When the proportion of new energy vehicles in this era is increasing, traditional automobile manufacturers will never stand idly by with the internal combustion engine, but concentrate on developing new energy products that are more suitable for this era and more suitable for driving in various scenarios. This time, Guangqi Honda brought us its first model with three types of power: fuel, hybrid and plug-in hybrid, Honda's new generation of Haoying, e:HEV and e:PHEV hybrid models.
As the sales manager of the mid-mid-level SUV of the Honda family, Haoying has sold nearly 500,000 units so far, ranking among the top domestic mid-level SUV sales list. In last year's "China Central Radio and Television Station 2022 China Auto Festival", the new generation of Haoying won the annual "Best SUV" award. The new generation of Haoying focuses the consumers of the product on the pursuit of high-quality young user groups, they are generally between 25-35 years old, always sensitive to new things but not blindly obeyed, the demand for automotive products longs for diversification, multi-scene, but also can present a unique personality expression.
Based on the above target groups, let's first take a look at the appearance of the new Haoying e:HEV and e:PHEV hybrid models.
The new generation of Haoying e:HEV and e:PHEV shape design is consistent with the fuel version, narrow and sharp LED daytime running lights and LED high and low beam headlights make the front of the car very eye-catching, while adopting horizontal layout design elements, but also more prominent body wide visual sense. The waistline of the body extends from the bonnet to the taillights, straight and powerful. The shark fin antenna at the tail, the rear spoiler, and the exhaust design of the bilateral double exit give the Haoying a sporty interpretation just right.
If the exterior design is good-looking or not, then the body size is to speak with data, and this time on the hybrid model, the body size has been upgraded. e: The length of the HEV is 4716mm, 1866mm, and 1691mm (top-of-the-line model), and the length of the HEV is increased by 82mm compared to the current fuel version, and the wheelbase is increased to 2700mm. The e:PHEV has a length, width, and height of 4716mm/1866mm/1681mm and a wheelbase of 2701mm. Moreover, Honda's "MM concept" (Man-Maximum, Machine-Minimum, that is, "maximum occupant space, minimized mechanical space"), allows this car to get the largest seating space in its class. With my height (183cm) in the actual ride, it is still relatively spacious and comfortable.
In order to further express the sporty style of the car, the official can support the optional sports wheels up to 19 inches. In terms of body colors, seven colors of car paint, including fog forest, starry sky blue, polar night silver, and Greenland white, are also available. The e:PHEV plug-in hybrid version model also has a special speed crimson, which is quite dazzling.
The first thing you feel when you enter the car is this comfortable seat, ergonomically designed and stitched with leather wrapping, and the backrest angle is moderately curved to effectively prevent hunchbacking. In addition, the seat heating function has been added this time, and the front seats are equipped with ventilation function, which can keep the back cool at all times in the hot summer. In terms of color scheme, the e:HEV seat adopts red stitching to emphasize the sporty style, while the e:PHEV adopts light beige and tonal stitching for a more elegant atmosphere.
The central armrest box is thick and textured, and the arm support is very comfortable, and the automatic opening angle has been increased to 60°, and the manual can be opened 30 degrees more, at 90 degrees, making it very easy to collect items.
The air conditioning outlet that runs through the middle of the plaque is presented as a honeycomb-shaped metal panel, which is very high-class. It is particularly worth mentioning that all seat lighting in the Haoying car is LED, and the tray, cup holder, and LED lighting of the front and rear door panels of the central saddle are also the first to appear on the new generation of Haoying. In addition to adding a sense of premium to the vehicle's driving, push-button shifting also makes the space in the center console more arbitrary, and the e:PHEV model also adds an e-gear one-button pure electric mode to easily switch pure electric driving. Both models are equipped with B-gear mode, which can be switched at the touch of a button, so as to realize a single-pedal mode, and with the deceleration paddles, even if you go downhill, you can do without applying the brakes.
The trunk adopts a high and low movable floor design, of which the e:HEV version has a space volume of 586L; e: The trunk space of the PHEV version has been expanded to 586 liters, and it can be expanded to 658 liters when using the low-level movable floor. To be honest, Haoying can have such trunk space performance, mainly thanks to the new high-energy density battery, which reduces weight by 53% and volume by 54%, and can be placed under the front seats, thus ensuring that the trunk is maximized.
Of course, for a car, the greatest respect is to drive. This time, we test-drove the e:HEV and e:PHEV in Lijiang, covering national highways, highways and mountain roads, and passed a short section of unpaved roads on the way to the filming location, which can be said to fully feel the driving texture of the two hybrid models.
Let's take a look at the e:HEV, as an electronic four-wheel drive hybrid model, equipped with Honda's fourth-generation i-MMD hybrid system, this system condenses Honda's more than 20 years of technical precipitation, the system structure is more secure and reliable, the new 2.0-liter Atkinson engine and transmission are fully upgraded, and it is paired with the industry-leading "two-speed mode". Among them, the maximum power of the engine is 110KW and the peak torque is 183 Nm, while the maximum power of the electric motor is 135KW and the peak torque is 335 Nm. In addition, the motor and engine drive are equipped with special gears, which improve the maximum speed and re-acceleration performance at high speeds, and the top speed is increased to a maximum speed of 193 km/h.
When we drive this car, whether it is going uphill or in a corner, we can feel the continuation of the power. It is particularly worth mentioning that unlike previous hybrid models that only set the direct drive mode at high speed, Honda's system also specially added the engine low-speed direct drive mode, so when cruising at high speed and climbing at low speed, the system can connect the engine and the drive motor in parallel to provide more surging driving force and better acceleration performance. Since I didn't really like the single-pedal mode, I didn't switch to the B mode with one key during the test drive to feel the driving texture in the single-pedal mode. In addition to the Normal/Econ/Sport, the Snow mode has been added to make winter driving more secure.
In terms of chassis tuning, the Haoying e:HEV model is equipped with a unique amplitude induction shock absorber, which can automatically switch between high and low frequency according to road conditions, so as to ensure the smoothness of the vehicle during driving, but compared to the ADS full-time adaptive damping system of e:PHEV, it still feels slightly stiffer when crossing speed bumps. And when we drove the e:PHEV to the shooting location in the afternoon, the advantages of the adaptive damping system when passing the unpaved road section were brought into play, and the bumpy feeling became a sense of drift, and the body could completely relax.
During the test drive, we also experienced intelligent assisted driving, and it is necessary to say a few more words. Both the Haoying e:HEV and e:PHEV are equipped with the Honda SENSING 360 security super sensing system, and the detection angle of the forward-facing HD camera is increased to 100°, the detection range of the radar is expanded to 120°, and there are a total of five millimeter-wave radars. Based on the 360-degree hard core sensor without dead angles, it can accurately capture road conditions in a large range in real time, so as to easily avoid potential risks. In addition to the conventional lane keeping, following, lane change reminder and other routine, the specially added ACC Corner Speed Assist intelligent driving function allows us to be more handy and easy to face in high-speed corners.
Of course, the quietness of the car is also very good this time, the all-round sound insulation configuration of the whole car has been improved, and the engine noise, road noise, and wind noise have been fully optimized, so that we can always feel a very comfortable quiet feeling in the car during the test drive.
Although the size of the central control touch screen is only 10.1 inches, it is fully functional and the operation is also very smooth, which is different from many models that are sold with large screens and wrap-around screens, and this screen of Haoying gives people a feeling of returning to the basics and returning to driving. And for friends who are accustomed to voice control, this vehicle-machine system can also easily realize the control function of part of the vehicle comfort through human-machine dialogue.
It needs to be emphasized here that in the one-key pure electric mode of the e:PHEV plug-in hybrid model, if you want to overtake at a fast speed, then when you step on the accelerator pedal, you will feel a total of two segments, the first segment is very smooth, and then you will feel that it has been completed. At this time, you only need to continue to step on, and then the engine and the motor will exert force at the same time, giving the vehicle an instant acceleration response. When you finish overtaking, if you want to press the E button again to switch back to pure electric mode, you need to wait for about a minute for the engine temperature to heat up to 70 degrees. Through communication with Honda technicians, we learned that this is due to the requirements of OBD (Emission Control Testing) regulations, and this move also shows that Honda is serious about vehicles meeting the China VI B emission standard.
Written at the end:
After a full day of test driving, I was very impressed by the Honda Optim e:HEV and e:PHEV, both in terms of the driving texture and comfort of the vehicle and the vehicle's reaction in different road conditions, which made people feel that this is still a familiar Honda. The emergence of more advanced configurations, including the 12-speaker BOSE audio, the quietness of the car brought by ANC active noise cancellation, etc., also makes people feel more like a luxury SUV. In any case, when the traditional automobile manufacturers are making efforts in the field of new energy, you will definitely feel their consistent attitude of striving for excellence.