Zhiji Automobile: A folding-level innovation growing from tradition | specially planned

(ChinaIT.com News) From chaos to increasing clarity, China's new energy vehicle market has developed rapidly.

According to relevant statistics, in January 2020, new energy vehicles accounted for less than 3% of the capacity of China's automobile market. But by the end of 2021, that percentage has exceeded 20 percent. It can be said that in the 135 years of development history of the automotive industry so far, there has never been a new sub-category that has grown so rapidly in such a short period of time.

Zhiji Automobile is being born in 2020, which is known as the first year of China's high-end intelligent electric vehicles. In fact, as early as 2018, SAIC Motor secretly launched the predecessor of Zhiji Automobile, "L Project", which was established in March 2020. But it wasn't until the end of 2020 that Zhiji Auto, which introduced Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group as strategic investors, was officially announced, determined to "define what cars should look like in the intelligent era." On January 13, 2021, the "IM Zhiji" brand was released globally, and the two models of Zhiji Automobile, L7 and LS7, were officially unveiled. From the establishment of the project to the official rollout of the 200 Zhiji L7 Beta Experience Edition, Zhiji only took 22 months. In terms of market performance, during the 2021 Chengdu Auto Show, the pre-sale of 3,000 Zhiji L7 angel wheel models ended perfectly and successfully passed the first round of tests in the market. At present, the A-round user seat is in hot booking.

Among the many new forces and crossovers of China's new energy vehicles, it is precisely because it was born out of the traditional SAIC Group that Zhiji Automobile is different. While the future is still unknown, the lessons it can offer are: How did new species emerge from traditional species? How to understand the relationship between new things and traditional things? What kind of underlying logic of evolutionary innovation is adhered to? In the foreseeable future, how will new species change the world?

First, why new species break the shell

Q: In the current gushing new car-making forces, unlike a number of Internet companies, Zhiji is from SAIC Motor, which is a "new" born from "tradition". What are the driving forces behind the incubation of this new thing?

A: The cultivation of wisdom is the result of the joint action of heaven, time, place, and people. Among them, "Tianshi" lies in the fact that high-end intelligent electric vehicles have become a high-potential track of certainty.

However, unlike its peers, SAIC's comprehensive empowerment provides Zhiji with a huge climbing ability, thus forming our unique "geographical advantage". It can be said that since 2014, SAIC has built a solid foundation for zhizhi around the "new four modernizations" strategy of "electrification, intelligent networking, sharing and internationalization", allowing us to obtain a deep technical base support. Moreover, with the support of SAIC's perfect supply chain and intelligent manufacturing system covering the upstream and downstream of the automotive industry chain, Zhiji has directly realized agile development.

In addition, SAIC's strong talent support has given us the confidence to fight the battle of prosperity. Coupled with the composition of the diverse team of Zhiji itself, we have the ability to fight a breakthrough war, which is for "people".

Q: As we all know, "tradition" often becomes a "new" resistance, how does Zhiji avoid this in the process of nurturing and growing?

A: Zhiji Automobile is an independently operated and independently operated brand. There is no burden of traditional fuel vehicles, and it is more autonomous in business decisions, which is more conducive to the better independent development of Zhiji automobiles, and it is also more convenient for Zhiji to recognize and avoid the bad things in the "tradition" in time, which can be said to be standing on the shoulders of giants to explore development.

And I think that there is no "resistance" in this world, only "help" that has not yet been transformed. For example, many people say that the traditional automobile development model is too linear, lacks flexibility, and is difficult to adapt to the dynamic development needs of the intelligent era, which constitutes resistance. What can we do? Jump into the game, introduce increments, and run the latest gameplay.

By establishing the War room war room, we have gathered a mixed team to attack the stronghold, which fully meets the multi-threaded and dynamic needs of current software development. In addition to having our own development team, we have also set up war rooms in our partners, forming a joint combat force that can fight and win battles. On this basis, we have fully learned from the successful experience of "agile development" in the Internet industry, and initially formed a mature and reproducible intelligent vehicle development model through design, development, integration and iteration. The end result is that we iterated over version 88 of our one-month architecture software to create a 22-month "wisdom speed".

Q: In today's world where almost all intelligent electric vehicles are "digital" and "user-oriented", what is the biggest difference between Zhiji?

A: In the logic of the intellectual self, "digitalization" is not only the use of technology to build a digital world, but also a way of thinking. Data-driven is the core concept of Zhiji automobile brand and products, Zhiji automobile through data-driven way, through intelligent analysis, multi-dimensional analysis, query backtracking, can more accurately capture the user's expressed, even unexpressed needs, so as to achieve the real ultimate technology should produce and people's hearts of the feelings and experiences.

The "and" here is "touch your heart", which means to make our technology and experience reach the user's heart. Therefore, the user is willing to use our products and "digitize" his use experience, provide data contributions, pry the evolutionary flywheel of the product, and let the products automatically iterate.

At the same time, we are also a "user-oriented value enterprise", and the biggest difference with other peers is that we have a deep value link with users and do not play virtual. We pioneered the Rough Stone Valley User Data Rights And Interests Plan, through 300 million "rough stones", corresponding to the growth rights and interests of the founding value of Zhiji Automobile, and use data rights and interests to reward the contribution of user data with real money and silver. The "rough stone" obtained by users can be used for iteration and exchange of product hardware, software services, etc., and share the era dividend.

We want to be the terminator of user data white prostitution, set up this banner, so that every enterprise can face up to user data and give back user value.

Q: Many times, innovation is "to find a balance between the narrow strip between the world and fantasy".

A: Yes. For example, the world's first automotive metacosm, we believe that the future of the real and virtual worlds must be integrated, through technology can be achieved.

In fact, this interaction has already begun. IMOS's aerial navigation feature is one example. When you are stuck in traffic on the highway, you want to see the congestion of the panoramic ramp, but you can't see it. But through the simulation of high-definition maps, 3D modeling, and the rendering of the Unity game engine, you can give you this kind of body feeling. Its essence is the prototype of a deeply immersive experience in the metacosm.

In addition, even more leading is our pioneering twin entanglement in the industry. Each real car can map an encrypted twin car in the virtual world, and the two are interrelated and mutually beneficial. The stronger the ability to encrypt twins, the greater the chance that real cars will get rough in mileage mining; the data contribution generated by real car driving can be used to cultivate encrypted twins; and the more opportunities the owner has to exchange better hardware or software services for real-world vehicles.

We have opened up the passage between the world and fantasy, how to make the world play, we have made an in-depth layout, this year will gradually reveal the secret.

Second, user data is driven, so that technology and people's hearts

Q: On a piece of paper, from one point to another, you can make two points coincide by means of curves, straight lines, or by folding the paper. How do you think you can tell that there's a folding-level opportunity for innovation in a field, in the automotive sector?

A: I can say with certainty that the automotive sector has come to the eve of folding-level innovation. First of all, the innovation of the underlying technology reconstructs the underlying capabilities of the times. The rapid development of electrification technology has pressed the switch of the evolution of the entire industry; secondly, the innovation of lifestyle has reconstructed the evolutionary ability of the times. The rapid popularization of intelligent life has realized an unprecedented convergence of human social information. From mobile phones, home appliances, and now cars, everything can be networked, data-driven evolution, the new "data Darwinism" has become the iron law of all terminal evolution, so that the era of software-defined cars into reality.

In particular, through extraordinary investment in infrastructure, core technology and market cultivation, China has fully completed the counterattack of this wave of intelligent car market, really like "paper folding", quickly switching from the fuel vehicle track to the "smart electric" track, skipping the traditional linear growth model, and leading the traditional automobile powers such as Europe and the United States in many aspects.

To put it bluntly, China's electric vehicle industry is showing a great atmosphere unprecedented in the history of the development of the automobile industry in 135 years, and within 5 years, we will certainly have a world-class automobile brand.

Q: Zhiji insists on co-creation with users, respects human nature, and pursues technology and people's hearts. Can these also be pushed to other industries? In your opinion, what will characterize future ubiquitous innovations?

A: In the ERA of AI, all intelligent enterprises must take data-driven as the core driving force to co-create with users, make technology and people's hearts.

In the future, universal innovation will take the user as the foothold of all design, all the scene-oriented underlying logic will be user experience-oriented, and the design of each functional scene is inseparable from the actual experience in the user's daily life. No matter how good the functional design and algorithm logic seem, the real feelings of users are the only benchmark to measure the effectiveness of the system.

User data will be the core force driving intelligence. Just as data factory can make IMOD the most human-like operating system, the intelligent process requires users to "teach" the real situation of the software system in the actual scene, what the solution method is accustomed to users, and whether the actual pain points of users outside the preset scenario will be offset. Only by allowing users to participate in in-depth co-creation can we make innovation itself understand users better and make intelligence more intelligent.

Q: It has been one year since zhiji was founded, has it evolved in this year than before? What is the underlying logic of immutable?

A: In the past year, Zhiji Automobile has been constantly iteratively evolving, both in terms of product and user experience. The underlying logic remains the same, which is user data drive.

From the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show to April this year, Zhiji Automobile has co-created with users, achieving a total of more than 30 improvements, including 16 interior design optimizations, covering 7 design aesthetics, 4 driving quality and 5 interactive experience optimizations.

Of particular importance, we also launched a national parade of 200 Zhiji L7 Beta, creating the "data cooker" model for the first time. This is the initiative of Zhiji, which is the new link of DFV (Data Feed Validation Real Scene Data Verification) on top of the traditional DV (design verification), PV (product verification) and other strict quality verification processes, which is an important application scenario for data-driven capabilities. The technical scenarios and functional performance of the car in the development process, such as the user contacts and the intelligent performance of the product software system, are verified one by one in the real use environment. We will process, label, train and evaluate the collected real-world scene data, and finally iterate on our vehicle-side perception model.

This is not only a round of "data self-drive" that we must carry out, but also a round of "data co-creation" for our users, and a "data origin" for us to build an ecology.

Q: It is said that the most important thing in the field of electric smart cars in the future is imagination. What kind of imagination does Zhiji have at present?

A: In our imagination, what Zhiji wants to build may no longer be a sedan or SUV, but an intelligent mobile terminal, a movable multi-functional cockpit to meet the needs of various life scenarios. In fact, the Airo, which we will mass-produce in 2024, is the realization of our vision of the future of mobile life.

For example, allow users to move the layout of the splicing cabin freely and flexibly to meet the needs of various life scenarios. There are both lie-flat mode, seat one-button bed, and Social mode, which allows users to sit opposite family and friends, with the aromatherapy and temperature in the car, creating a comfortable atmosphere and enjoying a comfortable afternoon tea time together. Tomoji is also exploring the feasibility of making Airo a mobile garden, so that the car can be covered with green plants and potted plants, introducing life and nature to Airo, not only can fill the car with healthy air, but also turn Airo into a moving, air-purifying, living and breathing city scene.

Of course, in our imagination, the new intelligent terminal created by Zhiji will be able to break through the dimension and become the user's soulmate (confidant) in the multiverse. When the user has a wise man, it is like having a partner in the OASIS of Ready Player One, he can become a bridge between the virtual and the real world, bring the resources of the real world to the virtual space, and bring your honor and value in the virtual world into reality.

All in all, in the future, we want to establish a co-creation relationship with users across time, space and even dimensions, and become a future, data-driven "user-oriented enterprise".

Jiao Jing | interviews and articles

Ma Tianshu | the editor of the official account article

The above content is selected from the second series of MOOK of case studies