Observation chamber
Written by | Liu Jihao
On the track of new energy, traditional veteran car companies have not been very active, but seeing that this market has begun to grow explosively, everyone can't sit still.
So, more than 5 months ago, we saw Honda's ambitious comprehensive transformation plan, new brand, new architecture, new full-stack intelligent control ecosystem and outlining, and planned to use China as a base camp to promote this core strategy for the future.
However, at the specific landing level, Honda's joint venture in China will undoubtedly play a key role, because they are the main force of localization research and development and production, and they are also the pioneers of brand operation. A few days ago, GAC Honda officially released its pure electric brand e:NP Chinese name "Extreme Turbulence", while the ambition is prominent, Guangqi Honda Executive Deputy General Manager Zheng Heng also stressed many times: This time we are moving.
Fight for speed, a new car every year
Since it is a real thing, product planning is naturally the primary concern of consumers.
According to the official statement of Gac Honda, in addition to the Jipan 1, which will soon be listed, the Jipan brand will maintain the rhythm of a new car per year for the next 4 years, which is not fast, and it can be seen that GAC Honda has already started to lay out.
It is also true that as early as honda announced the full power of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of last year, GAC Honda announced a plan to build a new energy plant at the end of 2018, investing 3.27 billion yuan, built in two phases, put into operation in 2024, with an initial annual production capacity of 120,000 units, and then expanded to 170,000 units / year. At present, the plant has started construction. It is reported that in addition to the full application of 5G technology and the introduction of a number of advanced intelligent equipment and systems, the new factory also builds flexible manufacturing capabilities for products through intelligent innovation at the production end such as parts inventory, assembly site and logistics correspondence, and realizes rapid response to personalized product needs.
You might say that this capacity seems to be nothing compared to Guangqi Honda's current annual sales of 800,000 units. However, in the mainstream joint venture sector, volkswagen currently has a new model of a new pure electric platform for sale, but in the past year, the Volkswagen ID series has only sold more than 70,000 vehicles in the Chinese market, and it should be known that it is the data that the north and south Volkswagen sell a variety of cars at the same time. After all, Honda has clearly defined the time node of the new energy transformation in the Chinese market: in 2030, the sales volume of pure electric vehicles (including fuel cells) will account for 40%, 80% in 2035, and 100% in 2040.
This means that with the development of the new energy market, GUANGC Honda's existing fuel vehicle production capacity will gradually be converted into the production of new energy vehicles in the future. Such a firm new energy strategic direction is naturally inseparable from the support of technical strength, which we can see from the details previously announced by Honda.
The most important thing is the new e:N Architecture pure electric architecture, which includes two pure electric drive modules, e:N Architecture W and e:N Architecture F. The former includes two product lines, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, designed to provide a better driving experience, especially the rear-drive series, which emphasizes extreme performance and driving pleasure, both of which are installed in medium and large products; the latter is based on the front-wheel drive structure, designed to highlight the light and fast, for small and medium-sized products, GUANGC Honda's upcoming Polar 1 was born from this architecture.
In addition, Honda has also brought the previous development experience in the development of electric models such as the NSX and the aerodynamic control experience accumulated in F1 races into the e:N brand, further improving the acceleration response and control direction, bringing a sports car-like driving feeling. It is said that the electronic control program alone integrates more than 20,000 scenario algorithms, which is 40 times more than that of ordinary electric vehicles, which is only the data of the first generation of products...
The brand, platform, technology, factory, and planning are already in place, so it is time to see whether the specific product force is enough to move.
Moving the real grid, pole 1 can see the big difference
The upcoming official launch of the Polar Pan 1 is the first touchstone of Honda's new e:N pure electric architecture, and Guangqi Honda's ve-1, which previously relied on the concept of brand oil to electricity, has no comparison with it.
As a true pure electric new car, its shape is based on e:N Design's new design language, with the design concept of "one touch of the future", in the official terms, it is "breaking the boundary and bringing users a different new experience".
With a body length of about 4.4 meters and a width of nearly 1.8 meters, the Ji pan 1 is longer and wider in size than Guangqi Honda's small SUV that has been selling for many years, but the wheelbase is the same. Therefore, the model positioning of the Polar Pan 1 is also very clear, you can call it a small SUV, or you can think of it as an entry-level compact SUV.
But it is in such a compact size of the car, Guangqi Honda equipped it with a maximum output of 150 kilowatts of drive motor, you know, in terms of power parameters, Binzhi 1.5T model is 130 kilowatts, a higher level of Haoying is only 142 kilowatts (fuel version), the explosive power of the polar 1 is even more violent than them, coupled with the motor's innate initial acceleration ability, I believe that some people have begun to expect the polar 1 "exciting driving pleasure".
It is worth mentioning that due to the unique instantaneous high torque output characteristics of the motor drive, the occupants are prone to cause a sense of vertigo, and the pole 1 through the continuous adjustment of pedal response and power output characteristics, as well as the repeated adjustment of the seat and suspension, so that the user's body posture, line of sight changes and changes in the attitude of the vehicle are always integrated, truly realize the silky and accurate driving pleasure without motion sickness. At the same time, in order to create a bloody listening experience and bring a more exciting driving atmosphere, the Polar Pan 1 also matched the sports mode with an accelerated sound wave called "Honda EV Sound".
Not only that, as a pioneer officer of GUANGQI Honda in the field of new pure electricity, the e:N OS full-stack intelligent control ecosystem integrated by Jipan 1 is also a major highlight. Combining the Honda SENSING Safe Driver Assistance System, the Honda CONNECT 3.0 exclusive version for electric vehicles, and the intelligent digital cockpit, it will bring "human-level voice interaction" in addition to high-level driving assistance, as well as active safety prevention that can sense the driver's state and emotions in real time.
Regardless of other configurations, in terms of the driving and intelligence that young consumers value most nowadays, the hard power of the Ji pan 1 is beyond doubt, in line with Honda's consistent product tone, and it is also really moving.
If not, how could Honda let the Polar 1 export to the global market?
『Final Remarks』
At present, China's new energy vehicle market has entered a blowout period, following the growth rate of nearly 170% in the past year for the entire industry to enhance confidence, the Association and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have successively sent a positive signal that this year's new energy market will "exceed expectations", the annual sales scale is expected to exceed 5.5 million vehicles, which can not be ignored by any manufacturer.
Among them, the joint venture car companies that are already one beat slower than their own brands will undoubtedly show unprecedented big moves.
For GAC Honda, which has just entered its second year of life, it is about to usher in a historic moment of accumulating production and sales of tens of millions of vehicles, and the appearance of Ji Pan will open a new track for GAC Honda's "post-ten million era", and its strategic significance and practical value are irreplaceable. Even whether Guangqi Honda can enter the annual sales million club as soon as possible depends on the extreme turbulence.
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