A few days ago, SAIC-GM-Wuling officially released a battery specially developed for new energy commercial vehicles - Wuling Red No. 1 battery. The battery has been officially mass-produced and rolled off the assembly line, and will be first equipped on Wuling's new generation of ultra-large space new energy commercial vehicle "Wuling Yangguang". As the first battery technology specially developed for new energy commercial vehicles, Wuling Red No. 1 battery has achieved multi-dimensional breakthroughs in battery performance, cost and safety, thereby promoting the overall development of the new energy commercial vehicle industry.
Wuling Red No. 1 battery
Solve the pain points of new energy for commercial vehicles
After experiencing the "bottom" in 2022, the commercial vehicle market will finally usher in a rebound in 2023. According to the data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the cumulative annual sales of commercial vehicles in 2023 will be 4.0309 million, a year-on-year increase of 22%.
However, although the entire commercial vehicle market continues to explode, the new energy commercial vehicle market is flat. In 2023, the sales volume of new energy commercial vehicles will be 35,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, and the overall penetration rate will be 11.3%, which is basically the same as in 2022. In comparison, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in 2023 will be 9.587 million units and 9.495 million units, respectively, an increase of 35.8% and 37.9% year-on-year. In other words, the growth rate of the new energy commercial vehicle market has not kept up with the "big market" of the entire new energy market.
New energy commercial vehicles are green and environmentally friendly, and have extremely high economy. Taking a new energy light passenger car as an example, the monthly operating cost of a traditional fuel light passenger may need 2,000 yuan, but a new energy vehicle of the same level only needs 500 yuan. Therefore, for intercity logistics users who have long battery life and do not have rigid needs, it should have a higher attractiveness.
In addition, the new energy commercial vehicle market has great development potential. Data shows that commercial vehicles emit 55% of all carbon dioxide emissions, although they account for only 11% of the car population. For this reason, the state and some regions have adopted a series of policies to promote market development, such as subsidies, opening up the right of way for new energy logistics vehicles, and setting up pilot projects to promote the development of electrification of urban operating vehicles. Especially in 2023, the China VIB standard will be implemented, and the carbon emission reduction of commercial vehicles will be more stringent, and the commercial use of new energy should usher in explosive growth.
In short, whether it is a subjective factor, new energy commercial vehicles can bring lower operating costs, or objective factors, new energy commercial vehicles cater to the general trend of energy conservation and emission reduction in the industry, and the popularization of new energy commercial vehicles should be a two-way rush between users and the market. However, in fact, the electrification of commercial vehicles is far less rapid than that of passenger cars, and the popularity rate is not satisfactory. So, what's the problem?
On the one hand, due to the high cost of batteries, the purchase cost of new energy commercial vehicles is often not lower than that of traditional commercial vehicles. On the other hand, considering the frequency of high-intensity use of commercial vehicles, problems such as short cruising range and long charging time have become the main anxiety of workers.
Of course, the most important thing is the safety of new energy vehicles. Spontaneous combustion accidents of new energy vehicles are not uncommon. According to the statistics of the emergency management department, in the first quarter of 2023 alone, the spontaneous combustion rate of new energy vehicles increased by 32%, and an average of 8 new energy vehicles caught fire every day. Most of the causes of spontaneous combustion are caused by battery safety.
Therefore, in this context, adhering to the brand concept of "what the people need", as well as Wuling's 42 years of manufacturing experience in the field of commercial vehicles, and strong technical reserves in the core three-electric field. Wuling Motors has launched the first Wuling Red No. 1 battery specially developed for commercial vehicles, which has "three super skills" and provides a new solution to the pain points of new energy commercial vehicles.
Trick 1: Feiliu ultra-intelligent temperature control system, efficient energy replenishment
Intercity logistics commercial vehicles tend to charge more frequently due to the continuous high-intensity operation. However, new energy vehicles that have just finished operation often have a high battery temperature, which can easily lead to a longer charging time, thus affecting the energy replenishment efficiency. And you know, for logistics practitioners, time is money.
In this regard, in view of the pain point of slow energy replenishment efficiency of new energy commercial vehicles, Wuling Red No. 1 battery adopts the first liquid cooling technology in its class, and it is innovatively equipped with Feiliu ultra-intelligent temperature control system.
The Feiliu ultra-intelligent temperature control system is composed of three key parts: the Feiliu liquid cooling structure, the intelligent temperature control system, and the Feiliu thermal insulation mechanism. Among them, the Feiliu liquid cooling structure adopts a 9-channel parallel design, which has smaller flow resistance, multi-channel high-speed driving of coolant, uniform and efficient heating and cooling, and reduces charging loss. During the charging process, the intelligent temperature control system can intelligently sense the battery temperature in real time and accurately control the temperature, so that the charging and discharging can be maintained in the optimal temperature range. It not only optimizes charging efficiency, but also reduces battery life degradation and improves battery life. The Feiliu thermal insulation intelligent temperature control mechanism can continuously keep the battery warm after it is fully charged at low temperatures, so that the battery can still have excellent battery life in low temperature in winter.
In short, under the control of the Feiliu ultra-intelligent temperature control system, the charging efficiency of the battery is greatly improved, and the damage to the battery life is also reduced. The data shows that in the fast charging range, the Wuling Red No. 1 battery only takes 30 minutes to achieve 30%-80% energy replenishment.
Trick 2: MUST ultra-thin structure technology, reduce costs and increase efficiency
For commercial vehicle users, their pursuit of space for a car far exceeds that of passenger car users. Because more space means more loading space, and more loading is naturally equal to more money. However, because commercial vehicle batteries are generally placed above the vehicle chassis, the longitudinal space of the vehicle is not as good as that of a fuel vehicle. In this regard, Wuling Red No. 1 battery innovatively adopts MUST ultra-thin structure technology, through the integration of pioneering material innovation and novel structural design, to create a large cargo space, and at the same time effectively reduce battery maintenance costs.
First of all, with the blessing of MUST's ultra-thin structure technology, the Wuling Red No. 1 battery combines structural beams, side plates and thermal management functions to compress the battery volume to the extreme—the battery thickness is only 148mm, which is the thinnest commercial battery in the industry, which is about 28% thinner than the same level, saving users more space in the cargo box. Through a more integrated design, the weight of the vehicle body is also reduced, the economy of battery energy consumption is improved, and the comprehensive economic benefits of a single transportation are effectively improved.
In addition, the MUST ultra-thin structure technology of Wuling Red No. 1 battery also has the characteristics of detachability, which greatly improves the efficiency of maintenance and reduces the cost of battery maintenance during actual use.
Of course, with such a thin and light battery, it is inevitable that people will worry about whether its strength is reliable. In this regard, MUST's ultra-thin structure technology adopts the ultra-lightweight and high-strength design of aircraft wing homology, which increases the strength of the battery pack by more than 60% and greatly improves the safety performance of the battery.
Trick 3: Win the ultra-durable battery cell technology and carry out safety to the end
Because of the endless spontaneous combustion accidents of new energy vehicles, new energy vehicle consumers will also pay more attention to their safety. The safety of new energy vehicles largely depends on the safety of the battery. Therefore, protecting the battery has become a top priority. So, what are the advantages of Wuling Red No. 1 battery in terms of safety performance?
Wulinghong No. 1 battery is equipped with Winning ultra-durable battery cell technology, which integrates battery cell fast charging, cell anti-aging, and battery cell safety technology to improve the durability and safety of battery cells in an all-round way. Specifically, Wuling Red No. 1 battery uses the highest level of flame retardant materials to protect the battery pack, and prevents thermal runaway through ceramic layer coating; from the internal structure of the cell, solid-liquid interface and material system, it is innovative and optimized, the top of the pole piece adopts an insulating protective layer and a generous overhang design to eliminate self-discharge and top lithium separation, and through CCD high-progress detection technology and 100% x-ray detection technology of the battery cell, the quality of each cell is ensured and the short circuit in the battery is avoided.
After actual measurement, the battery cell was extruded and deformed by 40%, the charging and discharging were normal after one-third of the depth of acupuncture, and there was no fire or explosion in the test of vertical piercing of the steel needle and high temperature short circuit in the cell. Wulinghong No. 1 battery has broken the industry's standard of only one test for a set of battery packs, and the safety of the battery cells is always online. It can be seen that the Wuling Red No. 1 battery inherits the high safety quality of SAIC-GM-Wuling's "one million new energy vehicles without spontaneous combustion", and also pushes the safety standard of commercial vehicle batteries to a new high.
On the basis of ensuring the safety of the battery cell, the battery cell of Wulinghong No. 1 battery adopts a new graphite coating and granulation technology, electrode gradient coating, and low-impedance negative electrode interface construction technology, so that the battery cell can take into account both fast charging performance and high temperature resistance. While improving the charging efficiency of the battery cell, Wuling Red No. 1 battery adopts high-stability SEI film deposition technology and low-defect graphite anode liquid coating technology to protect the stability and safety of the battery, help greatly improve the electrochemical performance and stability of the battery, and improve the cycle life of the battery. After many experiments, Wulinghong No. 1 battery cell still maintains more than 80% life after more than 4,000 complete cell charging and discharging cycles, and its anti-aging performance leads the industry.
What the people need
Wuling will build anything
"What the people need, Wuling will build", this has never been a slogan, but implemented in Wuling's car manufacturing philosophy for decades. Wuling Motors has always adhered to the car use scenarios and needs, grasped the needs of users, provided solid and reliable technology, products and services, and continued to create a number of legendary models such as Wuling Hongguang and Wuling MINI EV.
Nowadays, in the face of the electrification transformation of the commercial vehicle market, Wuling Motors also has a deep insight into the pain points of the industry's development, and has launched the Wuling Red No. 1 battery specially developed for new energy commercial vehicles, bringing higher quality and more efficient new energy commercial vehicle experience to transportation practitioners with high-efficiency energy supplement, high integration, high safety standards, anti-attenuation, ultra-durable, low cost and other product strengths.
In short, the launch of Wuling Red No. 1 battery will not only be a technological innovation in the field of new energy commercial vehicles, but also a vivid case of Wuling Motors' concept of "what the people need, Wuling will build".
On January 31, the first new energy commercial vehicle equipped with Wuling Red No. 1 battery, a new generation of ultra-large space new energy commercial vehicle - Wuling Yangguang was unveiled. This car applies Wuling's new energy platform, new design language, and new energy commercial vehicle development battery system, which can be said to be equivalent to setting a new vane in the industry.
Wuling Yangguang provides two exterior color options: Shanhai Blue Gray and Polar White, and has a class-leading 6.5m³ large space. The front of the car is more passenger-oriented, and the rear shape with square hard edges creates a dynamic posture of swooping forward, further satisfying the aesthetics of a new generation of young users. The dimensions of the vehicle body are 4985×1800×1975mm, the wheelbase reaches 3050mm, the length of the cargo compartment is 2830mm, the maximum width is 1680mm, the height is 1365mm, and the cargo compartment volume far exceeds that of competing products of the same level.
The vehicle adopts a high-strength cage body with stronger load-bearing capacity, equipped with 12-layer thickened tire cloth tires of the largest size in the same class, and the load is super loaded. While meeting the needs of users, Wuling Yangguang adopts ergonomic design to provide users with a more comfortable and safe driving experience, equipped with a driver-level professional cockpit, whether it is shoulders, elbows, hips or vertical head performance is better than that of competing products, comfortable and super easy to drive.
Based on more than 40 years of commercial vehicle manufacturing heritage, as well as the product advantages of Wuling Red No. 1 battery "faster, more economical and more secure", Wuling Yangguang is bound to meet the needs of a new generation of users for new energy commercial vehicles, which are "safe and reliable, but also able to install and run, and can save and earn".
In line with the slogan of "what the people need, Wuling will build", Wuling Red No. 1 is bound to exert greater strength in the future.