"China's electric vehicles are far behind Tesla in the core technology field!"
Such arrogant statements come from the mouth of Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid, an emerging electric vehicle company in the United States. As an upstart car company that has not yet been mass-produced, why is the head of Lucid so arrogant and openly questioning the strength of China's electric vehicles? His remarks caused a lot of turmoil in the industry.
Truth be told, Rawlinson's remarks were too arbitrary. But on closer inspection, it seems that it is not completely unfounded - after all, although China's electric vehicles are rising rapidly, there are still some gaps in terms of core technologies such as batteries and electric drives compared with Tesla, the "godfather" of the industry.
The so-called "the front wave is far away, and the back wave rises". This old saying may be appropriate in the field of electric vehicles. Because for Lucid, a latecomer and ambitious emerging car company, it is probably not surprising that it intentionally or unintentionally belittles competitors and exalts itself. But after all, facts speak louder than words.
The core strength of battery technology
Those who are familiar with electric vehicles know that the battery is the "heart" of its core. Without the support of advanced battery technology, no vehicle type can drive far.
Rawlinson pointed out that Chinese car companies still lag behind Tesla in this area. He believes that Tesla is significantly ahead of Chinese car companies in many aspects such as battery integration, power output, device size, volume power density, etc.
Looking into the root cause, this gap is mainly due to Tesla's battery supply chain integration capabilities and its independent battery technology research and development capabilities.
As a pioneer in electric vehicles, Tesla has worked closely with partners such as Panasonic, LG Chem, and CATL to create customized battery systems from the beginning. At the same time, a dedicated battery R&D team has been established to develop unique battery technologies, such as innovative design of battery modules.
On the other hand, although Chinese car companies have invested a lot in battery technology in recent years, after all, they started late, and their overall strength is still difficult to match with Tesla. However, it is worth noting that the battery technology of Chinese car companies is developing rapidly, and it has gradually emerged a trend of "white and black".
For example, CATL has become a global battery leader with innovative technologies such as CTB compact battery modules. Many car companies such as Great Wall and Xpeng are actively promoting independent research and development and integration of batteries, in order to build competitiveness in this "lifeblood" field. The gap between Chinese automakers in the battery field will gradually narrow with continuous investment.
Is the powertrain "outdated"?
In addition to the battery, the powertrain is also a key component of an electric vehicle. Rawlinson said that in terms of powertrain system, drive device, overall efficiency and other power systems, Tesla is also ahead of Chinese electric vehicles.
But is that really the case? On closer inspection, this may not be the case. In fact, whether it is the power motor, hardware integration, or the overall device efficiency, China's electric vehicles have ranked among the top in the world.
Taking the power motor as an example, Continental's drive motor technology has developed synchronously with the world, and has reached the international advanced level in terms of overall performance and cost. Among them, the drive motor products of Boliwei, Wanxiang Qianchao, Senyuan and other enterprises are called world-renowned brands all year round.
In terms of hardware system integration, OEMs also spare no effort. BYD, which has strong scientific and engineering strength, has a technical team with a German technology background, and its power system integration and manufacturing process are at the leading level in China.
As for the overall power efficiency, third-party authoritative testing institutions such as electric coffee have been measured many times, and the system energy utilization efficiency of many of China's new energy main models is over 85%, and some models are closer to the world's top level of 90%.
It can be seen that although China's electric vehicle power system is slightly inferior, it is not as "outdated" as Rawlinson said. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to use the term "catch-up overtaking".
The intelligence of the car is not lost
In addition to the powertrain, intelligent networking is also the hardest hit area in Lucid's mouth that "Tesla far surpasses Chinese cars". In fact, in terms of the level of automotive intelligence, China's electric vehicles are also narrowing the gap with Tesla at an astonishing speed.
The autonomous driving system is one of the key indicators to measure the intelligence of the vehicle. In this regard, the performance of Chinese car companies can be described as outstanding - the NGP autonomous driving assistance system of the Xpeng P7 has been the best, winning the highest safety score in many international authoritative evaluations.
The intelligent cockpit interactive experience is also a highlight. For example, the ideal NAPA intelligent operating system has been praised for its full voice and keyless interaction; Xpeng's intelligent voice assistant is also comparable to the mobile phone "digital companion" in autonomous driving scenarios.
Electrification and intelligence are the future development trends, and Chinese automakers are steadily catching up in these two fields. Therefore, if Lucid believes that China's electric vehicles are far behind in the field of intelligence, it is obviously a little "outdated" in the perception of Chinese car companies.
Chinese brands are also becoming the best of the best
High performance and luxury have always been the shortcomings of domestic brands. However, it is precisely by virtue of the excellence in the above-mentioned power transmission, intelligent and other fields that the new generation of Chinese electric vehicles is achieving a counterattack.
This can be best reflected in the continuous rise of China's electric vehicle product and user experience. More and more Chinese brands have started to advance to the high-end, and the performance of some of their models has even hit the luxury car level.
Take Li Auto's two main products, Li ONE and Li L9, as examples. Its energy efficiency ratio has reached 6.6-7.6km/kWh, leading many luxury car brands in the same class; Its quality and design craftsmanship have been praised by authoritative media in Europe and the United States, TomMunro, saying that it is "more sophisticated than the Toyota Crown".
In the latest Munro score, the overall score of the Ideal L9 is as high as 590 points, which not only stabilizes brands such as Toyota, Honda and Genesis, but also beats BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and other models in the luxury medium and large pure electric SUV segment, second only to Model X.
The improvement of product power naturally brings about the rise of brand influence. In 2022, Ideal will be ranked among the "China's 500 Most Valuable Brands" with its outstanding product performance; And brands such as Xiaopeng and Weilai have also increased their attention among young people.
The breakthrough of Chinese electric vehicle companies in the high-end market is the foundation laid by their continuous investment and innovation in the field of core technologies. Therefore, industry insiders generally disagree with Rawlinson's "disparagement" remarks: "China's electric vehicles are accelerating to catch up, and Lucid is just an upstart."
Although the development is fast, it will take time to rise
It is undeniable that after years of catching up, the gap between China's electric vehicles and pioneers such as Tesla has narrowed significantly. However, compared with the top level of the industry, there are still some gaps that need to be filled:
First, the shortcomings of the core technology of autonomous driving are still there. At present, most domestic car companies use perception hardware solutions, and the ability to truly master AI algorithms and software systems for autonomous driving is still insufficient.
Second, the interactive experience of high-end intelligent cockpit needs to be strengthened. Looking at the existing products, the intelligent interactive experience that is highly integrated with Apple's CarPlay, Andriod Auto and other mobile ecosystems is still weak.
Third, the high-precision battery system technology needs to be broken through. There is still a lot of room for improvement in the volumetric energy density, fast charging capacity, and safety of the battery.
Fourth, there is a certain gap between the level of high-end manufacturing technology and the world's top. In terms of battery modules, powertrain assembly, and intelligent vehicle system integration, the accuracy and consistency need to be further improved.
Although the development of China's electric vehicles is changing with each passing day, and the gap with the international top level is also narrowing rapidly, it still takes a process to completely catch up. Only by continuously increasing independent innovation can Chinese car companies truly become the pioneers of electric vehicles and win the final victory in this "new four modernizations" competition. At that time, the experts laughed at the case and scoffed at Rawlinson's previous "arbitrary" remarks.