Header image source | Roewe official
In the 18th century, Watt improved the steam engine and set off the wave of the first industrial revolution, and the world stepped onto the extremely fast road of modern urbanization. The vitality of industry has also flourished. The continuous innovation of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine has made earth-shaking changes in the "travel" of human life. To this day, cars powered by internal combustion engines are still our first choice for travel. However, with the intensification trend of automobile electrification in recent years, especially in 2021, the rapid development of electric vehicles, from the Shanghai International Auto Show to the Guangzhou International Auto Show, all of them tell a major event of industry change - electric vehicles have swept onto the historical stage.
When everyone's eyes are focused on the aura of new energy, there is such a group of young people who adhere to the research and development and evolution of traditional fuel vehicles.
"Will fuel vehicles be obsolete within the foreseeable decades?" A young engineer at SAIC Roewe questioned. He then added that the rapid advance in electrification does not mean a complete break with fuel vehicles, especially hard-core industrial technologies such as engines and transmissions, which are supported by more than half of the market users.
At this stage, the development of electrification is naturally unquestionable, but it should not be allowed to stagnate in fuel vehicle technology, and consumers who are willing to choose fuel vehicles also have the right to enjoy the continuous progress of technology.
On April 14, SAIC Roewe demonstrated for the first time the SAIC Blue Core Power GS61 1.5T supercharged direct injection engine at the SAIC Zhengzhou Engine Plant. This engine performs well in the 1.5T class of engines, and can ensure that the fuel consumption of the vehicle is as low as 6.0L/100km. Official information shows that this engine will be the first to be applied to the third-generation Roewe RX5.
Source: Roewe Official
Only by persevering can we always be consistent
Around 2014, new car-making forces represented by Wei Xiaoli have emerged, and by 2021, technology giants such as Xiaomi and Baidu will enter the game of car manufacturing, and the new car-making movement will enter the 2.0 era, and the smart electric vehicle track will become hotter and hotter. Under such a trend, it seems that electric vehicles are not "advanced" enough without talking about electric vehicles.
While actively transforming to electrification, Roewe has not given up the research and development of traditional fuel engine technology.
Roewe engineers believe that if zero emissions from the production of power resources cannot be achieved, it is a false proposition to talk about the environmental protection of electric vehicles.
At present, thermal power generation is the main way of power generation in countries around the world, which uses the heat energy generated by combustibles when burning and converts it into electrical energy through power generation power devices. Taking China as an example, thermal power generation has long occupied about 70% of the total installed power capacity and total power generation, and the proportion of thermal power generation is still increasing.
According to the data released by the Research Report on the Development Trend and Future Prospects of China's Thermal Power Generation Industry (2022-2029), in 2021, the mainland's thermal power generation capacity was 5,770.27 billion kWh, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year; the national thermal power generation in January-February 2022 was 986.37 billion kWh, accounting for about 75.06% of the national power generation.
Compared with other power generation methods, thermal power generation has the highest energy conversion rate and cost performance, but the resulting environmental pollution is also more serious.
In addition, the recycling of power batteries, one of the core components of electric vehicles, is also a major problem.
According to 36Kr, although the state has published a white list of relevant recycling battery companies, it is only a guiding document and has not been enforced. At present, about 70% of the power batteries decommissioned from electric vehicles have flowed into small workshops that are not standardized.
It should be known that the operation process of these small workshops cannot be effectively supervised, and even the waste is directly discharged during the dismantling process, which has caused serious pollution to the environment in some areas.
Therefore, Roewe engineers believe that it is also meaningful to do what can be determined at present to the extreme and contribute to environmental protection and emission reduction. Inheriting the technical gene of "strong power, fuel consumption saving, core intelligence", Roewe continuously optimizes the parameters of the GS61 engine.
People-oriented, in order to achieve great success
It is true that the 14th Five-Year Plan has clearly raised the "double carbon strategy" to the national height, and the energy conservation and emission reduction of automobiles has become a major trend. However, the electrification transformation is not achieved overnight, things need to be slowed down, and the reason for not reaching the speed is also applicable to the automotive industry. Therefore, Roewe has chosen the most secure path, that is, fuel + hybrid dual line to promote industrial change and upgrading - the third generation of Roewe RX5 launched a hybrid version.
Wei Xiaoli has sprung up, and the new forces have adhered to the concept of user-centeredness and gained their own fans. In fact, Roewe has always had such a line of thinking.
An engineer at Roewe said that in the past, the idea of traditional car companies was to educate consumers, "what kind of models I provide, what kind of cars you buy"; after a few years, car companies learned to cater to the needs of consumers, and then pushed the wheelbase of overseas models to the Chinese market after lengthening; later, traditional car companies realized that they had to "sink down and think about what customers need most, and what we provide in a targeted manner."
When marketing transitions from product-oriented in the 1.0 era to consumer-oriented in the 2.0 era, Roewe is also practicing this principle. How to forward-look into social development and humanistic needs, which forces Roewe to think more from the perspective of society and consumers.
"Anticipate consumer movements and stay ahead of him." —Philip Cartel
This is true for products, it is true for marketing, and it is even more true for corporate strategy. Whether it is the birth of the roewe RX5, the first generation of Internet cars in 2016, or the continuous renewal of Blue Core Power, they are repeating the same thing, that is, Roewe is always one step ahead.
Today, Bluecore Power Engine brings the latest generation, the third generation of the GS61 1.5T engine, which uses electronically controlled variable nozzle turbocharging technology (VGT), which has a 30% faster turbo response speed than the previous generation engine, a maximum torque of 300 N·m, and a maximum power of 188 horsepower. Thanks to the latest generation of SGCS combustion systems, fuel economy can be improved by 6% thanks to technologies such as the 350 bar high-pressure fuel injection system.
Source: Roewe Official
In addition, the engineers also referred to the data released by a number of research institutions and found that urban traffic congestion has become the norm, and the average commuting time of office workers in the country in 2021 is 72 minutes, of which Beijing is more than one and a half hours, and Shanghai is also more than one hour. People are spending more and more time in the car, and the requirements for the comfort and tranquility of the vehicle are gradually increasing.
The GS61 1.5T engine has been deliberately NVH optimized, through the strengthening of the engine body structure and the lightweight design of the crank connecting rod mechanism, as well as the application of acoustic wrapping of key parts such as timing cover and fuel system, supplemented by finer calibration optimization, the sound power level idle noise has reached the international leading level, which can bring a library-level quiet experience for the occupants of the car.
In addition to boring research and development, product verification and other work, roewe's young engineers do the most, is to think about user needs.
After entering the middle of March, due to the seriousness of the epidemic in Shanghai, everyone had to work from home, and engineers felt that being trapped in a certain place for a long time, whether it was home or office, was a negative impact on the body and mind. "We wondered if we could develop a subdivided car with office conditions, equipped with a chip that can achieve 5G communication, the overall body can be fully glass processed, and when bored, drive to the park to work, both to enjoy the beautiful scenery and to meet the needs of 'home'."
Even, they take into account the needs of young users in the virtual world.
Young people like to buy land and build communities in the metaverse, will they also need cars? In the future, in the digital world of the metaverse, it may be possible to map the real world's material into it, such as Roewe, Nike, Adidas and so on.
"The world is changing very fast, young people are always ready to accept new things, and what we have to do is to impress these young people, although they may only be thirteen or fourteen years old now, they are not yet able to buy, but ten years later, they may be our potential users." 」 Breaking into the virtual world and cultivating potential users in advance is the most exciting reverie of these young engineers after work.
Keep the love on and on the rise
It is such a group of young people who seem to always maintain the imagination and creativity of their youth, and are full of enthusiasm for work and life.
Due to the needs of work, young engineers often need to travel to extreme environments such as Heihe, Xinjiang and Tibet to verify the reliability of products.
In order to provide users with a foolproof experience, the natural environment selected for product verification is usually high cold, high heat, plateau and other places, if under such extreme conditions, the vehicle can run stably, then in the conventional car scene can be safe. When traveling to verify, the Roewe team often did experiments during the day and stayed up late at night to discuss the data. "I don't want to go to bed early, it seems that the idea is broken every night, everyone is young, they are very excited to study the data together, and they don't seem to feel tired." This kind of discussion often lasts until two or three o'clock in the morning, everyone takes a nap, and gets up at five or six o'clock to do cold start experiments.
In 2011, a young engineer received his first business trip after joining Roewe, the destination of which was the Kunlun Mountains.
"When everyone drove to a pass in the Kunlun Mountains, they overlooked the magnificent natural landscape, which gave people an incredible shock, and I still remember that picture."
At an altitude of about 4800 meters, people naturally feel some altitude sickness, but they are full of relief when they see that the vehicles developed by their company still have not dropped their chains in such a harsh environment.
It is also such a group of young engineers who have become the most fearless and lovely retrogrades in the epidemic.
When Shanghai suffered a new round of epidemic counterattack, it was also a key stage in the research and development of the third-generation Roewe RX5. Everyone cares about the progress of product research and development, when the company recruits employees who can return to work for closed-loop production in accordance with the policy, the first batch of return-to-work places are quickly snatched up. "I'm still slow", did not grab the first batch of places, many engineers are slightly disappointed. However, when the second batch of places was opened for application, they signed up for the first time, "Without a moment's hesitation, I knew the company needed me." ”
Source: Roewe Official
After returning to work at the beginning, the logistical support work did not keep up for the time being. The staff of different departments of the powertrain team had to squeeze into the laboratory overnight, "including the transmission software team, the calibration team, and the engine software and calibration team, there were about twenty or thirty people, but everyone did not feel bitter, but also ridiculed each other, this is probably the most expensive room everyone has slept in their lives (the various equipment in the laboratory is worth hundreds of millions of dollars). ”
epilogue
In the second half of 2022, the third-generation Roewe RX5 will be launched, and the young engineers involved in the development and design of this car are also growing. From the new Xiaobai who first entered the workplace, after experience, he gradually became a core technical member of the team. People and products achieve each other and grow together.
A young engineer of Roewe once recalled the scene when he chose to work after graduation, during the internship, he had been exposed to Roewe's projects, liked the harmonious and upward working atmosphere in the team, and did not interview several companies after graduation, and joined Roewe. After entering the company, I encountered the gearbox project that had just started, and I grew up with the project and benefited a lot. After ten years of working at Roewe, I always seem to have something new to learn, and growth is a never-ending thing.
The above-mentioned engineer revealed, "GS61 independently designed and built a platform for mechanization and education, in order to maximize the stimulation of team innovation, during the development process, our team can expand the imagination from any angle, not limited to the established plan, nor will it let the development concept of old products bundle themselves." The goal is to make the product better. ”
The team has the ambition of an old expert to strengthen the country, and there are also young colleagues who have just graduated from school. The young colleagues have newly equipped the GS61 engine with electronic water pump EWP, from hardware to control, after more than 2 years of experience, completed the role transformation, and became the backbone of the future Blue Core Power brand.
With the end of the spring recruitment in 2022, many young people with dreams and beliefs will join Roewe and start a new story between them and Roewe.