On the road to mass production of CTC technology, who outperformed Tesla?

The ambition of zero running is beyond your imagination.

Since 2015, when he saw the opportunity of the new energy vehicle track, Zhu Jiangming, a "super engineer", has thrown himself into it without hesitation. The former Dahua CTO is not satisfied with recreating a Dahua with the world's second largest market share and a market value of more than 60 billion yuan, but hopes to build Zero Run into a 100-billion-level enterprise.

Ambitions sound like delusions until they are realized. When it becomes a reality, it will be called a dream of the past. From S01 to T03, from C11 to C01, from the initial biometric technology to self-developed chips... After seven years of grinding the sword, Zero Run has finally found the possibility of leading the new energy vehicle track in the power battery 3.0 era - intelligent power CTC battery chassis integration technology.

Zero runs ambitions in the power battery 3.0 era

If we divide the development process of power batteries into three stages, the initial 1.0 stage now looks back at many problems, many parts, high system costs, and inability to flexibly match power and voltage... Are the reasons that restrict the improvement of product technology; in the 2.0 era, CTP large module technology is popular, the volume utilization rate has increased by 15% to 20%, the number of parts has been reduced by 15% to 20%, and the production efficiency has also increased by 30%; as of now, the biggest breakthrough in power battery technology is the iconic CTC battery chassis integration technology of the 3.0 era, which further reduces the number of parts by 20% on the basis of CTP large modules, and reduces the cost of structural parts by 15%. The stiffness of the vehicle has been increased by 25%, achieving a high degree of integration and modularization.

In short, CTC is the acronym of cell to chassis, refers to the battery, chassis and car body integrated design, by reducing redundant structural design, effectively reduce the number of parts, in the improvement of space utilization and system specific energy at the same time, the body and battery structure complementary, so that the battery impact resistance and body torsional stiffness has been greatly improved. It must be clarified that CTC is not an upgraded version of CTP, CTP does not break through the limitations of the battery pack, and CTC directly involves the most critical core component of the vehicle - the chassis, which is the core advantage of the battery companies that have dominated the battery field in the past and cannot independently complete the development of the vehicle manufacturers.

Zero-run CTC technology - to do less is more (Image: Zero-run cars)

To be fair, the zero-run that released the first mass-produced CTC battery chassis integration technology in China is not the only player on this track. Before today, there are several other more resounding names associated with CTC - Tesla, Ningde Times, Volkswagen, Volvo and many new energy vehicle brands, after all, the recognized point in the industry is that the emergence of CTC will change the division of labor in the new energy vehicle industry chain, and OEMs with technological research and development advantages will control more dominance.

Tesla's representative product in the 18650 era Model S has 14 or 16 modules, and by the 21700 era, the Model 3 has been reduced to 4 large modules, and by the time the 4680 is the main one, it will be a CTC solution. Volvo's third-generation battery integration also takes the CTC technology route, integrating the battery cell into a box, the upper cover of the battery pack is the floor of the cockpit, and the bottom is a body of water cooling, so that the cell housing can have the function of structural parts in the design.

On this track, if you want to take a shortcut, you will definitely be left behind by these more powerful players, fortunately, zero run since the beginning of the establishment of the brand has established a short-term most difficult but long-term correct global self-research route, with technological innovation to build the underlying core competitiveness of enterprises. As Zhu Jiangming said: "The innovation of zero-run must be based on the difference between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles to innovate, rather than blindly engaging in innovation." ”

Zero runs on the CTC technology route, embarking on a first-mover, unselected, original path.

Since Zhu Jiangming took inspiration from the mobile phone battery from separation to fuselage integration in 2016 and then proposed the CTC concept, Zero Run became one of the earliest vehicle companies in the industry to complete the CTP large module program in 2018. In the two years from 2019 to 2020, Zero Run completed the iteration of two versions of the engineering practice program of CTC technology, and initially completed the concept of CTC solution. Finally, zero run in 2022 became one of the earliest companies in the industry to realize the integrated mass production technology of CTC battery chassis, leaving Tesla behind Tesla, which was previously considered to be the first to complete the mass production of this technology.

Just five months ago, the State Council issued the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2025)", emphasizing the need to strengthen the innovation of vehicle integration technology, proposing to develop a new generation of modular high-performance vehicle platform, and tackling the integrated design of pure electric vehicle chassis and multi-energy power system integration technology. Under such a background, which vehicle company runs the fastest on the CTC track is the most likely to win the opportunity.

CTC's track is not only about speed, but also about running steadily

If you want to be fast, you can't reach it, which is an unbreakable truth. Zero run on the road of CTC research and development, mass production landing runs fast and steady.

Before CTC, the power exchange mode and the skateboard chassis were also the most popular new energy vehicle technology directions.

There is no perfect technical solution in this world, and the convenience brought by the power exchange mode to the user is beyond doubt, but due to the complexity of the car chassis design, the battery assembly structure of the new energy vehicle is extremely complex, and the power exchange mode requires that the battery assembly must have more reinforced structures than the new energy vehicles in the charging mode to meet sufficient mechanical strength, and only in this way can safety be ensured. But in this way, the lightweight and safety of the body become a pair of irreconcilable contradictions.

As for the skateboard chassis that exploded in the past year, it is a combination of non-load-bearing body, wire-transmitted steering/braking system and battery pack and chassis integration, and its advantage is that relying on the structural characteristics of non-carrier body, car companies can independently develop the upper part of the body; the wire-transmitted control system makes the traditional steering column disappear in the design, which can make the upper and lower parts of the body cancel the mechanical hard connection, and the flexibility of the design is higher; the structure of the battery pack and the chassis integration can make the safety strength higher.

There was once a voice that the skateboard chassis will make the car company no longer develop the chassis, but for the more complex CTC technology, the latter is a highly modular integrated body that integrates the power domain, thermal management, electronic and electrical and intelligent driving systems of the three-electric system, and is further than the skateboard chassis in the technical route. The skateboard chassis is good, but it may be technically naturally suitable to be integrated as part of CTC. The chassis of the skateboard chassis is not developed synchronously with the body, and body safety needs to do more redundancy for this purpose, and CTC is a better solution at this point.

Is CTC the perfect technical solution? The common sense of materialists tells us that there is never an "absolute" or "perfect" in this world. For CTC, the most opposing contradiction is the conflict between the integration and modularization of the battery pack structure. The zero-run R&D team solved this problem through bold assumptions and careful verification, and solved this problem with an integrated structure scheme of battery and chassis.

This is the first time that the CTC double skeleton ring beam structure has appeared, which combines the battery skeleton structure and the chassis body structure into one, which is both the body chassis structure and the battery structure, and the overall structure is more efficient. At the same time, CTC technology uses the body longitudinal beam and beam to form a complete sealing structure, which means that the battery seal can be achieved by borrowing the basic structure of the chassis, which is a good hand compared to traditional cars. This structural innovation also brings higher safety assurance to all models under zero-run in the future that will use this technology.

For zero-run, the emergence of CTC will become the energy matrix of the new generation of models in the future, the characteristics of high adaptability make it highly matched with the whole vehicle, can be quickly flexible mass production, highly integrated and modular design can help zero-run cross-platform adaptation to different types of models of various levels that may appear in the future.

This is a strong guarantee for the rapid iteration of future products for zero-run that already has four models. This technology can also be compatible with intelligent and integrated thermal management systems, and in the near future, it will be compatible with 800V high-voltage platforms to achieve 400kW super fast charging, and even in the foreseeable future, it will achieve charging for 5 minutes and a range of more than 200 kilometers of "refueling" charging.

The most intuitive feeling of zero-running users for CTC technology in the future is that the driving space in the car is more spacious. When the installation gap between the battery pack and the body disappears, the vertical space of the body is increased by 10mm. Do not underestimate this 1 cm, it has a lot of help for improving the user's head space experience in the car, when we often say that when sitting in the car, the head space is only three or four fingers, 1 cm is about 30% of the increase.

Intelligent power CTC battery chassis integration technology is the result of seven years of zero-run and closed door research, for which more than 30 key technological breakthroughs in design, verification, process, tooling and other links have been completed, and more than 30 nearly harsh experiments have been experienced, of which 8 test standards far exceed the national standard. It turns out that zero-run CTC technology has withstood the most stringent tests, delivering satisfactory answers in terms of space, endurance, performance and safety.

Don't think that CTC is far away from you, zero run C01 is coming

In the past, when an advanced technology was unveiled, there was always a period of time away from mass production. The user has just been stimulated to the blood, and then in the long wait, the enthusiasm is exhausted. This time, ZeroCar brought the world's first production sedan, C01, equipped with CTC technology, to us almost at the same time.

If Zero Run has attracted you with its full-stack self-development over the past seven years, then don't miss this Zero Run C01, as it represents the highest technical level of Zero Run today. In its core selling point "1357", CTC is the first "1", with this core technology, zero-run C01 compared to the same level of models to bring users more driving space, longer cruising range, stronger performance and higher safety factors.

According to the consistent pricing strategy of zero run, users may only need to spend 200,000 yuan to enjoy the experience of million-level luxury cars in performance.

This is the fastest performance of the domestic electric car of the same level brought by zero-run C01 in 3 seconds zero hundred acceleration, behind this achievement is the zero-run self-developed three-in-one oil-cooled electric drive assembly that plays a key role, coupled with the slim-back body design and hidden door handle brought by Cd0.226 ultra-low wind resistance and the emergence of two major elements of the vehicle weight reduction of 5%, making the performance of the zero-run C01 extremely outstanding. When you sit behind the wheel, one of the things you're constantly reminding of is to "control your right foot."

For a medium and large car that meets the needs of families as the main appeal, space is a topic that cannot be circumvented.

Zero-run C01 body length of more than 5 meters, wheelbase close to 3 meters, rear leg space of 319mm, from all kinds of data alone is already the leading level of the same level, even if the height of one meter eight nine head body long legs, do not have to worry about not stretching straight legs can not stand straight waist.

As for those extreme operations such as changing the baby's diapers in the back row, it is difficult to run C01. Also, what does the 496L's trunk space mean? Loading a stroller, a huge mommy bag and other toys at the same time is not a problem for zero run C01.

Next is the mileage of an electric vehicle that has attracted the attention of users.

700 km, no, 700+ km, that's the answer given by zero-run C01. Benefiting from the CTC battery chassis integration technology, the zero-run C01 can have more space to deploy batteries, so there is a 90kWh super capacity power battery equipped with C01.

Coupled with the all-round improvement of the zero-run self-developed AI BMS big data intelligent battery management system in terms of battery safety, life and performance, the optimal distribution of energy can be realized based on reinforcement learning based on inertial data to provide better economy.

In addition, with the support of this system, zero-run C01 can analyze the user's car habits and charging habits through big data, carry out real-time fault detection and thermal runaway early warning, and can also realize full-time safety warning of smart batteries based on big data analysis and battery historical status, and the risk of spontaneous combustion in the early stage of the development of new energy vehicles has been infinitely close to zero.

1357, just zero run C01 users can directly feel the performance, CTC battery chassis integration technology is behind it silently support the product upgrade of the technology platform. But for zero-run users, they only need to enjoy the experience brought by a great product, and everything behind it is handed over to the zero-run R&D team that is always paying silently.

CTC will achieve zero-run ambitions with Zhu Jiangming's dream

Today's zero-run cars are not the same as when they were started, and the number of deliveries of 8,085 units in January 2022 ranked first in the year-on-year growth rate of the new forces of car manufacturing; 10,059 units were delivered in March, an increase of 193% month-on-month, breaking through the monthly delivery mark for the first time; just in the past quarter, 21,579 units have been delivered cumulatively, and the monthly delivery volume has achieved a growth rate of more than 200% for 12 consecutive months.

At this moment, zero running is still far from Zhu Jiangming's dream of a market value of 100 billion, but it is not far from the slogan of "exceeding your expectations". The road to ambition and dreams may be long, but CTC battery chassis integration technology will be the most solid cornerstone.

(This article was first published on titanium media APP, authors: Wang Zhenchao, Cui Zhiqiang)