Compared with fuel vehicles, what are the key shortcomings of electric vehicles at present? I'm afraid only the battery is left.
To be more specific, it should be the supplementary technology of batteries and batteries, the former energy density directly determines the endurance of electric vehicles, and the development speed of the latter's energy efficiency will determine whether future electric vehicles can achieve "refueling" charging as soon as possible.
To this end, engineers have made many efforts, and basically in these two general directions to deepen the cultivation, to promote the iteration of power battery technology, in order to make electric vehicles run farther.
One is to find a way on the body body, that is, to "slim down" the vehicle as much as possible to stuff a larger capacity battery, or upgrade a more energy-saving and efficient motor; the second is to extend the energy replenishment method, increase the fast charging speed or use the power exchange mode.
Not long ago, the CTC battery chassis integration technology released by Zero-run Automobile is the sublimation and landing of the first technical direction, and its technical essence lies in how to stuff more batteries in the limited chassis space.
Let's take a brief review of the history of the development of power batteries.
In the traditional EV era, the battery cell needs to be packaged through two links: module and battery pack, and then installed on the vehicle chassis, occupying space, and time-consuming and laborious;
Later derived CTP batteries, the battery cell bypassed the module directly packaged into a battery pack, eliminating the module assembly link, so that the space utilization rate of the battery pack increased, weight reduction, energy density increase, cost reduction, the vast majority of manufacturers have just come to this step;
CTC technology, on the other hand, eliminates the two steps from the battery cell to the module and then to the battery pack, directly integrates the battery cell into the car chassis, and uses the upper and lower plates of the chassis as the battery housing and cover, so that the battery cell directly becomes part of the chassis structural parts.
The essence of its technology is that the battery cell is not only the carrier of electricity, but also part of the body structure, will participate in the collision force, but also realize the perfect combination of space, performance, endurance and safety, and high integration is the core.
Of course, CTC technology also has drawbacks. CTC as a highly integrated battery integration program, but also means that the complete cut off of the power exchange of this energy route; at the same time, as a body structure, when the collision causes damage to the chassis structure, CTC program may need to replace the frame + battery as a whole, vehicle maintenance costs are higher.
However, this does not prevent more and more car companies from taking CTC as the key direction of future technology routes.
Previously, Zeng Yuqun, chairman of NINGDE Times, publicly emphasized the importance of CTC, "The final landing of this battery technology will enable the cost of new energy vehicles to compete directly with fuel vehicles, and we are also vigorously promoting research and development, and strive to mass-produce and use in 2024"; Volvo and Volkswagen Group, two traditional car giants, also mentioned CTC at the strategic development conference held in 2021.
Some insiders have analyzed that the two industries of the vehicle and battery are the closest to achieving CTC technology is BYD and Tesla, although the mass production time is undecided, but on April 7, local time in the United States, Tesla's new gigafactory in Texas has been put into use, and its new Model Y using CTC technology, 4680 batteries and front and rear integrated die-casting has begun to be delivered to internal employees on a small scale.
It can be seen that when the industry is still generally in the transition from the traditional module 1.0 era to the CTP large module technology, this zero run is undoubtedly one step ahead and realizes the mass production of CTC technology.
But unlike Tesla's "extreme" approach, zero-run CTC technology is more like a Tier 0.5, which is a more eclectic solution.
For example, Tesla's CTC technology is directly arranged on the chassis of 4680 cylindrical cells, the battery compartment is linked to two large casts of the body, the cockpit floor is replaced by a battery cover, and the seat is directly mounted on the battery cover.
The zero-run approach is to dig a battery compartment under the crew compartment, and then suspend the module from the bottom to the top through bolting, gluing and other fixing methods in the hole, and then use the lower cover to form a sealing space.
To put it simply, Tesla stacks the battery cells directly on the chassis, while zero run stacks the module on the chassis, and does not omit the link from the battery to the module.
Therefore, the zero-run CTC solution is not as extreme as Tesla in terms of integration, space utilization, cost advantages and other dimensions, but this set of compromise solutions also has flashpoints and unique thinking.
The first is easy to maintain, easy to mass production.
Because the zero-run CTC technology on the vehicle assembly process, the fixed form of the battery pack is not much change, the battery module size, parameters are also consistent with the previous, so it can be widely used in the previous design scheme, easier to mass production, zero-run official declaration, it is through a high degree of integration and modularization, can be adapted to future levels, types of models across the platform, but also verified this advantage; and thanks to the lower cover can be opened, maintenance convenience is better.
The second is to balance security and NVH.
It adds a protective gas package on the outside, which is filled with compressed nitrogen and connected to the battery compartment through the pipeline. When the vehicle hits, the acceleration sensor and temperature sensor detect the numerical change, and the compressed gas in the protective gas package is pressed into the battery compartment and the air is discharged, forming an oxygen-deficient environment to suppress thermal runaway and spontaneous combustion.
In terms of structural strength, zero-run design a series of beams, longitudinal beams, reinforcement beams and reinforcement plate designs, and in the center and side of the battery pack are bolted, for the whole vehicle to bring a torsional stiffness increase of 25%, lightweight coefficient of 2.4, an increase of 20%. The higher the torsional stiffness of the body, the stronger the resistance to resonance, which means that the vehicle can have better driving performance, better chassis response efficiency, and can also help NVH performance.
On the day of the technology conference, Zhu Jiangming, CEO of Zero-run Automobile, also announced that it will be free and open to share intelligent power CTC technology, which may have a more far-reaching impact on the technology itself.
At present, new users who buy electric vehicles care about the intelligent digital experience a little more? Or do you pay more attention to these hard qualities of chassis driving? The answer is obviously the former, and it is clear to look at the development planning and electric product feedback of the new forces and various traditional car companies.
For example, volkswagen groups have taken big strides to reduce investment in traditional automotive engineering capabilities, cutting off more than 70% of duplicate "cousin models", cutting off resources consumed on internal combustion engines and gearboxes, cutting off meaningless fringe brands, cutting off the so-called NVH and the obsessive pursuit of maneuverability, and cutting off a number of manufacturing plants and workers.
It can be said that the technology of CTC is the factor when the automotive industry chain is recombined in the new era, which can help some car companies take care of the complex chassis, the component of the user experience is getting weaker and weaker, so that the car companies can turn around faster and more flexibly, and work hard in other more useful and more perceptual links.
The essence of CTC's open sharing is to make the entire industry less repetitive work on the integration of battery chassis.
If they stand in the perspective of a single successful car manufacturer, they do not welcome the emergence of standard chassis battery integration technology, which may make them work hard to accumulate technical barriers, and even the brand premium ability to become lower.
However, from the perspective of the entire automotive industry, especially the perspective of those new entrants, sharing CTC technology has positive significance, which reduces the threshold for the development of electric vehicles and the cost of bicycles (double reduction), so that car manufacturers can focus more on things other than chassis batteries.
If CTC technology is shared with multiple OEMs in the future, it can better save industry investment and let valuable money be invested in areas where user perception is more significant. This is the great significance brought to the entire industry by the open sharing of CTC and similar technologies that can promote industry standardization (such as the power exchange mode of unified battery specifications and the unified automobile operating system).
From the S01, which is not in the same shape, to the T03, which is walked, and then to the C11, which is named the "price butcher" by the riders, zero running takes only 3 years. The CTC technology released this time once again reflects the electrification speed and firmness of zero run. Although it has shortcomings, it also has shining points, although the pattern of open sharing is large, but it may be difficult to achieve in the future.
That's why these trials and uncertainties are worth looking forward to.