In late winter and early spring, although the cold is still there, the trees have not yet sprouted, and the grass has not yet returned to green, the plan to go out is already on the string. Because of his concern for his parents, this time he chose to return home after the Spring Festival: from Beijing to Xinyang, Henan. Another familiar journey, only this time accompanied by an electric car: the Polar Fox Alpha S (ARCFOX αS).
Driving an electric vehicle for the first time on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway across north and south of China, and the total round-trip journey reached 2480 kilometers, which was a challenge for both us and this electric vehicle. However, the anticipation and excitement of a fresh experience easily replaces the fear of encountering various uncertainty challenges.
In the past, when going out for a long trip, as long as it exceeded 500 kilometers, it would definitely choose to drive a fuel vehicle. After all, reports of embarrassing encounters such as unreliable battery life of electric vehicles and charging longer than driving time have spread all over the network. However, the price of No. 92 gasoline has risen to more than 8 yuan recently, and the survival warning of "filling the fuel tank and going bankrupt" has sounded in the ears, and, in addition, it is not a Spring Festival trip, and the high-speed toll cannot be reduced. Therefore, after "thinking twice", in order to "cost-effective" and reduce carbon travel, we chose an electric car, which is just a high-speed journey of pure electric vehicles.
The driving distance from Beijing to Xinyang, Henan is 990 km (AutoNavi map)
From Beijing to Xinyang, there are 3 different routes to choose from, all of which are mainly expressways. The Preferred Service Station is relatively better on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, followed by the Daguang Expressway, which is slightly farther away, and the Beijing-Kunming Expressway, with a one-way mileage of about 1200 kilometers, and 95% of the distance is almost 1000 kilometers. As we all know, the higher the speed of the electric vehicle, the faster the power drops, from this point of view, this trip to drive ARCFOX αS is completely a test of the performance of a pure electric vehicle in high-speed endurance.
Facts have proved that the performance and experience of electric vehicles can not only read the post, only know if you open it. Especially for the battery life and charging experience, from the experience of this electric vehicle thousands of miles, the feeling is still not the same as the idea.
The car of this journey: Polar Fox Car Alpha S 708S Long Endurance Edition
Charging preparation: Soldiers and horses did not move grain and grass first
This Polar Fox ARCFOX αS is a 708-kilometer long-endurance version, the market price is 281,900 yuan, because of the purchase tax exemption, so buy an insurance can be licensed, the total price is about 290,000 yuan.
From the perspective of size, ARCFOX αS is completely the volume of a medium and large sedan, with a length of 4.93 meters and a wheelbase of 2.915 meters, which is more suitable for highway driving, because the space inside the car is large, especially the rear passengers will not feel cramped, and the comfort is high.
The ARCFOX αS we drive is also the longest in the entire series, using a front-mounted single motor, and the battery energy is 93.6KW/h.
To ensure a complete highway tour, the day before departure, we found a charging station in Qemes near the basement of a mall and filled the car with electricity. According to the after-sales service personnel of Jihu, it is best to charge more than 90% per charge.
The charging station of The Kaimeis is the charging station of Volkswagen, but it is not exclusive to the brand, as long as the code can be lowered, the price of 1.63 yuan / kWh is not expensive, the key is that the charging efficiency is relatively high, the voltage of 360 volts, the real-time current of 160 amperes is very stable, and the charging 55 minutes from 10% of the battery life has been charged to 80%, just enough to go to the supermarket to buy something and come back. The time from 80% to 90% is slightly longer, and it takes about 20 minutes to wait, which is also a unified feature of electric vehicle charging. When the charging display reaches 93%, close the charging pile and wait for the next day's long journey.
Scan the code to lower the ground lock for charging, regardless of the model
The high-speed distance of 1000 kilometers is still impossible for arcfox αS 708s to run at one time, and charging in the middle is inevitable. For the sake of safety, we listened to the advice of the Extreme Fox car service staff and adopted the strategy of stopping and charging after running about 200 kilometers.
According to this charging rhythm, the highway section from Beijing to Xinyang is divided into 5 sections, at least 4 charging stations need to be recharged, we chose Baoding, Xingtai in Hebei and Hebi and Zhumadian in Henan as charging rest areas according to the distance.
Departure: About road conditions, acceleration, chassis, large screen
At 5:30 a.m., we depart from Beijing's South Second Ring Road. Although it is early spring, but the north is still relatively cool in the morning and evening, considering that the use of air conditioning in electric vehicles is more luxurious, we prepared blankets in the car, which proved to be useful when leaving early in the morning, especially when the child gets on the car to make up for sleep, and the inside of the car feels very cold. However, because it has been preset for 200 kilometers to charge once, it is not long after the air conditioner is turned on for a while on the road, and the temperature experience in the car is still good.
From Beijing, the road conditions on the highway are very good, and there are relatively few cars on the road due to the avoidance of holidays. Fewer cars mean fewer accidents, and the road conditions are much better than the 2021 National Day self-driving home. On the National Day, before leaving Beijing, I encountered no less than 5 accidents of various kinds, and the whole journey was slowly delayed, and I went back home in the dark and took the wrong road and wore the stars and the moon.
After further comparing the photos of various highway congestion in the WeChat circle of friends during the Spring Festival, we are even more fortunate to be able to start this journey with an electric "smooth" experience of non-long holidays without any unexpected factors interfering.
Although this is a two-wheel drive car, it has an advantage in acceleration compared to the four-wheel drive version of this series, but it can also break through the hundred within 9 seconds, so it is easy to merge and overtake on the highway. The feeling of driving up the chassis is also very reassuring, it belongs to the advanced + solid, the performance is very stable, and there is no lack of support for high-speed lane changes.
There are many speed bumps on the highway in Baoding, and this ARCFOX αS does not have too much bounce when passing these speed bumps, the suspension is clean and neatly retractable, and the filtering is very crisp for some small potholes, this set of chassis can really give a high evaluation.
Alpha S has a 20.3-inch through-line central control screen, which is the center of gravity of the entire interior design and interaction with people and cars. The leftmost screen is the main driving information screen, which can display almost all driving-related information, and the core driving information of mileage, speed, power consumption, and remaining power can be switched at any time as long as the buttons on the steering wheel are passed, and the scenes can also be switched.
The map on the central control screen, the song information in the entertainment system, etc. can also be mapped to the large screen in front of the main driver at the same time, plus the HUD head-up display, it can be said that in the control of the entire large screen of the vehicle, the main driver can easily complete.
The middle screen display and the right display of the co-pilot can also be swapped at any time, but the author is not too skilled in using it, and is not willing to take the risk of operating the screen during the driving process.
Of course, in addition to the hand touch screen can be adjusted, the knob on the car console can also be controlled on the large screen, but the author spent some time looking for "lane keeping", the page level is too much, and it feels that the operation is not very convenient.
Wireless charging device on the car
In addition, the interior materials of the car are also commendable, and the main color is gray. The interior covering is basically leather-based, coupled with some metal embellishments, the interior has a modern low-key luxury. In terms of interior details, the roof is also wrapped in fur material, so it is still in place at the level of detail. However, the Alpha S's two-frame steering wheel blocks the knobs of adaptive cruise, making it inconvenient for first-time users to abandon the ease of handling for the sake of design, one of the few regrets in its interior design.
In addition, the author personally believes that some commonly used keys such as lane keeping should also be arranged in the position of one-button activation. If there is any problem with the central control screen, the author feels that the expansion is not too strong, some of the software in it is not commonly used, in addition to Baidu Map, Tencent Video, other software and the weakness of the use of the feeling are more obvious, I believe that Huawei's version of ARCFOX αS Hi version will better solve these problems.
How safe is the battery life?
After talking about the basic situation of the vehicle, let's talk about the power consumption and endurance of more than 2400 kilometers round trip.
More than 95% of the round-trip 2480 kilometers are highways, and the road conditions and driving conditions are very ideal, the average speed can reach more than 100 km / h, and the cruising speed of the normal road section is 115 km -120 km / h, so it can basically reflect the power consumption of this ARCFOX αS long-endurance version of the highway.
Because the Polar Fox APP can track the power consumption of the vehicle in real time, the actual driving situation of this journey shows that in the case of 95% of the ARCFOX αS battery fully charged, the high-speed endurance (120 km / h cruising) can basically reach or approach 370 km, that is to say, according to the 93.6 kWh battery capacity of the Pole Fox, the power consumption of this driving on the highway is 23.88 kWh per 100 kilometers.
This power consumption situation the author is prepared, electric vehicles and fuel vehicles on the highway performance is completely different, fuel vehicles on the highway has an economic fuel consumption speed range, to Nissan X-Trail 2.0L as an example, 65 liters of fuel tank can run more than 800 kilometers on the highway in a full tank, and the speed can be maintained at more than 100 kilometers / h. The electric car is completely different, the faster the speed, the greater the power consumption, so with the current general electric vehicle endurance level, driving about 200 kilometers must be charged.
Polar Fox is already the first echelon of domestic mileage model, comprehensive consideration of the temperature is still in single digits caused by the low temperature loss of electricity, as well as the distribution of charging stations on the highway, overall, this mileage level of mileage security can still be guaranteed.
The APP can view vehicle information at any time and control the vehicle remotely
Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao high-speed charging experience
The little blackboard knocks on the point: let's talk about the ARCFOX αS charging at high speed.
Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway as a north-south traffic artery, basically all service areas on the way have a place to park and charge, and the State Grid charging station also achieves full coverage of the service stations along the way, in addition to the State Grid, including Xiaopeng, Weilai and other operating entities of the charging station also occasionally appear.
Xinyang is the last stop on the Beijing-Guangzhou Line in Henan Province, close to the Hubei border. So from Beijing to Xinyang, the highway runs through Hebei and Henan provinces. Checking on the Internet, on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, there are a total of 30 service areas from Beijing to Wuhan, and 25 of them can be charged. Driving all the way over, the number of charging piles observed at multiple service stations ranged from 2 to 8.
Due to the avoidance of holidays, coupled with the high-speed is not free, so the charging pile is very rich, more accurately the charging station is a bit deserted, the most charging companion is in the Service Area of Zhumadian in Henan, but the 6 charging bits are only 3 vehicles charging. It can be seen that the convenience of charging during non-holiday periods can be guaranteed, but for charging stations, it also reflects that the utilization rate of most of the time is relatively low.
Vehicles charging back and forth are basically vehicles in this province or region, and there are relatively few electric vehicles that drive from Beijing to Henan like this. Electric vehicles are also basically not seen on the highway, and electric vehicles will only appear on the highway in provincial capital cities such as Zhengzhou and Shijiazhuang, as well as when the return journey is close to Beijing. This also shows that short-distance and urban periphery use is still the mainstream use of electric vehicles.
Compared with Henan Hebei, the author's feeling is that the service stations and charging stations in Henan are in better condition than Hebei. The most impressive is the charging station in the service area of Dingzhou, Hebei Province, located in the far corner of the entire service area, not only remote and lack of maintenance, although the charging pile can be used normally, but the surrounding environment is very messy, and it has not been properly maintained like a gas station. In contrast, it is necessary to praise the service station of the Henan section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway.
In addition, in addition to the State Grid charging station, in the individual service area encountered Xiaopeng exclusive super charging pile and Weilai automobile replacement power station, of which Xiaopeng super charging pile must be certified owner to be able to use, in terms of exclusive services, the new car-making forces are indeed ahead of other brands.
Charging time is also a minus point for electric vehicle travel compared with fuel vehicles. At 7:30 a.m. that day, after driving for two hours, we arrived at the first planned charging station - Baoding Service Area Charging Station, at this time the vehicle still had 46% of the power, charging time of 1 hour and 4 minutes, charging 36.61 kWh, costing 59.62 yuan.
Judging from the four charges of one-way, the single charge is basically about an hour. The remaining charge during each pit charge is generally maintained between 35% and 45%, and finally it is charged to 90%. The obvious feeling is that the charging efficiency in the Henan section is higher than that in Hebei, and at the Hebi Service Station in Henan, 49 kWh is charged in 55 minutes, compared with Baoding, Hebei. But this does not rule out that it is related to the charging time.
Hebi service area charging pile parameters
During the hour of charging, I basically spent eating and drinking, brushing my mobile phone, going to the bathroom, getting off the bus to exercise, and taking a nap, combining work and leisure, and did not feel that the time was too long.
Return to Luohe Service Station, the charging piles of high-speed service stations in this period of time are almost all idle
Questions about charge voltage and current
When it comes to charging efficiency, everyone may have always had a misunderstanding, that is, the same charging station, the charging status of each car should be the same, in fact, it is not.
At the charging station in Zhumadian, the author took a look at the charging situation of ARCFOX αS, at 35% of the power, the charging voltage is 360V, and the charging current is 224.9 amperes. Next to a Geely electric vehicle with 40% of the remaining power, the charging voltage is 320V, while the charging current is 123.1 amperes. In addition, there is a Changan electric vehicle, in the case of 45% of the remaining power, the charging voltage is 366V, the charging current is 164.3 amperes.
Even in the same charging station, the voltage and current of the charging piles used side by side are different
On this issue, the service staff of Jihu Automobile was specifically asked, and the reply was that, first of all, this may be related to the voltage and current of each charging pile in the same charging station; secondly, different car brands and batteries of different capacities are different for charging management, which will cause different brands of vehicles to charge on the same charging pile will also have different voltages and currents, and even if the power of each charging pile in the charging station is the same, the same car will have slight differences in charging on different charging piles.
In addition, the State Grid e-charging APP is still very easy to use on the highway, which can monitor the charging situation of the vehicle in real time, the status and parameters are very meticulous, and the settlement after charging is also very fast. If you do not use the plug-and-play function, you need to recharge first and then scan the code to charge, if you need to refund, it is also a one-click, and the speed of refund is also quite fast. In short, on the highway, the charging efficiency of the state grid is very high.
However, there is also a point to note that the State Grid charging has several time periods of peak electricity consumption, usually and trough of electricity consumption, so when charging and settling, if the electricity and service charges are displayed before and after, you can check the unit price electricity corresponding to the charging time point.
The State Grid e-charging APP can display instantaneous charging parameters
Total charging cost: equivalent to driving a fuel vehicle free of high-speed fee
The 2480-kilometer electric vehicle journey was charged 11 times on the highway, and the total charging cost was 626.38 yuan (charging service fee 316.49 yuan, electricity cost 309.89 yuan a little).
Before leaving Beijing, charging (Kaimeisi) cost a total of 127.4 yuan, and the total amount of charging was 78 degrees.
During the period in Xinyang City, charging 2 times (thanks to The AutoNavi map), the first time is that it is impossible to find the State Grid charging station, and finally can only "borrow" the only charging pile that can be found in the tower company near the high-speed rail station, charging costs 52 minutes, charging capacity of 42.85 yuan, charging cost 55.69 yuan, average 1.3 yuan one kilowatt hour of electricity, the most important thing is not to stop the fee.
The second time was to find a charging pile called Shifeng Technology near the national highway, charging cost 74 minutes and charging cost 65.05 yuan.
Overall, the total cost of this 2480 km high-speed self-driving is about 860 yuan, and the average cost of 100 kilometers is 34.7 yuan without calculating the highway toll.
If you take the fuel car to make a comparison, 2480 km, 2.0L car 100 km consumes 8 liters of gasoline, then the total fuel cost should be about 1580 yuan (calculated according to the calculation of 8 yuan without liters of gasoline), so even if the electric vehicle consumes more electricity on the highway, it is nearly half cheaper than the fuel car, which is equivalent to saving the high-speed fee.
"No anxiety" trip
This time self-driving homecoming, go out at 5:30 in the morning, arrive home before 8:30 that night, the whole journey is 15 hours, during which it is charged four times, it takes about four hours, and the overall self-driving time of the National Day fuel vehicle is equivalent. Of course, among them, there are factors that have chosen non-holiday travel and smooth high-speed travel.
In fact, judging from the posts of netizens complaining about the difficulty of charging, it is mainly the problems that occur when driving from south to north. The penetration rate of electric vehicles in the south is high, the monks are more porridge, and the experience is naturally not very good; the north is different, due to the greater impact of the cold environment on the performance of the battery, the acceptance and utilization rate of electric vehicles in the north is also significantly lower than that in the south, and the anxiety of insufficient piles is naturally much lower.
The whole 2400 km self-driving car summarizes:
First of all, the Polar Fox ARCFOX αS is a commendable mid-level electric vehicle, the whole driving process without any problems, quality and performance is stable. The whole car is big enough space for a family. Even the single-motor version is easy to navigate on the highway.
Secondly, the configuration of the vehicle is high enough, the basic conceivable configuration has been, the whole car perfectly reflects the silent effect of the electric vehicle, NVH (noise, vibration and vibration roughness, also known as ride comfort) is relatively solid, and the experience on the high speed is very good. If there is a need to improve, it is the UI (interface design) of the large screen and the overall logic of the collation, as well as the scalability of the application software.
The actual cost of electric vehicles is indeed relatively low, even on highways, which is half lower than that of fuel vehicles.
In terms of mileage, high speed and low temperature are the threshold that electric vehicles cannot pass, but this 2480 km driving, ARCFOX αS can be stably charged every 200 km on high speed, just rest for 1 hour, not in a hurry, the experience is very good, and even better than driving a fuel vehicle to run a long distance high speed.
On the highway, in addition to the free period, the charging status of other periods is still good, and the charging settings on the highway are also very convenient and trustworthy.
The high-speed charging experience in the Hebei section is not as good as that in the Henan section. In addition, the promotion of electric vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities (unlimited purchases and unlimited numbers) will take time, especially if there is still a big gap in charging facilities compared with first- and second-tier cities.
The stable performance of the Polar Fox electric vehicle + the high coverage of the high-speed charging assembly in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao allowed the author's first long-distance electric vehicle experience to be completed in a "zero anxiety" situation. Although this is a special experience of staggered peak travel during the epidemic, it also proves that long-distance travel by electric vehicles can be unburdened. It is believed that with the continuous improvement of charging convenience and the implementation of more supercharger stations and replacement mode, the experience of electric vehicle travel will only get better and better.