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A new player in the new wave of commercial vehicles, officially came to the forefront.
Forward design, starting with car manufacturing and ending with autonomous driving.
Two new energy heavy trucks were released, and a technology ecological alliance was created, and a series of self-developed technologies were created.
This is the latest answer sheet handed over by Zero One Automobile, which took two years.
In the past two years, the penetration rate of new energy in passenger cars has gradually increased, the intelligent driving algorithm has been iteratively upgraded, and electrification and intelligence have changed people's travel experience and reshaped the market structure.
Now, new technologies have brought new climaxes and new experiences to commercial vehicles.
A new force in commercial vehicles, oriented to autonomous driving
There are three main parts of the first press conference of 01 Automobile:
- Products: Two new energy intelligent heavy trucks
- Technology: Including electric drive system and drive-by-wire chassis for forward development of autonomous driving
- Alliance: Zero-motion smart card, committed to building a heavy-duty truck technology ecosystem
First of all, let's take a look at the two new energy heavy trucks of Jingzhen and Xiaoman, which have been delivered to customers.
Deliver first, sell the car, run it, and then come to the development department and introduce "what I have".
What does Zero One Auto have?
Let's take a look at the stinging first, the 4-in-1 electric drive axle, which improves the overall efficiency and extends the cruising range.
5-in-1 integrated heat pump management system, waste heat recovery, 15% reduction in energy consumption by 15%.
The all-in-one high-voltage control technology and intelligent braking energy recuperation system further reduce operating costs and make the range at the same power level even higher.
Dual-motor drive system with a maximum of 857 hp,
The third generation of flat wire drive motor: 14 power output modes, suitable for a variety of composite working conditions.
There is no power interruption in gear shifting, and the overall power consumption is lower.
In actual use, the ground clearance of the sting reaches 405mm, which exceeds the height of the fuel tank of the traditional car.
The ground clearance of the bumper is more than 450mm, and the approach angle is large, which is easier to cope with complex road conditions.
The battery has a side-mounted design with a low center of gravity, which significantly reduces the risk of rollover.
Multiple battery protection and high-voltage system protection, stronger wading protection ability.
Then there is Xiaoman, which still has good passability and energy consumption, and the car adopts a self-developed VCU intelligent control system to support OTA for the whole car.
There are also functions such as global fault diagnosis, intelligent driving behavior management, battery analysis, kinetic energy recovery, electronic fence and service reservation.
Both cars also adopt a non-rotating shaft design, structural optimization and the application of new materials, so that the body is lighter and stronger, and similar products are 1-2 tons lighter.
Technology is not untouchable, but a real benefit that can be seen.
First of all, on the threshold of car purchase, unlike passenger cars, Zero One Automobile directly entered the "electricity is lower than oil", and the delivered products are cheaper than traditional heavy trucks.
Secondly, the cost of daily car, the user of Zero One Car said that he used to drive a diesel heavy truck and had to burn "300 yuan of oil" a day, but now he has changed to a zero one car, and the money spent on electricity a day is less than 190 yuan.
A bicycle can save 40,000 yuan in fuel money a year, and if it is a whole fleet, the cost reduction is even more considerable.
If you do short-distance freight, the endurance anxiety is not so big. According to Zero One Automobile, short and medium-distance trucks are currently the main uses of heavy trucks, and the long-distance market is gradually shifting to railways and waterways.
Although the current product highlights are mainly electrification, and it is not yet an unmanned truck, it is ready for autonomous driving in one step.
The mid-to-high-end model is equipped with a drive-by-wire chassis for the forward development of intelligent driving.
Zero One Automobile previously said that the wire control is to prepare for the unmanned driving of these special lines in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in the future.
Unmanned trucks are not on the road, but autonomous driving algorithms are already on board.
Run in "shadow mode" to collect data, verify security, and feedback adjustments. This year, it will be upgraded to an end-to-end architecture.
In addition to new car technologies, Zero One Auto also announced an ecological alliance:
To build a heavy-duty truck technology ecosystem, ZeroOne will provide open vehicle, control, intelligence, testing and testing technologies.
For example, the end-to-end architecture, this year, not only the products delivered by Zero-One, but also the cars of ecological partners will be used.
The ecosystem will also share the supplier system, quality control system and product standards.
At the first press conference, new cars, new technologies, and new alliances were brought out in one go.
From its official establishment to today, in just two years, why has Zero One Auto been able to make rapid achievements?
Zero-one car, from zero to one
Zero One Auto, founded in March 2022, conducted an angel round of financing in June of that year, the amount of which was not disclosed.
In mid-August last year, the Pre-A+ round of financing was completed, with an amount of 140 million yuan.
According to reports, the funds will be mainly used for the mass production of the first batch of models, the research and development of core subsystems and the research of autonomous driving algorithms.
In February 2024, ZeroOne's two models completed 2.6 million kilometers of testing and verification, and before the first press conference, that is, in April this year, ZeroOne's products were delivered to customers and began to run on the road.
At present, it mainly focuses on short- and medium-distance freight, facing new energy, autonomous driving, and forward design and manufacturing.
Raising two flags at the same time, who is the flag bearer behind it?
Senior veteran of autonomous driving bull X heavy truck.
Huang Zehua, co-founder and CEO of Zero One Automobile, co-founder of TuSimple Future, algorithm scientist, post-90s autonomous driving expert, and one of the "top three autonomous driving" Carnegie Mellon University master's degree in robotics. He worked at General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University in the unmanned vehicle research and development group, specializing in DMS research and development.
Huang is Vice President of TuSimple and is responsible for engineering and autonomous driving hardware. He is the No. 1 employee in TuSimple North America and partners with Hou Xiaodi in North America.
Huang Zehua represents the genes of Zero One Automobile in autonomous driving, and pays special attention to engineering capabilities and landing.
Zhang Hongsong, another founder and president of Zeroone, is a veteran of the commercial vehicle industry. He graduated from Jilin University in 1993. He used to be the vice president of Beiqi Foton Daimler. In 2018, Sany Heavy Industry entered the heavy truck market, and Zhang Hongsong joined as general manager.
Sany Heavy Truck itself is known as the "dark horse" in the field of commercial vehicles, and it has only been 381 days since the project was established and listed, and its sales and industry influence have increased rapidly. And from scratch, he was deeply involved in Sany Heavy Truck, which became Zhang Hongsong's most eye-catching resume.
Zhang Hongsong, as a co-creator, brings management and manufacturing experience in the traditional commercial vehicle industry.
In the self-driving truck industry, the combination of entrepreneurial teams such as Zero One Automobile has appeared for the first time.
Why do you want to build a car for autonomous driving?
This is related to the current industry dilemma, including Huang Zehua and his teammates, who have previously realized in Tucson that the main contradiction or current bottleneck of autonomous trucks is hardware.
The reliability of the hardware is relatively low.
Some problems "can't be pushed at all", a former Tucson employee lamented.
Previously, some practitioners said that AI startups and traditional car companies work together to build cars, but due to the latter's large scale and solidified production and research model, it is difficult to form an effective cooperation.
It also commented on Zero One Automobile, a company whose founder has an autonomous driving background, and that making an autonomous driving chassis can hit the nail on the head and accelerate the landing of autonomous driving trucks.
However, at present, the focus of 01 Auto will be on making cars for at least two years, and it will focus on the domestic market.
In the future, he will definitely enter the global market, and Huang Zehua, who has returned from overseas, is very confident in this, saying that as long as he can win the domestic market, "the foreign market is not worried at all." ”
Some people call Zero One Automobile the "Wei Xiaoli" of commercial vehicles, and believe that today's commercial vehicles have come to the same moment as ten years ago:
New forces are beginning to rise, traditional car companies will fall behind, and it will take a long time for those who lag behind to wake up.
But this is not the case, new energy intelligent vehicles in the field of passenger cars are like a bamboo, the cold of traditional car companies has spread to the commercial field, and old players of commercial vehicles have begun to take action.
The time left for the traditional forces of commercial vehicles may not be as much as that of passenger cars, and the industry will converge faster.
Zhang Hongsong believes that the electrification of heavy trucks will not gradually penetrate the market like passenger cars.
But it will be like a flood: when diesel heavy trucks usher in the peak of car replacement, battery prices will fall further, and the macro economy will put pressure on freight rates, and the three will form an intersection, and the new energy heavy trucks in the short and medium-distance market will be poured down.
There is no doubt that the vast market awaits Zero One Auto.