DC's latest masterpiece "The New Batman", which recently landed in theaters, has received a lot of praise, and the new generation of Batmobiles has also appeared in a retro, rugged new image.
Dual V8 engines, extra-wide tires, a body shape similar to that of the '70s Dodge Trucker, an almost completely exposed open rear engine compartment, and exaggerated jet engines make it look like the Wasteland-style armored fighting vehicle from Mad Max.
However, just as the professor looked at the primitive speed machine, he was ready to shout, "V8 YYDS!" When I was told, I was surprised to learn that the latest generation of Batmobiles is actually using a Tesla behind the scenes!
How to put the V8 engine without installing Tesla's pure electric power system?
In fact, just take a closer look at the mechanical design of this Batmobile and you will find that the pure electric power system is indeed a better choice.
First of all, the front and rear installation of two V8 engines means that two sets of independent but synchronous control of the complete power system, and the fuel engine with the transmission and other devices will occupy a lot of space, even the full-size muscle car such a huge body will be stuffed, the heat dissipation performance can not be guaranteed.
And behind the exaggerated shape, there is also a strange design such as the high engine mounting position that affects the control of the center of gravity, and the turbine air intake is placed inside the cabin, which makes this Batmobile very unreasonable and unreliable on the mechanical level.
The use of pure electric power system can completely ignore these mechanical problems, because you only need to take a set of technically mature management system from Tesla, with two drive motors and a set of power batteries hidden under the chassis; the rest is a lot of free-forming space.
The batmobile example is a testament to one of the less remarkable but useful advantages of pure electric vehicles – design freedom.
Due to the small space occupied by the power system, the largest component - the battery pack can also be very flat embedded in the chassis interior, pure electric models can have a high degree of freedom in terms of styling design, as long as they meet the requirements of safety regulations such as headlight height and pedestrian protection, the design of pure electric vehicles is almost how to come.
Like Lotus's flagship pure electric supercar Evija, the large venturing passages on both sides of its body are radical designs that were difficult to achieve in previous fuel models, and this design gives this supercar a significant aerodynamic advantage.
Or like Mercedes-Benz's EQS, the pure electric power system makes it free from the huge grille of traditional fuel models, as long as the small air intake of the front surround can meet the heat dissipation needs of the electric system.
As a result, it can achieve an extremely rounded and smooth mouse-type body, breaking the record for the lowest wind resistance of the production car.
If you think that these are just the benefits of the appearance level, and there is not much practical use, then the advantages of inner space will definitely impress you.
The small footprint of the powertrain means that the pure electric model can maximize the space inside the car.
Traditional fuel models often need to leave room for installation of exhaust pipes, drive shafts, etc., so there will always be bulges in the middle of the rear floor, affecting the riding experience. Therefore, fuel vehicles often take "full flat floor" as a selling point to show the advantages of space.
But for pure electric vehicles, they do not need to install a drive shaft in the middle of the chassis, let alone an exhaust pipe, so the ground will not bulge at all, the flat floor is not a rare thing at all, and they can even pull out considerable storage space in unexpected places.
Models like the Tesla Model 3 or the Ford Mustang Mach-E have a front trunk.
The design of both the front and rear compartments used to be enjoyed by only a very small number of mid-engine sports cars, but now many pure electric vehicles have such designs, and the size is much larger than those of sports cars!
The fully flat floor and more cabin space freed up due to the small space occupied by the power system can make the carriage of a pure electric vehicle very spacious and square, and the space layout is flexible.
Volkswagen's latest ID.BUZZ is a good example.
The entire powertrain of this MPV model is laid on the chassis, giving it a very spacious and flat cockpit space.
So we can see ID.BUZZ can move the center console further forward, making more vertical space for the occupants or cargo, allowing all passengers to sit comfortably, or to drop more cargo.
You might say that the previous fuel trucks can also achieve such a flat floor!
But in fact, the full flat floor of traditional fuel trucks or MPVs is often based on improving the cabin, and avoids exhaust intrusion into the cabin space without sacrificing practical ground clearance.
But pure electric vehicles do not need to do this at all, they can achieve a full flat chassis while maintaining a low cabin height, convenient for personnel to enter and exit or cargo handling, and even rely on the battery pack to obtain a lower center of gravity, improve the handling experience, significant advantages.
In addition, battery packs with increasing capacity may only make the battery life longer and longer in the eyes of ordinary people, but in fact, they can do more than that.
As a large battery with tens or hundreds of kilowatt hours of power storage, pure electric vehicles can reverse the output of electricity in the battery to various types of electrical appliances.
BYD often emphasizes that its new energy models can drive battery stoves, kettles and other electrical appliances through external 220V power supply to provide hot water and cooking conditions for self-driving trips.
Nissan's LEAF is more radical, it can directly act as a home emergency power station, in the event of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a power outage caused by a power supply facility failure, it can use the electricity stored in the vehicle to provide emergency household electricity.
The battery capacity of up to 62 kWh allows Nissan LEAF to meet the basic electricity needs of an ordinary family for 4 days, during which major electrical appliances such as refrigerators, TVs, lights, rice cookers, and electric fans can be used (calculated according to the daily electrical appliances monthly 12 kWh).
In fact, the Nissan LEAF has really played a role in some of the earthquake disasters that have caused power outages in Japan in the past, providing emergency electricity for some families who own this model.
With the further development of technology, pure electric vehicle models will also get more skills that are difficult to achieve in traditional fuel vehicles.
For example, four-wheel drive models, in the era of pure fuel, if the off-road vehicle wants to achieve four-wheel power distribution adjustment, it needs to have a complex mechanical transmission system to assist, and the power distribution is often not arbitrary.
But the pure electric model is different, with four-wheel drive function of pure electric vehicles have two drive motors, or even three or four motors.
The drive motors distributed in the front and rear axles perform their duties, and the power obtained by each wheel can be adjusted very quickly and precisely during the driving process, and even the ability to achieve 100% power output on only one wheel.
The off-road advantages of the all-electric four-wheel drive system are expressed in the RIVIAN R1T, which is equipped with a total of four drive motors, each responsible for one wheel.
When driving on an unpaved road, if the wheels slip, the system can deliver power only for the adhesion wheels. This kind of power distribution of the delicate wheels is even more powerful than the traditional "three locks".
If the hub motor is popularized in the future, the independence of the four wheels of pure electric vehicles can even become stronger! Can conquer very exaggerated cross-axis road conditions.
When it comes to the independence of this wheel, it is necessary to mention the HUMMER EV.
Because the new car with three drive motors has a very "weird" "crab mode", that is, at low speeds, the four wheels are turned in the same direction, so that the vehicle can travel to the oblique side.
This kind of function seems fancy and meaningless, but in fact, for such a full-size behemoth, the high independence of the all-wheel drive combined with the large angle of the rear wheel rotation function means a flexibility that was unimaginable before.
In addition, pure electric vehicles also have the advantage of "low research and development costs"!
Today's pure electric models may not be very cheap, but in the long run, they have a very bright future in terms of modular production and controlling R&D costs.
This is because the pure electric vehicle platform has a very high adaptability, especially the "skateboard platform" that some manufacturers are developing today, and its main structure is a chassis combination that integrates the drive motor, battery pack and electronic control system.
This kind of skateboard platform is equivalent to the foundation of a pure electric vehicle, and the car manufacturer can design different body, interior and configuration according to the positioning and use of the specific model on this foundation.
Compared with the current modular architecture that large car companies have invested heavily in research and development, this type of skateboard platform has stronger adaptability, and often only needs to adjust the wheelbase to use compact cars, medium-sized cars, medium-sized cars and even large bodies.
This means that in the future, auto companies may only need to develop a modular platform, and some smaller car brands can even purchase skateboard platforms from third parties like those top carriage manufacturing brands dozens or hundreds of years ago, while they only need to develop body, interior, etc., so that the automotive market can blossom.
Write at the end
Of course, pure electric vehicles are not omnipotent, it is still in the stage of technological development, there are short boards such as endurance anxiety and long charging time; but it is not necessary to cover up its many advantages because of these shortcomings.
In the long run, the prospect of pure electric power system is bright, and it is inevitable as the future development direction of automobiles.
As a consumer, the professor believes that in the future, when pure electric vehicles really gradually replace traditional fuel vehicles, they will make more people exclaim: true fragrance!