In the BBA camp, BMW is the best to do electrification products. According to BMW's previously released financial report information, in 2021, BMW Group's new energy vehicle sales were 328,300 units, an increase of 70.4% year-on-year, accounting for 13% of total sales.
In last year's global new energy vehicle sales list, BMW Group ranked 5th, ahead of Mercedes-Benz and Audi, becoming the traditional luxury car company with the best new energy sales.
However, as far as pure electric vehicles are concerned, BMW only sold about 103,000 vehicles worldwide last year, which is not only far from Tesla (more than 930,000 vehicles sold in 2021), but also has a lot of distance from BYD (more than 320,000 pure electric vehicles sold in 2021), which is only equivalent to the domestic sales of any "Wei Xiaoli".
Mercedes-Benz and Audi's all-electric vehicle sales are also difficult to rank among the front-line camps, with the former selling about 90,000 units worldwide and then about 82,000 units.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have all launched a new electrification strategy in 2019, which is often called "BBA's counterattack" by the media, but in terms of market performance at this stage, the first wave of BBA counterattack is definitely not a success.
Next, these three heavyweight traditional luxury car companies will launch a new offensive, Audi plans to launch 6 new pure electric models this year, Mercedes-Benz plans to launch 8 models, and BMW will put into production this year as many as 15 pure electric cars!
After testing the waters some time ago, the BBA is going to move this time, but the question is, can the strong product offensive completely reverse their disadvantages in the field of pure electricity?
High-end models came together
Different from Tesla and a number of new forces car companies "high open low" (first launch high-end models to hit the brand, and then harvest the market with low-end models), BBA's pure electric products start with mid-range main models, and then gradually move to the high-end. More than a year after the Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW iX3 and Audi e-tron went on the market, they will launch some models that better represent their brand image.
BMW unveiled the iX pure electric SUV last year, which is positioned higher than the iX3, surpassing the BMW X5 in body length and wheelbase, which was considered BMW's pure electric flagship model at the time. However, BMW recently announced that the new pure electric sedan, the i7, is the true pure electric flagship.
BMW iX
The car is based on the new generation of 7 series (fuel version), the design is highly recognizable, the size of the net is huge, the headlights adopt a split shape, the car is equipped with BMW's eighth-generation iDrive car system, and the rear also provides a foldable 31-inch super large screen.
The BMW i7 entry-level model has a maximum power of 400kW, and the top model may be equipped with a three-motor drive system, with a maximum power of 552kW, equipped with a 120kW·h battery pack, and a cruising range of 580km-610km under WLTP conditions.
Foreign media released BMW's new generation 7 Series test car spy photos
Mercedes-Benz's pace is faster than BMW's, the flagship pure electric sedan EQS has been officially launched at the end of last year (guidance price 107.96-151.86 million yuan), the next step, they will also launch the EQS SUV version.
Mercedes-Benz EQS
The EQS SUV continues the design features of the EQS, and the overall size may be further increased, with an estimated body length of 5200mm and a wheelbase of more than 3100mm. In terms of power, the same configuration as EQS will be adopted, and the battery will be further expanded on the basis of EQS (111.8kWh), and the cruising range under WLTP conditions is expected to exceed 800km.
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV under test
In addition to the EQS SUV, Mercedes-Benz will also launch the EQE SUV, under the new pure electric platform, Mercedes-Benz's new generation of pure electric products will have a high degree of expansion, the product sequence is expected to be in line with the existing main fuel vehicles.
Looking at audi again, at present, they have launched pure electric SUVs such as e-tron, Q2 e-tron, Q5 e-tron, etc. The next step is to enrich the model category and improve market adaptability, such as the four-door coupe e-tron GT, the compact SUV Q4 e-tron, the station wagon A6 e-tron and other pure electric models will be launched within this year.
The most eye-catching of Audi's new all-electric car is the e-tron GT, a pure electric coupe that shares the platform with the Porsche Taycan (J1 pure electric platform).
The tech trees are all going to the top
From a technical point of view, pure electric models such as Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW iX3, Audi e-tron and other pure electric models that appear earlier are based on the same platform as the same level of fuel vehicles, and in terms of power, driving control, comfort and other dimensions, compared with some models that claim to use pure electric exclusive platforms, there are still obvious advantages. More importantly, in the case that the proportion of pure electricity product sales is still extremely low, the use of oil and electricity sharing platform can also greatly reduce research and development costs.
BBA's achievements in mechanical hardware are not comparable to any emerging car company.
However, it is undeniable that the pure electric exclusive platform has unique advantages in terms of space utilization and the level of vehicle intelligence, and with the continuous popularization of pure electric models, the update of the platform is imperative.
Mercedes-Benz and Audi have been relatively active in this regard, the former has launched an EVA platform corresponding to medium- and large-sized models and above, and an MMA platform for compact and medium-sized vehicles, both of which support new electrification technologies such as 800V voltage systems, two-speed transmissions, and low-energy permanent magnet synchronous motors, which have a significant effect on improving the comprehensive performance of electric vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz pure electric platform classification, EVA platform will become the exclusive platform for high-end pure electric models.
Audi, the latest Q5 e-tron has adopted the MEB pure electric platform to create, the platform inherited from the Volkswagen ID. series models, the relevant technical indicators are not outstanding, but this is only one of Audi's pure electric technology reserves, they also have the J1 platform and PPE platform two trump cards.
Audi has three pure electric platforms
J1 platform has been mentioned above, is derived from the Porsche Taycan high-performance pure electric sports car platform, and PPE is Audi and Porsche jointly developed, suitable for large cars or SUVs pure electric platform, the first model is A6 e-tron, the car in the WLTP mileage can exceed 700km, can support 270kW charging power, theoretically charging 10 minutes can increase the range of 300km.
BMW's electrification technology seems conservative, but it is actually the most confident one. The BMW i3 and i8 launched in 2014 have adopted the concept of pure electric exclusive platform to build, in the era when new energy vehicles have not yet become a major trend, these two cars can be called the leaders of pure electricity.
When it comes to the exclusive platform of pure electricity, Mercedes-Benz and Audi must call BMW a big brother.
Since then, BMW has focused on the electrification of plug-in hybrid models, thanks to the higher applicability of plug-in hybrid models, BMW's proportion of new energy products has continued to increase, and finally opened up the distance with Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
As for pure electric technology, BMW of course has a comprehensive preparation, the pure electric exclusive platform named Neue Klasse will be in front of 2025, the new platform has a strong scalability, can adapt to the 2 series sedan to X7 full-size SUV multi-level models, power and endurance will use a new generation of batteries with higher energy density and faster charging speed.
Unfortunately, high-end models are not the way out
There is no shortage of products and technologies, is the next road to electrification of the BBA going forward? No, they're all missing a real blockbuster.
From the above new product planning, it can be seen that the BBA will launch basically some "high-tech" models, either flagship models or pure electric sports cars like the Audi e-tron GT. Although these models have an excellent "show muscle" effect, they can establish a new image of BBA in the field of pure electricity, and also show their determination and strength to transform. But a harsh reality is that these products don't do much to boost sales.
Audi A6 e-tron Avant
Tesla is a very typical example, the earliest launch of the Model S is a million-level pure electric sedan, positioned similar to Mercedes-Benz's latest EQS, but the contribution of the car, more just for Tesla to make a name, the real sales explosion, is the later launch of the entry model Model 3, and after the emergence of Model 3, Model S instantly became a product that no one cared about.
The situation in the Chinese market is more reflective of the problem. In the top 20 of the latest pure electric vehicle sales list (see the figure below), there are only 6 models that sell for more than 200,000, and the rest are affordable products, and among those 6 models, the highest price is the NIO ES6 (guide price 34.67-51.34 million). It is not difficult to imagine that the BBA's high-end pure electric vehicles with millions of dollars will most likely only accompany the market after entering the market.
Compact size, stylish design, sufficient battery life, and affordable price, such pure electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular among consumers. The picture shows the BYD Dolphin, which sold nearly 20,000 vehicles in January-February this year.
The market continues to develop, consumers continue to mature, people quickly realized that pure electric vehicles do not have the so-called "pyramid tip". On technology, the most core motors and batteries are provided by suppliers, car companies are only responsible for design and integration; on performance, more than 300,000 car "zero hundred" acceleration has been able to achieve within 4 seconds, endurance of more than 600km; on the intelligent experience, Chinese brands leading the industry has been a well-known fact...
In the field of pure electricity, the premium ability of luxury brands has been quickly offset, and no matter how many high-end models are launched, it will not help. The only solution is to create an entry-level product with excellent product strength and relatively attractive price as soon as possible, specifically, it is a compact positioning, the endurance is about 500km, the acceleration does not need to be too fast, and the price is about 200,000-250,000 (this price is already considered "entry" for BBA pure electric vehicles).
With the strength of the BBA, there is no technical threshold for building such a car, and what may be needed is better resource integration ability, as well as an attitude of putting down the body and recognizing the status quo.
Text | superman
(This article is the author's personal opinion only and does not represent the position of DearAuto.) )
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Mr. Li Guoyong of Guangdong Green Law Firm