Excerpt from the important daily news,
From the perspective of science and technology and the spirit of geeks, dig out the key points and explore more.
Editor丨Zhijia Editorial Department
● Today, some media learned from people close to AVATR that AVATR has been in contact with Gaohe, or has reached a cooperation agreement, and is currently reorganizing the team. In response to the news that AVATR may have reached a merger and acquisition agreement with Gaohe, Changan Automobile and AVATR both responded that the information is not true.
● On April 8, GAC R&D Institute officially announced that GAC Engine Thermal Efficiency has made another major breakthrough, with the indicated thermal efficiency of a single-cylinder engine exceeding 52.5%, and the effective thermal efficiency of a multi-cylinder engine that can be equipped with a vehicle exceeding 46%, reaching the world's leading level in terms of technological advancement. Officially, only by using lean combustion technology can the variable index of the working fluid in the cylinder be greatly improved, and the technical limit of the effective thermal efficiency of the engine of 45% can be broken, and the failure to use lean combustion technology is also the fundamental reason why the effective thermal efficiency of the engine has been below 45% for many years.
● Recently, a number of media reported that Li Auto will significantly reduce its budget and lay off employees. According to the report, all new offers have been suspended; there will be a small number of stocks above 17 posts, but they may be linked to performance evaluations, and low performance cannot be cashed out; the total budget has been reduced by more than 30%, and the current personnel structure is arranged according to the annual sales of 800,000 yuan, and the personnel are relatively redundant, and the next step will be to lay off employees. In this regard, Li Auto said in an interview that none of the above news is true.
● Recently, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. applied for the registration of three "Petal Travel" trademarks, which are internationally classified as communication services, website services, and transportation and storage, and the current status is pending substantive examination.
● According to foreign media reports, two people familiar with the matter revealed that Chinese automaker Geely's high-end electric vehicle brand Zeekr has restarted its plan to raise up to $500 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in New York.
● According to the Weibo of the spokesperson of @Xiaomi Company, Xiaomi issued a statement on April 7 saying that the automobile business that Su Jun, the founder of Zhimi Technology, cooperated with Chery and has nothing to do with Xiaomi Group and Xiaomi ecological chain; According to previous news, from 2021, Dr. Su Jun, CEO of Zhimi, will personally form an entrepreneurial team and start a car-making project. In 2023, the entrepreneurial team of the car-making project established a cooperative relationship with Chery, and the team members have now integrated into Chery Automobile to jointly build the new energy brand iCAR.
● Previously, it was reported that the Pro version of the ideal L6 is expected to be priced at 259,800 yuan, and the Max version is expected to be priced at 289,800 yuan. However, Ideal officially denied the accuracy of these prices: "The speculation about the price on the Internet is all fake, we have not announced the price to the public, so stay tuned for the release of the L6." ”
● According to the official news of DENZA Auto, its new sedan is named Z9GT, which will be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, which opens on April 25. From the perspective of naming conventions, DENZA English represents different types, N is SUV, D is MPV, and Z is sedan, of which 9 represents the top flagship product, plus the suffix of GT, indicating its good identity.
● On April 7, Evergrande Automobile officially issued the latest announcement, announcing the termination of Newton Group's strategic investment, and the company's previous proposed transaction and the revision of the terms of the debt-to-equity swap have not made any further progress. Evergrande Automobile said that due to financial reasons, the group has arranged for some personnel to take a holiday, and the Tianjin plant has suspended production.
● On April 6, Xiaomi Auto officially said in response to netizens' questions, "SU7 standard version does not support the urban NOA function. If you need to use Urban NOA, it is recommended to choose the Xiaomi SU7 Pro or Max version. It is understood that SU7 Pro/Max is equipped with Xiaomi Pilot Max intelligent driving system, equipped with 2 NVIDIA DRIVE Orin chips, 1 lidar, 3 millimeter wave radar, 11 exterior cameras, and 12 ultrasonic radars. The Xiaomi SU7 standard version is equipped with the Xiaomi Pilot Pro intelligent driving system, equipped with 1 NVIDIA DRIVE Orin chip, 1 millimeter wave radar, 11 exterior cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, and no lidar.
● A few days ago, VOYAH announced that it would welcome the cumulative production and sales of 100,000 vehicles, and officially give away a blockbuster preferential activity. From now until April 30, you can order all models and enjoy a replacement subsidy of up to 50,000 yuan.
● A few days ago, NIO's first 150kWh mass-produced battery pack officially rolled off the assembly line, and Li Bin, chairman of NIO, said that at present, all models of the first-generation and second-generation platforms have completed verification and announcement (150kWh battery pack), and the team has also conducted various tests, and the performance performance such as cruising range has exceeded expectations. According to NIO's plan, NIO's 150kWh ultra-long-range battery pack will be launched in the second quarter.
● Recently, Bosch Intelligent Driving & Control Systems Division in China won a new generation of intelligent cockpit platform project from a well-known international OEM. This project is the first project of the upgraded version of Bosch China's intelligent cockpit platform, which is based on the Qualcomm QC8255 chip and will achieve mass production in the second quarter of 2025. The production model will be equipped with a ceiling screen, main and passenger screens, support for external game consoles, support for up to three Bluetooth connections, six-voice voice recognition, and integrated automatic parking assistance (APA) in the cockpit domain.
● On April 8, Faraday Future said that it had completed the release of remote OTA software updates, correcting the potential security risks identified in the previous voluntary recall. A user notification letter regarding the upgrade was sent on March 28. The software update can be performed remotely via OTA technology, and as of April 1, all FF 91 2.0 vehicles sold in the U.S. market have been updated with the software and this recall has been completed.
● LG Energy Solution sold a total of 12.7 GWh of EV batteries in February, accounting for 13.7% of the global market, according to a new report from South Korean market research firm SNE Research. China's CATL remains in first place with a market share of 38.4 percent, while BYD has slipped to third place with a market share of 13.1 percent. Global EV battery sales rose 27% year-on-year to 92.4 GWh, SNE said.
● According to media reports, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blumoth recently talked about the challenges faced by Volkswagen's electric vehicles in China. Oliver said that Volkswagen is not ready to deal with the rapid growth and fierce competition in the Chinese market in the field of electric vehicles. He stressed that Volkswagen should avoid setting overly idealistic market share targets. In the current fiercely competitive environment, it is already quite a considerable achievement to maintain a market share of more than 10%.
● Recently, Reuters reported that Tesla has abandoned the launch of low-cost cars. In this regard, Tesla CEO Elon Musk left a message under the news: This media is lying. At the moment, Tesla has not abandoned plans to launch low-cost cars.
● Workers at Mercedes-Benz's Vance, Alabama, U.S. plant filed a petition with the U.S. Labor Relations Board (NLRB) demanding elections to join the United Auto Workers (UAW). The "vast majority" of the 5,200 eligible Mercedes workers at the plant and the nearby Woodstock, Alabama, plant signed registration cards to apply for union membership, UAW said. The UAW hopes to vote in early May this year.
● According to foreign media reports, the latest leaked data shows that tens of thousands of Fisker's customers have canceled their pre-orders, and the electric car maker is currently struggling to find more financing, while potential bankruptcy filings are hanging over the company's daily operations. Fisker's leaked internal data shows that more than 70,000 customers have booked the company's Ocean electric SUV to date, but more than 40,000 of them have canceled their reservations.
It was revealed that Toyota and Huawei Momenta jointly launched a smart driving solution
According to Tencent Auto, Toyota's global model intelligent driving solution will adopt the "Toyota + Huawei + Momenta" tripartite joint solution model. Unlike Huawei's existing ADS advanced driver assistance system, Toyota's solution is a three-party in-depth cooperation and integration, with Momenta and Huawei providing software and hardware solutions respectively. The report also said that Toyota is expected to officially announce specific plans during the Beijing Auto Show.
900V overcharge/1000km solid-state battery/standard lidar, Zhiji L6 pre-sale price is 23-220,000 yuan
Late today, Zhiji L6, the second sedan of Zhiji Automobile, was officially released and started pre-sale, with a total of 3 models and a pre-sale range of 23~330,000 yuan. The new car is equipped with LiDAR, "Grey Lizard" digital chassis, NVIDIA Orin X+ Qualcomm 8295 chip, and the industry's first "quasi-900V ultra-fast charging solid-state battery" for the first time.
Among them, the "Grey Lizard" digital chassis equipped with the Zhiji L6 is claimed to be the first sedan in China that can crab walk, with rear-wheel steering and other technologies, and the minimum turning radius is only 4.99 meters. In terms of intelligent driving, the new car is equipped with lidar as standard, and its no-city NOA intelligent driving function will be opened nationwide within the year. In addition, Zhiji L6 is the first in the industry to create intelligent driving functions such as one-key welt, one-key tracking, and one-key escape, while DZT dynamic tracking technology can make eye-catching notes on dangerous objects around the vehicle to improve safety during driving.
The Zhiji L6 MAX Light-Year Edition is equipped with a solid-state battery version, which is equipped with a quasi-900V ultra-fast charging solid-state battery, and the CLTC range exceeds 1,000 kilometers, completely solving the range anxiety of electric vehicles. In terms of power, the Zhiji L6 is equipped with a self-developed "hurricane motor", which has a top speed of 21,000rpm and the fastest 000 acceleration time of 2.74 seconds.
Liao Qinghong, a former executive of Xpeng, joined Xingji Meizu
Liao Qinghong, a former Xpeng Motors executive, has officially joined Meizu. He was a core executive of Xpeng, successively serving as chief talent officer, vice president of sales, and head of the E platform (model platform), across multiple positions, and has been reporting to He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng Motors. Meizu is a new company that acquired Meizu Technology after Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, founded Xingji Times, and at the same time made mobile phones, developed AR glasses, and made cars.
GAC Group: The cumulative sales of automobiles in the first quarter were 409,700, a year-on-year decrease of 24.11%
GAC Group announced on April 8 that the company's automobile production in March was 160,500 units, down 38.36% year-on-year, and the cumulative output this year was 402,800 units, down 28.57% year-on-year. In March, the sales volume of automobiles was 179,300 units, a year-on-year decrease of 22.62%, and the cumulative sales volume of this year was 409,700 units, a year-on-year decrease of 24.11%. Among them, the sales of new energy vehicles in March were 33,600, a year-on-year decrease of 23.76%, and the cumulative sales of this year were 66,800, a year-on-year decrease of 23.23%.
Didi Autonomous Driving and GAC Aion have been approved as a joint venture to launch the first commercial L4 model in 2025
On April 7, Didi Autonomous Driving and GAC Aion announced that its joint venture, Guangzhou Andi Technology Co., Ltd., was approved for an industrial and commercial license. Didi Autonomous Driving said that this is the first joint venture established in China between a L4 autonomous driving company and a car company to build Robotaxi production vehicles.
Headquartered in Huangpu, Guangzhou, GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving each hold 50% of the shares. The chairman of the board of directors is Zhang Xiong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, and the general manager is Meng Xing, COO of Didi Autonomous Driving.
Based on the advantages of both parties, Andi Technology will deeply integrate the mature experience of new energy vehicle manufacturing and the leading technology of autonomous driving, and launch the first commercial L4 model in 2025. It is reported that the first model is positioned as a crossover SUV, the product definition has been completed, and the joint review of the design and styling is underway, and it is planned to achieve mass production next year, and gradually access the Didi Chuxing network in the form of hybrid dispatch.
Zhiji L6 battery is named light-year solid-state battery, and the wetting agent addition ratio is 10%
On April 6, Liu Tao, CEO of Zhiji, posted on Weibo that the first-generation solid-state battery of Zhiji L6 was officially named: light-year solid-state battery. Liu Tao said that although "Lightyear" is the first generation of solid-state batteries, it has achieved almost the same weight, has more than 30% of the power, and can easily achieve a range of 1,000 kilometers. Previously, it said that the Zhiji L6 will be equipped with the first mass-produced ultra-fast charging solid-state battery, based on the quasi-900V super performance platform, to achieve a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, completely solving the problem of range anxiety.
According to previous news, the light-year battery carried by Zhiji L6 is provided by Qingtao Energy, Li Zheng, general manager of Qingtao Energy, introduced that the solid-state battery that will be equipped with Zhiji L6 is the first generation of solid-state battery of Qingtao Energy, because the current technology can not make the battery completely dense inside, which can easily lead to an increase in the internal resistance of the battery, Qingtao Energy's solution is to add wetting agent in the solid-state battery, and the addition ratio is about 10%.
According to the classification of the mass fraction of liquid electrolyte in the cell material mixture, batteries can be subdivided into four categories: liquid (25%), semi-solid (5% ~ 10%), quasi-solid (0% ~ 5%) and all-solid (0%), of which semi-solid, quasi-solid and all-solid-state are collectively referred to as solid-state batteries.
SAIC: Received INR 26.5 billion for the transfer of shares from JSW in India
On April 7, according to the official release of SAIC, following the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Indian steel giant JSW Group at the end of last year, SAIC has recently received 26.5 billion rupees from JSW for equity transfer.
SAIC Motor said that in order to seize the opportunity of rapid development in the Indian market, continue to increase the market share of the MG brand, and effectively prevent business risks, SAIC MG India introduced local investors such as JSW by means of equity transfer and capital increase to create more favorable conditions for sustainable and healthy development.
In 2017, SAIC Motor established MG India with a paid-in capital of INR 29.2 billion, and has received Rs 26.5 billion from JSW for the purchase of a 26% stake in MG India, recovering most of the investment. In addition, JSW, investment funds, dealer trusts, and employee stock ownership plans will jointly inject Rs 2,560 crore into MG India.
After the completion of the premium transfer and capital increase, SAIC Motor will retain a 49% stake in MG India and a higher proportion of voting rights, 600104 which is expected to increase net profit by 5 billion to 7 billion yuan. On the premise of continuing to control the technology and brand, SAIC Motor will support MG India to expand its scale and strengthen its strength by introducing superior resources and giving full play to synergies.