On April 26, Honda's first model of the new e:N brand, e:NS1, was officially launched; on April 27, Nissan's first high-end pure electric SUV ARIYA opened blind booking; on April 28, the first model of Toyota's bZ pure electric exclusive series, the bZ4X, was officially launched. For three consecutive days, it can be said that it is a feast for the new Japanese electric vehicles.
If the electric vehicles launched by the Japanese three in the early years are based on the development of traditional platforms, this wave of three arrows, without exception, is based on the latest electrification architecture development, will introduce their latest "pure" electric vehicles into the domestic market, sincerity is still quite sufficient.
It seems that overnight, the Japanese three strong forces rushed to the era of electrification. What will be the highlights of their electrification path? Let Kung Fu Cars interpret it for everyone.
(1) Nissan sprints extremely fast, Honda plays with driving fun, and Toyota is obsessed with balance
In addition to being built on the latest professional pure electric platform, these three Japanese pure electric models also have very significant differences, which to some extent represent their understanding of the era of electrification.
In the case of Nissan's Aria, its design is very jumpy. The closed blackened front face and the sharp headlights on both sides blend together for a futuristic feel. The front and rear blackened lower brackets echo each other, greatly improving the visual center of gravity and giving people a sense of déjà vu of a crossover.
The size of the new car is 4603 *1900 *1654mm, which is a pure electric SUV style, which is 78mm shorter than the length of the new X-Trail, but the width is 60mm wider, and the wheelbase is 69mm longer. It is equivalent to the length of a standard compact SUV, but it has a horizontal and longitudinal space that does not lose to a medium-sized SUV, and its practicality is quite prominent.
The most eye-catching point of the new car is its performance. The new car is available in two versions, single-motor and dual-motor, with a maximum power of 320 kW and a maximum torque of 600 Nm. Combined with Nissan's latest TEESA E-TS torque distribution system, its 0-100km/h acceleration time is 5.1 seconds, while the maximum cruising range is more than 600km. As a pure electric SUV mainly for home use, it is still quite tempting.
Honda's e:NS1 is taking a different route, and on the previous brand night, Honda explained its own road to electrification, that is, to reshape EV driving fun.
e: The NS1 is not satisfied with simple parameter stacking, which is too simple for electric vehicles. For the daily actual use scenarios of Chinese consumers, the new car has calibrated up to 20,000 kinds of control scenario algorithms 40 times that of ordinary EV models, which allows it to truly achieve a wide range of rivers and adapt to various special environments. For example, at this stage of the electric vehicle is easy to cause vertigo when walking and stopping, Honda through the new throttle pedal logic and accurate and delicate motor control and adaptation of power output characteristics, combined with the unique kinetic energy recovery calibration, so that the new car to drive more fresh and with feeling. The Honda EV Sound, developed specifically for trams, also allows young people to better appreciate the speed.
Toyota's bZ4X still continues the Toyota-style balanced design concept. The new car has removed the traditional grille, and the front face contour is mainly shaped by two prominent ridges, but its entire styling design is still typical of the Toyota SUV shadow, which does not look particularly eye-catching, but it is also very attractive, which can please new and old users at the same time. The advantages of the pure electric platform allow its wheels to be extremely close to the four corners, maximizing space.
The 500km endurance is not particularly prominent, but the battery life is a very big highlight. Toyota promises that after 10 years or 240,000 kilometers of normal use, the new car will still be able to maintain 90% of its battery capacity.
It can be seen that Nissan intends to sprint performance, Honda has fun driving, and Toyota is still making a fuss about reliability.
(2) Are not rookies, who can go out of the circle?
Japanese cars in the field of electrification very early, Toyota as early as 97 launched the first hybrid model Prius, Honda's i-MMD hybrid system, essentially based on electric drive system, and Nissan's Leaf is the most popular electric vehicle before the rise of Tesla.
It can be said that without discussing these three powerful manufacturing systems and invincible research and development experience, only their existing electrification technology is at least not worse than the new forces on the market. So why japanese electric vehicles do not show the mountains and water in the country, the problem is still in the thinking.
In 2019, Nissan released a set of data that compared Tesla and Nissan Leaf, which were in the limelight at that time. Tesla had 39 spontaneous combustion accidents in the short time since its launch, while the Nissan Leaf, which had accumulated sales of more than 430,000 vehicles at the time, had only two spontaneous combustion accidents in total. One of them is a wildfire ignition, and the other is a charging pile fire ignition, both caused by external factors, and have nothing to do with the safety of the power battery. On such an important indicator of battery safety, Nissan can proudly say that it is the first in the world.
But it turns out that the upward momentum of the Leaf has stagnated after a surge in sales, but Tesla has become more and more popular as it sells. Because in addition to being safe enough, The Leaf does not provide users with too much sense of value, and Tesla is really easy to use, fun, and is regarded by many people as a fashion product.
Toyota and Honda are similar encounters, neither of them are really conservatives. How can a conservative company that makes a product like a car that is upgraded very quickly has always been at the forefront of decades of competition. But the direction of early Japanese electrification did go a little further or less.
They produce some products, maybe the reliability and durability are really good, but the appeal is really not strong enough. And this official new generation of Japanese electric vehicles to think about, how they should impress the target users, is definitely not just the experience of the fuel era.
(3) Closed doors to make the car can not be, open to survive?
In addition to changing their thinking, Japanese electric vehicles have another problem, that is, they need to break their own inherent system. The biggest reason why Toyota is strong is that it has a series of the world's top parts manufacturers such as Aisin, Denso, and Toyota Boshoku behind it, which gives it a unique advantage in cost control and reliability. And Nissan and Honda, it is not necessary to rely on the blessing of their own nissin industries and industry giants such as Gatke.
Japan does not lack top electrification parts suppliers, such as Nidec Motor Corporation in the field of drive motors is deservedly the world's first, in the precision small motor can be described as a thriving. Mitsubishi Electric and Yaskawa Electric also have very strong strength and have a strong influence in the world. And Panasonic's power battery technology is also the world's leading, Tesla wants to get the 4680 battery, but also rely on Panasonic's invincible research and development capabilities and outstanding manufacturing capabilities.
But unfortunately, these top electric parts suppliers are mostly fighting for Tesla, and few are used by the three major Japanese car companies. Just like Japanese manufacturers have given apples and cameras the best screens and cameras, the result has led to Japan lagging behind in the field of mobile phones, which is simply incredible.
Therefore, in the era of electrification, if Japanese car companies still refuse to let go of the system and achieve win-win cooperation, what awaits them may be similar to the encounter of the mobile phone industry.
On the other hand, it may be even more deadly, that is, Japanese companies generally lack Internet genes. In terms of vehicle system, the three new Japanese cars are remarkable, and the degree of completion is also very good. But compared to the Model Y equipped with AMD chips and even playing PS5 games, it is undoubtedly not enough to see.
The same is true in terms of intelligent driving, when Tesla, Xiaopeng and various arms races, and even BYD have found NVIDIA, the Japanese top three seem to be still doing optimization under their own system, and the gap in this regard may be further widened.
Intelligent networking and intelligent driving are also the key tracks of the current electric racing, and once they lag behind in this regard, they are likely to lead to defeat in the subsequent competition.
(4) Kung Fu shooting
Japanese cars have finally taken an important step, and the Japanese three have launched the latest pure electric models based on pure electric platforms, which also have their own characteristics and integrate their understanding of the era of electrification, which is still very worth looking forward to.
But on the other hand, how to use the resources of Japan's top parts and components companies and how to add Internet genes to themselves will be the biggest challenge for Japanese pure electric vehicles.
The extreme pursuit of Japanese cars in the field of pure electric vehicles has officially opened, are you looking forward to it?