Thanks to the flexibility, intelligence and safety of the Ultium platform, by 2025, SAIC-GM will launch more than 10 domestic new energy models based on the platform, covering the three major brands of Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac. The picture shows SAIC-GM testers conducting battery performance tests.
If the amount of capital invested by car companies is the standard, electrification and intelligent networking are undoubtedly the two most glamorous sunrise industries.
The reporter combed and found that whether it is a large automobile group such as China FAW and Changan Automobile, or a car-making upstart such as Weilai, or multinational companies such as General Motors and Volkswagen, they have formulated detailed plans to "open the era of electrification" and "transform to intelligent mobility service providers". The future of these two areas looks bright, and new and old players are eager to try this cake.
At the "2021 Science and Technology Experience Day" event held on April 8, SAIC-GM announced that it will increase investment in electrification and intelligent networking, and it is expected that the planned investment will exceed 50 billion yuan by 2025.
"An era of scenario-driven, software-defined, data-driven, and smart mobility has begun. New power and new computing power are becoming a new engine to drive the upgrading of automotive products and the high-quality development of the automotive industry. Wang Yongqing, general manager of SAIC-GM, said that in the face of industrial transformation and continuous upgrading of consumer demand, SAIC-GM will fully integrate the superior resources of both parent companies and superimpose and polish the strong system force for 24 years, "and continue to accelerate."
Electrification and intelligent transformation should "walk on two legs"
In Wang Yongqing's view, customers' understanding of automotive products has undergone profound changes, which has forced OEMs to change the definition of products and even the organizational structure within the enterprise.
"How to interact with customers and have a good experience in the whole life cycle of the car, to provide them with more value, on these issues, there are some new forces that deserve our thinking and learning." Wang Yongqing said frankly that due to the difference in market and product structure, the development rhythm of mainstream car companies like SAIC-GM will be very different from that of new car companies. But that doesn't mean the pace of the "elephant turn" can be slackened in the slightest.
According to reports, in order to quickly transform the cutting-edge technology and innovative services of electrification and intelligent networking into a car experience within the reach of users, and bring a safer, more intelligent and interconnected smart travel life, SAIC-GM's engineering development center has changed the traditional product definition model in the past, but instead defines the product according to the customer's needs for the whole life cycle of the product.
"In layman's terms, in addition to the traditional basic core capabilities, SAIC-GM's ability to respond to changes in customer needs must also be quickly cultivated." Wang Yongqing told reporters that in order to make customers have a better experience through software upgrades, SAIC-GM opened a large-scale OTA upgrade for the first time last year, "This year, SAIC-GM will continue to implement large-scale OTA remote upgrades, improve the function and service experience of vehicles, and make vehicles commonly used and new." In the future, we will support multi-module OTA parallel refresh, which is not only faster, but also ensures the coordination and reliability of functional upgrades. ”
Just as 3G technology gave birth to the PC Internet era, 4G has opened up the wave of mobile Internet, and 5G technology has also carried the expectations of the transformation of traditional manufacturing industries, including the automobile industry. Some industry experts predict that because 5G can greatly increase network capacity, the cost of a single data unit transmission is significantly lower than before. More importantly, due to the inherent advantages of electric vehicles such as short delay in intelligence, with the deployment of 5G networks and the acceleration of the pace of car intelligence, more users will expect new energy vehicles to become more and more intelligent.
At the "2021 Technology Experience Day", SAIC-GM launched the Ultium platform. Thanks to the flexible, intelligent and safe advantages of the platform, by 2025, SAIC-GM will launch more than 10 domestic new energy models based on the Ultium platform, covering the three major brands of Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, further consolidating the company's product strategic layout for electrified travel.
It is worth mentioning that SAIC-GM and Pan-Asia Automotive Technical Center participated in the synchronous design and development of the underlying architecture of the platform, and relied on the highly localized business chain system to achieve local procurement of nearly 100% of the parts.
In the Internet of Vehicles, which is regarded as the "second engine", GM's new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture is regarded as a new market skill. As a powerful technology hub for connecting and controlling almost all functions of the vehicle, VIP's intelligent electronic architecture has high-speed network data transmission capabilities, vehicle-grade OTA update capabilities, aviation-grade network security, and unlimited sustainable expansion potential.
"VIP's intelligent electronic architecture opens up the 'cloud, tube, and terminal', providing strong support for software-defined vehicles and automotive intelligence." Wang Yongqing said that by 2025, all new models of SAIC-GM's three major brands will apply this new electronic architecture, and products and technologies based on this architecture will continue to bring consumers a faster, safer and smarter travel experience.
Software-defined cars also have to go from step to step
For auto companies that have encountered a "chip shortage", product development, verification and supply chain management have become more difficult than ever as users' requirements for intelligent cockpits, autonomous driving, and infotainment are constantly upgrading.
"In addition to the macroeconomic impact, the biggest uncertainty this year is the supply of automotive chips." Jiang Jiong, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM, told reporters bluntly that the growth rate of China's auto market is expected to be more than 6% in 2021, and SAIC-GM aims to continue to outperform the market, while the impact of automotive chip supply difficulties on the overall industry and enterprises is still being evaluated.
"Chips have become indispensable in the entire industrial industry, and previously Chinese local companies invested less in vehicle-grade chips, and if the amount of automotive chips is too small, it is difficult to reduce the cost." Xu Ping, executive deputy general manager of the Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center, said that no matter what kind of technical route, it is inseparable from the development of large computing chips, "with the advent of the 5G era, automatic driving may have a qualitative breakthrough."
According to reports, based on the new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture, and relying on GM's strong technical reserves, SAIC-GM is actively promoting the landing of advanced automatic driving technology in China and the continuous expansion of application scenarios. This year, the enhanced Super Cruise Super Intelligent Driving System will debut on cadillac models, adding more assistive features such as command lane changes to further enhance the user experience. In the next 5 years, the Super Cruise super intelligent driving system will cover most of the Cadillac brand models and gradually be applied to new Models of Buick and Chevrolet brands.
"Assisted driving and autonomous driving technology will enable 'walking on two legs.'" Xu Ping judged that the auto industry has undergone subversive changes, and the auto is likely to become an open intelligent service platform richer than mobile phones. "Such a car can be constantly updated and iterated, but also can constantly add new ideas so that the car will have unlimited imagination."
"The era of 'software-defined cars' has arrived, and the progress of cutting-edge travel technologies such as electrification and intelligent driving has driven the accelerated change of the automobile industry, and has also changed people's living habits and consumption patterns." Wang Yongqing sighed and said that new players in cross-border car manufacturing often have advantages in software capabilities and ecosystems, and this is precisely the point of special concern for new energy intelligent networked car users, "these two pieces are what we need to learn."
According to reports, SAIC-GM software and digital talent team will grow from 1400 to 2000 people in the next 5 years, while GM will have more than 20,000 software engineers worldwide. Wang Yongqing concluded that SAIC-GM will focus on cutting-edge technology and the future travel ecological needs of the Chinese market, fully integrate global resources, rely on the strong system strength of enterprises, accelerate the future-oriented product and business layout, and continuously meet consumers' expectations for smart travel.
Some people say that hardware builds human bodies, and software is neurons. Nowadays, software development and applications have been deeply integrated into travel, medical care, education and other fields, and with the advent of the wave of consumption upgrading, consumers are more willing to pay for new technologies that can provide quality services.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Xu Yajie Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily