800V high-voltage architecture is coming, why are you still obsessed with smelling gasoline?

2022-04-22 00:02:36

Electric vehicles are embarking on a high-voltage revolution.

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800V architecture is becoming a hot word in the new energy automobile circle.

The first to introduce the 800V architecture was Porsche. Two years ago, the Porsche Tycan started with the voltage level, from the existing mainstream 400V directly to the 800V class. As a result, the Porsche Taycan became the first mass-produced electric vehicle to use the 800V platform. In terms of powertrain, charging performance, acceleration performance, etc., it has become the benchmark of the next generation of electric powertrain systems.

800V high-voltage architecture is coming, why are you still obsessed with smelling gasoline?

Since last year, domestic car companies including BYD, Geely Krypton, BAIC Polar Fox, Great Wall Hive, GAC Aian, Dongfeng Lantu, and Xiaopeng Automobile have also begun to preview products based on the 800V architecture, which is quite "mountain rain is coming".

In foreign countries, Hyundai Motor released the E-GMP platform, which is equipped with an 800V system and an 800V ultra-high-speed charging infrastructure. Porsche's "brother" Audi said that the A6 Avant e-tron concept car is based on the same PPE architecture as the Taycan, and can travel about 186 miles in just 10 minutes at the 800V fast charging station.

Some people believe that 2022 will become the first year of 800V, and there will be a large number of 800V architecture products.

Why are these car companies laying out 800V high-voltage architectures? What are the benefits that represent the future of electric development?

Charge for 5 minutes and range 200 km

In today's rapidly increasing penetration of electric vehicles, why are many consumers loyal to fuel vehicles?

The most answer points to "endurance anxiety." There are two ideas to solve this problem: the first idea is to stack the battery, and make the battery pack very large, but the problem is that the battery cost is very high, and the weight of the whole vehicle has also increased significantly. The second idea is to reduce the charging time, if charging takes as little time as refueling, the problem is solved.

The 800V architecture is the product of "another way of thinking to solve the anxiety of endurance". According to the physical formula P (charging power) = U (charging voltage) * I (charging current), in an ideal state, the charging time under the 800V architecture can save half the time compared with the current mainstream 400V architecture.

Taking Porsche as an example, the Taycan offers 400V DC fast charging and 800V DC fast charging. In 22.5 minutes, it can be charged from 5% to 80% of the power, and the maximum power cannot be charged directly at the beginning, and the maximum power can only be charged when the power reaches about 40%. When the charging power reaches 350kW, it can be flushed in 30 minutes. Judging from the new energy vehicles at this stage, this charging efficiency is very fragrant.

Xiaopeng Automobile released a preview on October 24 last year on the smart day, Xiaopeng G9 uses 800V high-voltage SiC platform, which can achieve "charging 5 minutes endurance of 200 kilometers", and also launched a supporting 480kW high-voltage charging pile, which can achieve a current of 670A, which greatly exceeds the existing 200A fast charging standard.

Also put forward the slogan of "charging 5 minutes to last 200 kilometers" is GAC Aean, GAC Aean released the A480 supercharging pile on August 30 last year, the maximum working voltage can reach 880V, GAC Aean will quickly layout overcharge stations nationwide, and it is expected to build 2,000 supercharging stations in 300 cities across the country by 2025.

On September 26 last year, Landu Automobile demonstrated its 800V high-voltage platform and supercharging technology, "charging for 10 minutes, endurance of 400 kilometers".

Obviously, if the charging time is fast enough, "electric cars don't need a range of 1,000 kilometers." As a result, power batteries can be made smaller and the overall weight is reduced, thereby increasing efficiency. Car companies will also reduce the cost of car manufacturing, and car prices are more easily accepted by consumers.

Not only fast charging, but also high performance

As the initiator of the 800V architecture, Porsche's starting point is not only to solve the problem of battery life, but also to make a high-performance, bright pure electric platform.

Porsche Taycan is a complete 800V battery architecture, battery system using 800V high voltage, electric powertrain system, including electric drive, power electronics, charging system, etc. also use 800V system. In terms of powertrain, charging performance, acceleration performance, etc., it has become the benchmark of the next generation of electric powertrain systems.

Under the 800V architecture, the same power, the current is halved, and the benefits are:

One: power performance and battery performance attenuation will be smaller. Taycan has accelerated 26 consecutive times from 0-200 km/h in 10 seconds, and 7 minutes and 42 seconds to set a new lap record for a four-door pure electric vehicle in New North.

Second: Because the current decreases, the heat generation and the square of the current are proportional to each other, and it will be reduced even more. At this time, the copper wire can be made thinner and lighter, which helps to improve the thermal management level of the entire system and also provides conditions for the lightweight of the whole vehicle.

It is worth noting that the 800V architecture currently released by most car companies is not the complete 800V architecture like Porsche. For the sake of overall considerations, some car companies only use the 800V architecture in the charging module, while the traditional 400V architecture is still used in other modules, such as motor drive.

At present, the complete 800V mechanism is adopted: Xiaopeng Automobile claims that all parts on the Xiaopeng G9 vehicle have reached the 800V level and can support 800V high voltage. In addition, the Audi e-tron GT and sphere series concept cars are based on the PPE platform and operate at voltages up to 800 volts.

Transformation is difficult, but the temptation is too great

800V high-voltage architecture looks so fragrant, why is the mainstream still 400V architecture?

Part of the answer lies in convenience and convention. In Europe, for example, typical houses use 380V charging infrastructure, which apparently predates the emergence of electric vehicles. The earliest electric vehicles were developed based on the charging facilities of the time, and obviously did not use the 800V architecture.

Secondly, in the process of transitioning from 400V to 800V, there are also considerable difficulties.

Although the 800V high-voltage platform is not technically difficult, it is a major system project, from the improvement of the safety of semiconductor components and battery modules, down to the linkage upgrade of vehicles, piles and charging networks, and there are still many problems.

Under the 800V high-voltage platform, the voltage resistance level of the system components also needs to be increased to 800V, and the pressure resistance level of the corresponding components and related materials needs to be increased to more than 800V. For example, for lithium batteries, too high charging voltage and current will lead to a decrease in the stability of the battery, which is easy to cause problems such as fire and explosion.

At the same time, almost all charging piles cannot be adapted to the 800V platform. This means that you buy an electric car with an 800V architecture, but the actual charging speed is not up to expectations. This requires a large number of newly installed charging piles on the market, which are adapted to 400V and 800V at the same time.

However, major car companies have also seen the general trend of 800V architecture, and have launched plans for 800V super charging piles, determined to seize the market.

It is worth mentioning that in the process of upgrading the components of the 800V high-voltage platform, SiC (silicon carbide) has attracted much attention. This semiconductor is the key material for manufacturing inverters under the 800V architecture, so SiC will become the most beneficial component under the high-voltage electric vehicle architecture.

Write at the end

The upgrade from 400V to 800V platform is a hardware transformation, not something that can be achieved by OTAs. Therefore, there will be more companies to launch 800V architecture or higher voltage architecture in the future, in short, this is a trend in the future.

800V high-voltage architecture is coming, why are you still obsessed with smelling gasoline?

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