification, and they urgently need to catch up with the "last train" of electrification through the help of third-party skateboard chassis.
If a set of vehicle research and development system is re-established, the investment in time and funds will be very large, and even affect the speed of product iteration. In the case of weak brand power and channel power, if you want to quickly complete the know-how process, and quickly open up the market and establish brand awareness, using a skateboard chassis may be a better choice.
Fourth, the dilemma and trend of future scene landing
4.1 Suitable landing scenarios in the future
In the short term, the priority landing is still low-speed commercial vehicles. First of all, after the unmanned driving solution becomes more and more mature, the demand for automatic driving in low-speed scenarios will also increase; secondly, the technical demand for chassis in such scenarios is not particularly high, and the promotion of skateboard chassis is strong.
Cao Yuteng has also publicly mentioned the outbreak time period of commercial vehicles, he said: "In the field of commercial vehicles, there may be a wave of outbreaks in the next 3-5 years. ”
In the medium term, some autonomous driving solution providers will start in some commercial vehicle areas, such as trunk logistics, Robotaxi, etc. The starting point of the outbreak is when high-end automatic driving is relatively mature, and after experiencing the development of the field of low-speed vehicles and the maturity of related core technologies, the overall cost of the skateboard chassis will reach a level that can be promoted in a large area.
In the long run, some OEMs may choose skateboard chassis, but the outbreak of passenger cars will be late, and it will be limited by various conditions such as regulations, technological maturity, and customer acceptance.
4.2 Dilemma in commercialization
(1) The application bandwidth of a single skateboard chassis has limitations
A highly standardized skateboard chassis, no matter what fine-tuning of the hardware, is unlikely to cover the needs of all models.
In terms of commercial vehicles, according to the needs of different scenarios, the performance requirements for the chassis are also different. On the one hand, for unmanned vehicles in open scenarios, compared with unmanned vehicles in closed scenes or semi-closed scenarios, their hardware requirements will be higher and they need to face various complex open road conditions; on the other hand, unmanned vehicles with different operating functions will require different loads, power and other requirements.
Peng Xu, general manager of Changsha Yuwan Technology, said: "Most of the domestic skateboard chassis is used in logistics-related fields, while Yuwan mainly focuses on the field of sanitation. At present, most of the domestic skateboard chassis is used in logistics-related fields, but it is not suitable for application in sanitation vehicles, mainly due to the skateboard chassis of unmanned logistics vehicles, its load capacity is low, and the overall structure does not meet the needs of sanitation vehicles. ”
He continued: "The biggest technical barrier to unmanned sanitation vehicles is that the manufacturing process refers to the vehicle standard, such as the use of medium and high-speed commercial vehicle standards in some wire control technologies. Although it is a low-speed vehicle (about 3-5 kilometers per hour), the vehicle needs to add a certain degree of redundancy due to the open road. ”
The same is true in terms of passenger cars, the skateboard chassis bandwidth cannot cover all models, and the performance will not be "just right".
On the one hand, it is impossible for a skateboard chassis to cover all classes of models. Perhaps within the range of adjustable wheelbase, it can be properly covered to cars of about three classes, or even SUVs, etc., but some models certainly cannot be covered, such as sports cars. Because the hardware space of the skateboard chassis is very limited, the performance requirements required by sports cars are bound to be different from those of family cars. In the field of passenger cars, the final game must be a customized development platform, that is, a variety of standardized products + customizable hardware modules, taking REE as an example, the chassis announced is 5 sizes, which can be adapted to the needs of different models.
A number of skateboard chassis companies are also laying out the developer platform, such as PIX independent research and development of AMM, Zhu Xiaosong introduced: "AMM technology, is a "computational design" model, users only need to drag and drop the slider, input boundary data, you can customize different skateboard chassis. ”
On the other hand, the standardization of skateboard chassis will inevitably have a certain design range and safety performance boundaries. Taking a family car as an example, no matter how to design the appearance of the upper body of the model, the A-pillar, B-pillar and C-pillar outside the body will have a fixed-range installation point, otherwise the passive safety performance of the vehicle outside this range will lose a certain guarantee. No matter how the seats in the car are installed, they cannot change particularly obviously, after all, the central control screen, air conditioning system, trunk, etc. will also occupy a part of the space.
(2) The landing problem of the passenger car scene
In the short term, the original supply chain in the passenger car field is difficult to break, and the chassis is still the core technology of the main engine factory.
From the perspective of supply chain security, the chassis brings together most of the core hardware of electric vehicles, if outsourced, the main engine factory may only be left with two departments of software and body design, and even some skateboard chassis companies can provide a complete set of vehicle solutions. So where should the original chassis department personnel go? Cut them all? In addition, once the third-party chassis company does not supply skateboard chassis, who will the OEMs buy in the future? This will make the position of the main engine factory in the future very passive.
From the perspective of supply chain cost, the supply chain cost advantage of the current head OEMs is very obvious, and in the case that the supply chain advantage of the skateboard chassis enterprise has not been formed, the use of the skateboard chassis will increase the BOM cost. Similar to the explosive logic of mobile phones and Tesla, the main engine factory, including the new forces that have entered the game, are also based on the promotion of explosive products, in this context, when the sales volume has not yet reached a high level, the disadvantage of the high cost of the skateboard chassis bicycle BOM is very obvious (the following figure is the cost comparison of the three car-making modes).
Table: Cost comparison of the three car-making models
For OEMs, the cost of the vehicle includes the BOM cost and the R&D cost, and the R&D cost is generally apportioned to the cost of the single vehicle. With the gradual increase in sales, the cost of research and development has become lower, and the cost of bicycle BOM has become the mainstay. How many units do we need to reach in order to reach the critical value of the three car-making models? Under what conditions can a solution with a skateboard chassis maximize benefits?
In response to these questions, an expert from a skateboard chassis company replied: "The current production of skateboard chassis mainly uses customized production, but everyone generally believes that the higher the degree of customized production, the lower the total cost of the bicycle, which is wrong." In fact, the earlier it is, the higher the proportion of customized production, and the later it is, the proportion of customized production will decrease. ”
He continued: "In general, when more than 1,000 vehicles are sold each year, the cost of traditional process production is lower than the cost of customized production. ”
That is to say, when the annual sales volume is less than 1,000 units, the total cost of bicycles using third-party skateboard chassis will be less than that of traditional car-making models. However, when the sales volume is higher than this critical value, the cost of the traditional car model will be further increased with sales, and the research and development cost will be quickly amortized so that the total cost will drop rapidly, at which time the third-party skateboard chassis will lose its competitiveness in terms of cost.
Figure: The relationship between the total cost of bicycles and annual sales of three car-making modes
From the perspective of applicable customer groups, the willingness of the main engine factory above the waist to use the skateboard chassis is not high, and some of the head OEMs have achieved the integration and modularization of the chassis, and what they lack is not chassis technology, but more of the core components in the future chassis, such as full-line control technology.
Some people in the industry believe that technology giants such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Apple may be potential users of skateboard chassis. However, such companies have very strong capital strength and research and development strength, self-developed chassis is not difficult, considering the cost disadvantage of skateboard chassis under large sales, so they are unlikely to outsource the chassis to third-party companies.
(3) The landing trend of commercial vehicle scenarios
For low-speed scenarios, the volume of each subdivision track is not large, but it is necessary to find the market in the early stage. The author believes that a good subdivision track must have the following three characteristics at the same time, which is the best market entry for the skateboard chassis: the first is that the hematopoietic ability of the track is strong enough, and the profit model is outstanding; the second is that it can reuse the same skateboard chassis, and the iteration of the car body will not have too much impact on the hardware part of the car body; the third is that the space in the market must be large enough to amortize the overall cost of the skateboard chassis.
Cao Yuteng, co-founder and COO of PIX Moving, has publicly said: "We first started from the market of unmanned special vehicles, which is the area where high-level autonomous driving can be most easily commercially landed." We consider from three aspects: the first is whether it can really create value for customers and solve practical problems; the second is whether customers can do better reuse according to our existing products and technologies; and the third is whether it has the possibility of mass production. ”
In addition, customers in subdivided scenarios may also produce skateboard chassis themselves, but only companies with certain capital strength can play like this, and only for their own star products, because the cost of opening the mold is often tens of millions. But most of the customers in the segmentation scene are start-up companies, and they do not have much determination to invest capital and will not develop their own skateboard chassis.
For medium and high-speed scenarios, such as trunk logistics, 70%-80% of the cost is in the chassis, and the cost of the current trunk logistics vehicle has been extremely low, unless the cost advantage of the skateboard chassis is obvious, or there are other differentiated advantages in other software and hardware performance, otherwise the attraction of using the skateboard chassis is not obvious.
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