In the past, there were more guessing cars, and today today it is different, we come to recognize the battery.
Blade battery, magazine battery, amber battery, 18650 battery, 523 battery, 4680 battery, solid-state battery, semi-solid-state battery, Xiaomi Rainbow battery...
Without asking for help from the Internet and off-site support, how many do you know except for the last one to make trouble?
Blind guessing In addition to the most well-known blade battery, most people see other terms about "battery" are in a state of confusion. It's normal that few ordinary people will understand so comprehensively. After all, no matter how much you know, you will not be more than 1 cent discount when buying a car. However, having a basic battery knowledge reserve can be a good way to help you avoid some marketing pitfalls.
All the terms mentioned above do not refer exactly to the type of battery. According to different naming rules, some explain the cell specifications, and some describe the battery package form. However, without exception, when they are arranged on the whole vehicle, they are inseparable from the keywords of "VDA standardized module", "CTP integrated module" and "CTC battery chassis integration technology". From VDA to CTP to CTC, the power battery industry has entered the 3.0 era.
And the first to take us into the power battery 3.0 era is zero running. Because on April 25, Zero Run has just officially released its latest self-research results - the first mass-produced CTC battery chassis integration technology in China, and is expected to be applied on the Zero Run C01, which will be delivered in batches as soon as August this year.
Many people may wonder when they see this: Why is it that a new technology that is likely to lead the future transformation of the electric vehicle market was first proposed and mass-produced by Zero Run? Don't worry, today we're going to solve that problem.
Why would Zero Run bet on CTC?
As the "fuel tank" of electric vehicles, power batteries have been continuously improved with the development of electric vehicles. At the beginning, the standardized module battery energy density is low, there are many parts, the interval between the modules is large, and the volume of the battery cell in the battery pack is not high, resulting in weight and volume going up, but the battery capacity and vehicle endurance have not been significantly improved.
Therefore, large modules have always been the trend of power battery development, by reducing the number of modules, you can leave more space for the battery cell, thereby improving energy density. When the development of large modules to the extreme, is to remove the "module" this intermediary. Equivalent to the entire battery pack is the only module, and each cell directly forms the battery pack, that is, CTP (Cell to Pack).
However, CTP battery packs place high safety requirements because problems with a single cell can lead to thermal runaway. Therefore, most CTP technologies use relatively stable lithium iron phosphate batteries, such as the "blade battery" that many people are familiar with.
Of course, although the CTP turns the entire battery pack into a large module, the battery pack itself is still disconnected from the body, and the installation of the battery pack requires additional space.
In order to maximize the use of valuable battery compartment space, zero-run CTC battery chassis integration technology came into being. By integrating the battery, chassis and body, and reducing redundant structural design such as the upper cover, the number of parts is reduced and more space is allowed to be placed on the battery. At the same time, thanks to the complementarity of the body and battery structure, zero-run CTC technology has greatly improved the impact resistance of the battery and the torsional stiffness of the body.
On models with CTC technology, you can simply understand that the body-in-white is also part of the battery housing. That is to say, starting from the release of CTC battery chassis integration technology at zero run, the concept of "battery pack (PACK)" is about to become history in high-end electric vehicles.
Whether CTC technology is used will also become one of the important indicators for evaluating whether an electric vehicle is advanced in the future.
Since we talk about the integration of the battery chassis, we have to mention the concept of the sliding plate chassis. Because the chassis parts such as steering and suspension are uniformly integrated on the independent car body, the premise for the skateboard chassis to be realized must be based on the support of CTC battery chassis integration technology. That said, CTC is actually a necessary condition for the skateboard chassis.
Speaking of this, some people may question that no matter how high the battery energy density, it is difficult to have a leap-forward breakthrough in the current bicycle endurance, so why not use the power exchange technology that has entered the commercial stage?
In fact, there is no unified technical standard for power exchange technology, and the power station still relies on car companies to build independently, with slow speed and low density. Moreover, instead of reducing the parts like CTC, the power exchange has increased a lot of structural design, which is not as good as CTC in terms of energy density and battery impact resistance. As for the high efficiency of power exchange, the future models equipped with zero-run CTC technology can be compatible with 800V high-voltage systems, which can achieve "refueling fast charging": charging 5 minutes with a range of 200km, and will not be much slower than power exchange.
At present, Tesla has made it clear that the next generation of products using 4680 batteries will use CTC technology, and has already demonstrated the initial products at the Berlin factory. BYD has also begun to choose CTC as the next generation technology direction on the e3.0 platform, and the current news is that CTC technology will be used on the new ocean series "Seal", which has not yet been released.
From the perspective of the development trend of the entire industry, whether it is at the technical level or at the enterprise level, CTC has indisputably become the third technical trend of power batteries. However, at present, the mainstream models on the market are still in the process of upgrading standardized modules to CTP integrated modules, and CTC has not been equipped on a large scale in mass production vehicles, and the upcoming zero-run C01 will be the world's first car equipped with CTC technology.
Why can zero run lead in CTC mass production?
In 2016, when Tesla explored the feasibility of large-module power batteries, it has realized that CTC will become an ideal battery packaging solution for future electric vehicles. However, as of today, Tesla is still some time away from achieving CTC mass production. Also in 2016, Zhu Jiangming, chairman of Zero Run Automobile, took inspiration from the mobile phone battery from separation to fuselage integration, and also proposed the CTC concept plan, and then Zero Run set up a cross-departmental project team to develop CTC technology.
In fact, this spirit of "daring to be the first" and "acting immediately after identification" has been engraved in the DNA of zero runners. In September 2019, the Zero Run S01 applied infrared cameras to mass production vehicles for the first time, realizing the face recognition function that was still very advanced in the industry at that time, which in turn could monitor driver fatigue, and automatically adjust the seat, music, air conditioning, rearview mirror and so on according to the driver's identity information. That's right, that's the prototype of the smart cockpit that's already hot. Today, on the C11, there are as many as 18 automatic adaptation functions related to the driver's identity in the zero-run intelligent cockpit function, and on the C01, which is about to be delivered, this number will become more than 25. It can also be seen that in many technological innovations and application fields, zero running is not only the initiator, but also the leader.
There may be small partners are more curious, the main body of CTC battery chassis integration technology is still the battery, so why rarely see battery manufacturers voice, but the vehicle companies are actively promoting CTC technology?
This is mainly because CTC battery chassis integration technology in addition to the battery, involving the body-in-white, chassis-related system technology is more, battery manufacturers in the absence of vehicle platform is usually in the case of testability, initiative are not as good as the vehicle enterprises. However, because CTC technology has been recognized by the industry as the next generation of power battery layout programs, so the head battery manufacturers including the "battery king" Ningde era have also begun to lay out CTC, but it is expected that there will be a relatively mature mass production program after 2024.
Therefore, zero-run can become the world's first mass-produced CTC technology car company, in addition to the helmsman's precautions, but also in the zero-run car from the beginning to choose the global self-development of this technical direction, although short-term difficulties, but long-term benefits.
Due to the self-research based on the whole region, Zero Run can produce modules and PACK independently in the case of only purchasing batteries, and has the technology to integrate batteries with the body. Therefore, when exploring how to put more batteries in the limited body space, Zero Run has the strength to deduce the feasibility of merging the battery housing and the body chassis into one.
It is precisely because of this technical direction that zero-run did not expend too much energy and resources to explore other technical branches, but in 2018, it became the earliest car company in the industry to complete the CTP integration of large modules, and finally summarized the next era of intelligent electric vehicle technology, that is, zero-run intelligent power CTC battery chassis integration technology.
As Zhu Jiangming said, "Our innovation must be based on the difference between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles, rather than blindly innovating." ”
Of course, the results of adhering to global self-research are further reflected in the number of patents obtained by Zero Run. As of March this year, zero running in the vehicle has obtained and declared 1513 patents in transit, of which invention patents account for more than 40%; battery technology has obtained and declared 135 patents in transit, of which invention patents account for 55.5%.
With the advantages of dual reputation of technology and service, zero running has also repeatedly won the favor of consumers in the market. According to the latest data, the delivery volume of Zero Run in March this year was 10,059 units, an increase of 193% month-on-month, and the monthly sales exceeded the 10,000 unit mark for the first time. Q1 zero-run cars have delivered a total of 21,579 units, and the monthly delivery volume has increased by more than 200% year-on-year for 12 consecutive months, and has advanced to the first camp of new forces.
What does CTC bring to zero-run C01?
The carrier of technology is always a product, when the CTC battery chassis integration technology is applied to the zero-run C01, what characteristics are reflected? Compared with the traditional battery layout scheme, what advantages does the zero-run C01 have?
Between the structure of CTC already mentioned, here is a long story short, I summarize the advantages of CTC running zero C01 into the following four aspects:
More space: After eliminating the installation space of the battery pack, the vertical space in the car is increased by 10mm, and the head space is more spacious and comfortable.
Longer battery life: 14.5% more battery capacity than traditional layouts. At the same time, by increasing the battery insulation layer, all models equipped with zero-run CTC technology are more reliable in winter endurance performance; with the energy economy management brought by the AI BMS big data battery management system, zero-run CTC technology comprehensively improves the vehicle cruising range by 10%.
Stronger performance: the battery and chassis are combined into one, and the structure is complementary, which increases the rigidity of the body by 25%, while the body weight is reduced by 15kg, which can further improve the handling performance after effectively reducing the under-spring mass.
Higher safety: zero-run CTC double skeleton ring beam structure, AI BMS big data intelligent battery management system real-time guardianship, more than 30 safety performance tests, many of which far exceed national standards.
In addition, based on CTC battery chassis integration technology, the sustainable evolution ability of zero-run C01 will be stronger than that of electric vehicles in the past. For example, in the future, it can be compatible with 800V high-voltage platform, supporting up to 400kW super fast charging, so as to achieve charging for 5 minutes and 200km endurance of "refueling charging".
Of course, the zero-run C01 is not only the world's first mass-produced sedan equipped with CTC technology, but also represents the highest level of zero-run auto's 7-year global self-development, and is the flagship product of zero-run. Therefore, the strength of this car in other aspects is basically ceiling level.
For example, after the use of high-performance self-developed three-in-one oil-cooled electric drive assembly, zero-run C01 has a 3-second zero-hundred acceleration capacity comparable to supercars; the body length reaches 5050mm, the wheelbase reaches 2930mm, the rear leg space reaches 319mm, the whole car has 19 storage spaces, and the trunk volume is close to 500L; under the blessing of the 90kWh power battery, the comprehensive working condition of 717km endurance can be realized.
Master observation
"Our own slogan is 'build luxury cars for the people', and we hope that everyone will spend money on ordinary products to buy luxury quality cars, which is our goal." Zhu Jiangming, chairman of Zero Run Automobile, interpreted the core brand value of Zero Run, and also answered why Zero Run should adhere to self-research, adhere to innovation, and adhere to the excellence of quality.
It is true that it is not difficult to make a single indicator of a car excellent, but it is not easy for any automobile company to create a model like zero-run C01 that integrates various fields. It is believed that with such a firm belief and the confidence to master the core technology, CTC technology will not only become the next new trend leading the industry change, but also help the zero-run C01 redefine the value benchmark of medium and large electric cars.