When some traditional car companies throw out the "five killer features", they are destined to not see the taillights of the new domestic forces. Everyone is lamenting that the track of new energy vehicles is rolling too fast.
The addition of Xiaomi cars may become an important node in this arena. At the Xiaomi automotive technology conference, Lei Jun either emphasized technology or self-development, the car machine system is self-developed, the battery is developed by MediaTek, and even the motor and die-casting machine are also self-developed. There is not much left for Xiaomi Auto to develop itself.
Why does Xiaomi insist on developing its own motors?
With the goal of reducing my workload, I started a job that was not easy.
Artificial Intelligence?
What artificial intelligence is, in fact, is not intelligent. At least I understand artificial intelligence, which is very much like human repetition.
Throw the AI to the question "Why do new forces want to develop their own motors?", and you get this answer:
This is the standard answer in the internet world, and even if you ask carefully, the AI's text is still cold and highly repetitive. It seems that at this stage, it still takes a lot of brains to use AI to assist in completing text work, which is to spend time looking for guilt.
Musk once said that where is the current artificial intelligence "machine Xi", in fact, is statistics.
He tweeted a cartoon satirizing the current hype about "artificial intelligence." In this image, a passerby asks an AI wearing a "marchine learning" mask Xi: "Hey, AI. Why do you keep wearing that mask?" said as he lifted the mask with his hands, only to see another face inside, with "statistics" written on it. Passers-by hurriedly put down their masks and said, "Let's wear them anyway." ”
This is artificial intelligence in its most real: it works a little, but it's not easy to use.
Frame-by-frame AI analysis, why do car companies want to develop their own motors?
I'm trying to get the AI to understand that what we're working on together is an "in-depth article".
AI can write articles for humans, but the ideas should belong to people, which is my last pride as a human writer. Words are the soul and mind that jumps in the cyber world, and you have to find ways to get the AI to "understand" your thoughts.
So, the questions have to be asked one by one -
Is the cost of the motor high?
There may be some examples missing from the AI's answer, so I'll have to fill in them myself:
The cost of the motor is not low, but it is far less high than the battery. According to Tesla's 2023 investor conference, the cost of the Model Y motor is about $1,000, and the dual motor is $2,000, accounting for absolutely no double digits in the cost of the whole vehicle.
And what about batteries, which usually account for 40 to 50 percent of the cost of the whole vehicle. Lei Jun said at the press conference that the cost of the motor of Xiaomi cars will be more than 100,000 yuan, and bluntly said that rice noodles should respect technology. Estimated in this way, 149,900 may not be able to make Lei Jun's friend.
Self-developed motors can certainly reduce costs, but this is not the main reason.
The three major parts of a traditional car are the engine, chassis and gearbox, while the three major parts of an electric car become the battery, electronic control and motor. Whether it is a new force or a mobile phone manufacturer, they like to emphasize self-development. After a cross-border player like Xiaomi comes in, he will undoubtedly have more confidence and a better entry point with self-developed motor technology.
According to industry insiders, the research and development of power batteries is the most difficult, followed by motors, and then electronic control. Compared with self-developed batteries, self-developed motors may be easier to handle.
Which is more difficult, self-developed motor or battery?
Here's the AI's answer (polished):
There is no conclusion as to which is more difficult, the self-developed motor or the battery. Self-developed motors and batteries are fields with high technical content, which require a lot of R&D resources and time, and also need to have corresponding technical strength and production capacity. Specifically, motor is a widely used field, and its technical development has been relatively mature, but in order to achieve higher requirements in terms of performance, efficiency, reliability, etc., it still needs continuous research and innovation.
Batteries are a field with a higher technical threshold, involving knowledge in electrochemistry, materials science and other fields, and many scientific and technical problems need to be solved, such as energy density, cycle life, charging experience, etc.
In terms of technical difficulty, self-developed batteries may be more challenging than self-developed motors. In practical applications, which is more difficult, self-developed motors or batteries, depends on specific application scenarios and needs. For example, in some specific fields, such as aerospace, high-speed trains, etc., the performance and reliability requirements of motors are very high, so self-developed motors may be more challenging. In the field of electric vehicles, since the battery is the power source of the entire vehicle and has a crucial impact on the performance and range of the vehicle, it may be more challenging to develop the battery in-house.
In terms of user needs, the most important breakthrough for trams now is battery technology, which involves battery materials, charging technology and battery life, and the performance of the current motor can be said to far exceed the needs of users.
Write an ending
A "good in-depth essay" needs an ending. Focusing on the question of why the new forces want to develop their own motors, AI's answer is somewhat suspicious of making up the number of words:
The competition in the new energy vehicle track is intensifying, and traditional car companies and new forces are constantly introducing new technologies and products. In this context, the addition of Xiaomi cars has brought new content to this track. Although Xiaomi has made some progress in self-developed motors, the competition in this field is still very fierce.
For Xiaomi Auto, in order to succeed on this track, it is not only necessary to continue to invest in research and development, but also to make great efforts in product positioning and marketing. At the same time, with the continuous development of new energy vehicle technology, we also expect more innovations and breakthroughs to promote the development of the entire industry.
It seems that at this stage, it is still a bit difficult for the AI to complete the text function in depth.
If you want me to say, whether it is a self-developed motor or a self-developed battery, it is actually a calculation problem in front of the new forces: to find a balance between long-term huge investment and income. NIO is a good example, last year had to slow down some fixed asset investment, postpone some R&D projects, and slow down the development of some overseas markets, and even self-developed battery projects were dragged down. For a long time in the future, NIO will continue to burn money.