The rapid rise of the new energy vehicle market is obvious to consumers. In 2021, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in China were 2.989 million units, an increase of 169.1% year-on-year. As the main branch of the new energy market, pure electric vehicles bring smooth acceleration, quiet driving environment and economic car costs, but also have disadvantages such as short mileage, slow charging speed, and inconvenient energy replenishment. These are the problems that need to be overcome since the birth of pure electric vehicles, and they are also the biggest concerns of many users who are hovering on the periphery of new energy vehicles.
With the rapid improvement of battery technology, more and more pure electric vehicles have a cruising range of 700 or 800 kilometers like fuel vehicles, and low endurance is no longer the stereotype of pure electric vehicles. But even so, under the fast-paced life, the problem of slow charging is still criticized. Especially in the face of holiday peaks such as May Day and National Day, the process of replenishing the car alone is enough to consume all your energy and mood of travel.
Increasing demand for electricity is increasing day by day on 800V high voltage platforms
In fact, whether it is a fuel car or a pure electric car, the battery plays a very important role in the evolution of the car. In 1918, the battery was first introduced to the car, and in 1920 it became popular, when the voltage that the battery could provide was only 6V. However, with the gradual increase of on-board electrical appliances, car companies have also successively launched power systems such as 12V-48V, adapting to cars with internal combustion engines as the main power source.
The power source of fuel vehicles comes from the internal combustion engine, and the output power requirements of vehicle electrical appliances are not high, and the low-voltage platform can meet them. The power source of pure electric vehicles is the motor and battery, the process of charging and discharging requires large input/output power, and the voltage platform in the car is much higher than that of fuel vehicles. In general, the voltage of pure electric vehicles is usually between 200-400V.
Charging power is equal to the product of voltage and current, which is common sense that junior high school physics has taught. Therefore, if you want to achieve high-power charging, there are two solutions: either increase the voltage or increase the current. Among them, the increase of current will lead to increased heat generation in the electrical system, so the scheme also puts forward higher requirements for the heat dissipation and safety of batteries, electronic controls, and wiring harnesses.
Another technical direction is to start from increasing the input voltage, which can also achieve the purpose of increasing the charging power. The 800V high-voltage fast charging platform in the current market has a charging power of up to 350kW. Compared with the previous 400V fast charging platform, the working current is smaller, the wiring harness volume is saved, and the internal resistance loss of the circuit is reduced, thereby further improving the power density and energy use efficiency. The construction of the 800V high-voltage fast charging platform can also do a good job of technical embedding for the subsequent pure electric vehicles with larger battery capacity and higher power public charging facilities. Therefore, the 800V high-voltage fast charging solution has also become the first choice for many car companies in the industry to improve charging efficiency.
Refresh performance records Sparked the fast charging revolution
In addition to solving the user's mileage and energy replenishment anxiety, for pure electric sports cars, performance naturally has the ultimate appeal. As a veteran British sports car manufacturer, Lotus proposed the transformation goal to electrification and intelligence as early as 2018. Just a year later, the world's most eye-popping hyper Car Evija was introduced.
As the pure electric pioneering work of the Lotus brand, the concept of "pore design" pioneered by Evija not only brings a strong visual impact, but also provides strong aerodynamic performance, and provides a thinking direction for subsequent products. The power system, as the power core of the pure electric supercar Evija, is also worthy of attention.
With an unmatched 2,000 horsepower, zero hundred accelerations of less than 3 seconds, and a top speed of more than 320km/h, the Evija's powerful performance output is key to the lithium-ion battery pack with a power of up to 2000kW. The battery pack's management system was developed by Lotus in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering and, thanks to Williams Advanced Engineering's power battery technology, can be adapted to an 800kW fast charging device. Although charging devices with this charging capacity have not yet been commercialized, once such charging devices are available, they can fully fill Evija's batteries in just 9 minutes.
Even with the most powerful 350kW fast charging device available, the Evija can be fully charged in just 12 minutes and fully charged in 18 minutes. In addition, the layout of the battery pack is also extremely elaborate, and it is placed in the back of the passenger compartment. This layout ensures that the Evija offers significant advantages in terms of aerodynamics, weight distribution, etc., and optimizes the handling performance.
At the same time, Evija's four electric motors are mounted on each wheel, and the power distribution capability of the torque vectoring control system can distribute power to two, three or four wheels in a fraction of a second. In track mode, it is also possible to provide more power to individual wheels to reduce the steering radius, thus making it possible to shorten the lap time. It has to be said that Evija, which is based on the pure electric supercar architecture, not only continues Lotus's track gene at the design and driving level, but also triggers a fast charging revolution in the electric industry.
Play with life cars to create innovations
As a sports car brand with a history of more than 70 years, Lotus has continuously extended its product line to the field of living cars on the track of transformation to electrification and intelligence. To this end, Lotus independently developed the EPA edge evolution architecture. The architecture supports the research and development of various types of passenger cars from C+ class, D class and E class, and opens up ecological links such as intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit. Products developed on the EPA architecture will feature 92-120kWh batteries and are compatible with the industry's most advanced 800V high-speed electric vehicle charging system.
In March 2022, Lotus's first pure electric SUV model based on the EPA platform, the Eletre, made its global debut. It is equipped with dual motors in front and rear, and the high-performance version has a power reserve of nearly 1,000 horsepower, an acceleration time of only 2.95 seconds per 100 kilometers, and a maximum speed of 260 km/h. Judging from the book data, Eletre does live up to Hyper's positioning. It is worth mentioning that thanks to the blessing of the 800V high-voltage system, Eletre can achieve extremely fast charging while having extremely fast performance. When using a 350kW charging pile, it only takes 20 minutes to recharge the 400 km (WLTP) range.
Eletre is not only Lotus's innovation, but also a pure Lotus car, Lotus's past pursuit of speed, Lotus's embrace of the future of technology, are vividly displayed in it. In 2023 and 2025, we will also see the launch of the E-class four-door coupe code-named Type 133 and the D-class "Pure Electric Intelligent New Species" code-named Type 134, which are also new electric products based on the EPA platform.
The old cannon in the fuel sports car, the upstart in the electric industry, Lotus, with a dual identity, with more than 70 years of technical precipitation and innovative spirit, still maintains the leading momentum of the fuel era on the electrified track. Whether it is the ultimate breakthrough in design and performance, or the innovation and enterprising of the three-electric system, Lotus has always been a frontrunner. With industry-leading scientific and technological reserves and more competitive luxury pure electric products, we continue to create a beautiful and fun travel experience for users.