Hengchi 5 was exposed that "the vehicle system is defective, and automatic driving is like a decoration", and the future of Evergrande Auto is unpredictable

Recently, Evergrande New Energy Vehicle announced that Hengchi 5 will usher in the first OTA upgrade. This version corresponds to H-SMART OS V1.3.4 SOFTWARE, AND OWNERS OF UPGRADED VEHICLES WILL RECEIVE AN OVER-THE-AIR UPDATE NOTIFICATION.

It is understood that this upgrade is mainly through the network, downloading a new software update package from a remote server to upgrade its own system, saving users the time to upgrade to and from the store. However, it is still unknown whether the first OTA upgrade can solve the actual usage needs of users.

From the delivery side, since the delivery on October 29 last year, Hengchi 5 has only delivered a few hundred vehicles, and the gap between the actual delivery volume and the scheduled 40,000 vehicles can be said to be a world of difference.

Caution should be exercised with OTA upgrades for the first time

OTA is short for Over-the-Air, Chinese meaning is over-the-air technology. From the perspective of user experience, OTA upgrades allow cars to continuously repair the system and unlock more functions, which is also the biggest difference between smart cars and traditional cars.

As soon as 2023 arrived, Evergrande Auto made a big move, and the first production model, Hengchi 5, began its first OTA upgrade less than three months after delivery. According to the data, Hengchi 5 can support five domain upgrades such as chassis, intelligent driving, cockpit, body, and power.

Although the market time is not long, many Hengchi 5 owners complain about the vehicle's vehicle problems. Some Hengchi 5 owners said that the overlap of car text and text obviously belongs to problems with the optimization of the car UI, and there are also faults such as abnormal brake noise and insufficient power.

In addition, many owners have reported that the interface of the L2 level assisted driving function declared by Hengchi 5 cannot be opened at all, and the air conditioning and seat heating and ventilation functions are often unable to be used normally.

Although the Hengchi 5's OTA upgrade has been launched, it is still unclear whether it can solve the vehicle problem.

So, is it necessary for the vehicle to have an ATO upgrade? Li Xuzhi, an observer in the automotive industry, told the China Times: "Automotive OTA upgrades have the functions of quickly fixing system defects and rapid iteration to improve product and user experience. Vehicle owners can choose to upgrade according to their own circumstances under the state of safe parking, clear upgrade content and informed consent. ”

For new energy vehicles that are rising in the development of intelligence, OTA upgrades have become a major feature of smart vehicles. At present, a number of new energy vehicle brands are also undergoing OTA upgrades. But it's worth noting that the problems that arise after OTA upgrades are also plaguing car owners. The reporter of the "China Times" found from the black cat complaint platform that there were 876 complaints about OTAs, most of which were software and hardware incompatibility after the upgrade.

Li Wei, an automotive analyst, said in an interview with the China Times: "Over-the-air firmware updates require more advanced technology, which not all automakers have, among which issues such as network security, fast connections, powerful computing power and large memory space are particularly important." For Hengchi 5, upgraded information security is the key to OTA upgrade. ”

It is not difficult to find that in the rapid popularization of OTA, in addition to information security, some car companies tamper with vehicle systems through OTA to cover up product defects, and OTA upgrade software and hardware are not matched. For Hengchi 5 owners, OTA upgrades need to be cautious.

Hengchi Automobile's delivery target is difficult to achieve

According to Evergrande Automobile's plan, the first batch of 10,000 vehicles will be delivered by the first quarter of 2023. But as of last month, Hengchi 5 had delivered a total of 324 vehicles in three months. It can be seen that Evergrande Auto will reach the passing line of 10,000 deliveries in a short period of time, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to achieve.

Li Wei believes: "Hengchi 5 as the first mass-produced model of Evergrande Automobile, Evergrande Automobile has high hopes for it, the price of 179,000 yuan is actually a loss, but as the first model launched by Evergrande Automobile in the face of the market, the hope is to exchange price for volume." On August 6 last year, Hengchi 5 set a pre-sale record of 40,000 units a month. Up to now, the sales of Hengchi 5 are less than 400 units. The ups and downs of the data can't help but make people doubt the reliability of the pre-sale data, and from the perspective of delivery, the Hengchi 5 will complete the first batch of 10,000 vehicles before the first quarter of 2023 is basically impossible to achieve. ”

According to the annual report of Evergrande Automobile, in less than four years, Evergrande Automobile's loss has exceeded 17 billion yuan, including a loss of 1.429 billion yuan in 2018, 4.426 billion yuan in 2019, 7.394 billion yuan in 2020 and 4.787 billion yuan in the first half of 2021. Since then, Evergrande Auto has not disclosed in its annual report, and its trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended.

Negative news such as the aggravation of losses, the dissolution of Evergrande Automobile's headquarters, the retention of employees without pay, and the suspension of work and production have also frequently attracted widespread attention from the public. Although Gao Jingshen, CEO of Hengchi Automobile, said: "Hengchi Automobile is going all out to maintain normal production and operation, the current production of the Tianjin plant is normal, and the suppliers are also fully cooperating, the delivery of Hengchi 5 is basically advancing as planned, and there is no so-called 'shutdown affected by external factors'." "However, at the market level, there are constantly various unfavorable news from Evergrande Automobile. From the spotlight to the chicken feathers, the delivery goal of Hengchi 5 will be more difficult to achieve.

Since its delivery, the quality control of Hengchi 5 has become the focus of user complaints. Hengchi Auto shouted for three months, but Hengchi 5 ignored automobile research and development, testing laws and vehicle safety crash tests. From the perspective of endurance, the official cruising range of Hengchi 5 is 602km, and some owners have reported that they only ran 470km at most, and when there is still 120km left, the vehicle suddenly "nests". It can be seen that the quality control problem of Hengchi 5 is indeed worrying.

In fact, relying on Hengchi 5 alone, it is indeed difficult for Evergrande Auto to quickly open the situation. It's just that there is not much news in the planned Hengchi 1, Hengchi 2, Hengchi 3, Hengchi 4, and the rest of Hengchi models. From the full coverage of models, with cars, SUVs, MPVs, crossovers, to the current efforts to build only one model of Hengchi 5 mass production, it can be seen that the future of Evergrande Auto is still unknown.

Responsible editor: Li Yanan Editor-in-chief: Yu Jianping