Let's ask, have you ever hit a Roewe ei6 Max online car-hailing car on a hot summer day close to 40 degrees, and were disgusted by the huge hard backrest in the back, the huge high floor, the huge short cushion, the huge headroom, the huge glass canopy, and the driver's ancestral "organ feet".
I know this very well.
It is precisely based on this background that perhaps the pain is too memorable again and again, so that whenever this "demon" is hit again, he will definitely cancel the order without hesitation, and send a scolding complaint.
"How can there be such an uncomfortable back row?"
Last month, located on the shore of Yanqi Lake in Beijing, it was the first to test drive the hottest top star in the car circle - Xiaomi SU7. As the first answer sheet handed over by Lei Jun to gamble on all his reputation, he can give this product an evaluation of more than 80 points.
Whether it is the driving quality, power performance, intelligent experience, or the creation of many details, you can feel the so-called "old way", not like a fledgling novice. If I had to pick one of the biggest shortcomings of the Xiaomi SU7, then I would not hesitate to vote for its back row.
Although thanks to the 3-meter wheelbase, the longitudinal space is guaranteed, but due to various reasons, it still seems to be on a "small bench". The cushion for the thighs is not in place, and the headroom performance is also relatively stretched, so I can only conclude in the end: "Xiaomi SU7 cannot focus on comfort and family." ”
The reason why the above two cases were brought out is to better lead to the topic that will be discussed today: the rear row of pure electric cars is simply a "disaster".
You can't have it both ways
What is very subtle is that on the eve of the launch of Xiaomi SU7, a video of executives attending an event in a car has sparked a heated discussion in the entire industry about its back row. In the end, Lei Jun had to go out to clarify in person, but there was still a hint of "the more you explain, the more you are afraid".
In fact, when I saw the spy photos of the appearance of the Xiaomi SU7 for the first time, and successively learned that the drag coefficient was only 0.195Cd, I didn't have much expectations for its rear row for a while.
After all, combined with the past experience, such a pure electric car that focuses on the trend of sports, so far none of them can deliver a satisfactory answer to me.
Starting from the Tesla Model 3, to the Xpeng P7, and then to the NIO ET5...... Everyone is clamoring for benchmarking BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Audi A4, but only in terms of the comprehensive experience of the rear row, there is really a huge gap.
On the other hand, Lei Jun, even with the "money ability", brought the world's highest volume efficiency to Xiaomi SU7CTB integrated battery pack, combining the battery cover and the body floor into one, the battery pack + floor thickness is only 120 mm, providing as much cabin space as possible, but the result is still clearly there.
At this stage, although the pursuit of a large slip-back shape has brought a higher appearance and lower drag coefficient to the pure electric car, the cost is also obvious, and the battery thickness problem cannot be better solved, anyway, it is difficult to get a so-called "high-quality rear row".
To this end, it can be seen that AVATR 12, which was launched at the end of last year and has the endorsement of Changan, CATL and Huawei, launched a "submersible" H-type highly customized battery pack.
To put it simply, without compromising battery capacity and battery life, this "submersible" H-type battery helps AVATR 12 have a unique concave pedal area under the rear seats, with a depth of about 45mm.
Without increasing the height of the vehicle and sacrificing the battery ground clearance, the headroom of the rear occupants of the AVATR 12 has been increased by 25mm.
However, it is clear that this battery pack is highly customized, and not only does it have to pay a huge battery cost, but also the automaker and the battery factory must work closely together from the beginning of the design to achieve structural optimization.
Therefore, it seems to be very difficult to popularize it on a large scale in a short period of time.
And ZEEKR 007, which was launched a few days later at the end of last year, gave the solution to the "pain point": do not make a big slip back in the modeling, and return to the design of the "sky dome".
That is, the A-pillar and C-pillar have the same junction point between the front and rear of the car respectively, and the height is the same, similar to the appearance of bending the two ends of an iron bar at the same time. As for the biggest purpose, it is to ensure that there is enough headroom as much as possible.
Soon, taking advantage of his position, he experienced AVATR 12 and ZEEKR 007 with anticipation, and he could only say: "Compared with poor students, there is progress, compared with good students is not enough." "In the back row of pure electric cars, there are still irreconcilable contradictions.
In order to achieve a multi-dimensional balance, OEMs have never been able to have both.
Is "station wagon" the best solution?
"If the Xiaomi SU7 can come out with a travel version, it will be perfect. ”
It's by no means apocryphal, the imagination at the beginning of this paragraph also comes from the other media teachers who participated in the early test drive last month. In the network, there have even been renderings of the folk gods making the Xiaomi SU7 travel version.
In my eyes, the "station wagon" can indeed fundamentally solve the problem raised in today's article: the "disaster" rear seat of the pure electric car. And it can also maintain its sharp shape to the greatest extent, and the drag coefficient is considerable, including having a stronger loading space.
Looking at the history from this, the English name of "station wagon" is "Wagon", which originally means "four-wheeled carriage" and is transliterated as "clay pot". Because the appearance is compared with the same level of sedans, there is a raised trunk at the tail, and the side shape is more extended, similar to an old-fashioned carriage, so it is named.
On the market side, it really began to become popular in a large area, mainly from overseas in the 50s of the last century, especially in Europe, which is related to the aesthetic cognition, tourism culture, and shopping methods of local users.
Soon, with the layout of traditional car giants such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Volvo, they all launched their own "station wagons" and even "high-performance station wagons", and the volume of this category gradually reached its peak.
As a bystander, I am glad that after continuous development and precipitation, ups and downs to the present, the "station wagon" can be regarded as one of the typical representatives of the entire European car culture.
In contrast, since the Volkswagen Santana and Peugeot 505 in the 90s of the last century, in fact, the "station wagon" has officially entered the Chinese market.
However, due to the excessively high price compared with the same level of sedans, and the natural preference of domestic consumers for SUVs, it has not been promoted. In other words, in the era of traditional fuel vehicles, "station wagons" in China are typical of applause.
However, in the age of electrification, the trend is gradually reversing.
With the intensification of technology equality and price wars, coupled with the advantages of "pure electric station wagons" mentioned above, this slightly niche category seems to have begun to recover rapidly. In this process, ZEEKR 001 was the first person to eat crabs and quickly became a "small hit".
After that, NIO ET5 launched a travel version and decided to sell it at the same price as the sedan version, which undoubtedly further improved the acceptance of end users and set an example for many car companies that want to try and layout.
No, just this week, BYD's "new luxury" brand Denza officially announced that it is testing the new "hunting car" in Stuttgart, Germany, and named it Denza Z9 GT.
Judging from the exposed camouflage pictures and related videos, the overall shape is very low, with an ultra-long wheelbase, and relatively coordinated side proportions, which is comparable to the Porsche Paramela and will be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show that will open soon.
Of course, there is also a player who is ready to be named not long ago - Nezha S hunting loading vehicle. Referring to the price of the Nezha S sedan version, it is expected that it will definitely reach less than 200,000 yuan, or even less than 150,000 yuan.
Behind the rush to launch the "station wagon", there is also a reflection of the truth: as the wave of electrification transformation becomes irreversible, the vitality of China's new energy market is far beyond imagination.
Thanks to the advantages of many levels, independent brands have completely mastered the right to define. In addition, related product forms began to become more and more abundant.
Anyway, as far as I am concerned, from my personal experience, I have always felt that "station wagon" is the best solution for pure electric cars. It not only makes up for the shortcomings, but also amplifies the long board, especially with a reasonable price, the competitiveness should not be underestimated.
However, for those car companies that don't have much cost of trial and error, it may still be a risky decision. This also explains why most brands prefer to bet on sedans and SUVs rather than "station wagons".
After all, most of the time, it's more important to be safe than to gamble.