From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 120 Wang Chuanfu's Surprise
The team's R&D speed is already fast enough under normal circumstances.

With the commencement of reverse engineering, the overall R&D speed became smoother and accelerated significantly once again.

But this is only the outward appearance.

The chassis architecture of gasoline-powered vehicles and pure electric vehicles is quite different.

The layout of the battery and motor had to be considered. This was the first time such a large battery pack had been installed. Although pure electric vehicles are better able to achieve a perfect 50:50 weight distribution, the increased overall chassis weight placed higher demands on the suspension structure, which led to a series of bottlenecks.

Every time at this moment.

The bottlenecks and difficulties he encountered did not cause Wang Jingming any headaches or anxiety; on the contrary, they made him feel even more excited and focused!

Damn!

That burning passion is back!

I've never felt so focused before!

...

"Brother Wang, at this rate, we should be able to complete most of the work by the end of the month."

Cheng Li walked over and said.

According to their design, the Xingchen S7's chassis adopts a front MacPherson strut and rear multi-link design. The materials used are not particularly outstanding in the 200,000 yuan price range, but they are definitely not considered to be cutting corners. The key is the tuning.

"In addition, Mr. Xu also personally reviewed the overall architecture design."

"Oh? Did Mr. Xu offer any suggestions?"

"Everything else is fine, but he said the connecting rods at the back are a bit too thin, they look like chopsticks, and he asked us to make them thicker."

"Chopsticks?...Thicker ones?"

...

Upon hearing this adjective, Wang Jingming was taken aback.

Cheng Li nodded, "That's right, I was inspired by President Xu's suggestion. In addition to testing the chassis's bounce and stretch when going over bumps, we also retested the shear force during sharp turns and certain special working conditions. As a result, we discovered a surprising problem: the chassis structure that we reverse-engineered from the chassis of a gasoline vehicle may have some safety issues."

The existing multi-link structure and strength are certainly sufficient for gasoline vehicles, however, we are using a large lithium iron phosphate battery pack, which makes the overall empty vehicle several hundred kilograms heavier than a gasoline vehicle...

In this case, there is a risk of the axle breaking under extreme circumstances, so it is indeed necessary to bold it!

...

Cheng Li was also very surprised.

Xu Yi's casual suggestion was an "unexpected discovery".

According to the traditional R&D standards of automakers, they will definitely not use too many materials where they can save costs.

As this was their first time developing a pure electric chassis, there were bound to be areas where their lack of experience was overlooked.

Take, for example, this "hanging chopsticks".

Based on past experience, three or four multi-link systems are sufficient to handle various working conditions.

However, the additional weight of the large battery pack and the shear force under special operating conditions cannot be easily measured in a short R&D cycle.

These safety hazards will only be exposed in large numbers after the product is launched.

This will likely be a major blow to sales and brand image!
"In that case, the materials used for the chassis structural components should indeed be strengthened to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Wang Jingming felt a chill run down his spine, and his expression immediately became serious!

hiss--

That's dangerous!

They only discovered this hidden problem because Mr. Xu pointed it out unintentionally.

If production is scheduled in time, it will be too late.

……

in fact.

Xu Yi's statement was entirely based on "experience".

Although he doesn't understand the deeper aspects of chassis technology.

But he knew one thing.

While you can cut corners in many areas of a new energy vehicle, the chassis structural components are the one thing you absolutely cannot skimp on.

Without him.

—Physical properties.

Early lithium iron phosphate battery packs were simply too heavy!
A terrifying weight of 600-800kg!
The resulting unsprung inertia and shear force are several times greater than those of comparable gasoline-powered vehicles.

If you try to skimp on this thing, it really will break right before your eyes!

If cars that cost 200,000 yuan end up with axle breakage and lying on the road in large numbers, and this is widely reported in the news and becomes a sore point for competitors to attack, that would be really embarrassing!

I don't know how much it will cost to get it cleaned up.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to strengthen the chassis materials from the beginning.

This way, the cost is lower.

……

Leaving aside the intense research and development work within StarCraft.

outside world.

At the beginning of the month, it was time for major automakers to release their sales figures.

This time, the entire new energy vehicle sector experienced a massive sell-off!
Xingchen Automotive – 19000 units sold!

This has once again dazzled the eyes of major traditional automakers!

It shocked the entire automotive industry.

This sales volume is only at the lower end of the range for gasoline-powered cars. Any brand in China can easily achieve sales of 20,000 to 30,000 units for a single best-selling model.

But if you put it in the new energy vehicle sector, it would be too glaring!
……

BYD headquarters.

As the undisputed leader in China's new energy vehicle sector, BYD has always paid close attention to industry trends.

Since 2008, they have been focusing on the new energy vehicle sector, conducting independent research and development, and to this day, their annual sales have reached as high as 400,000 units.

Although some of these were brought in by gasoline-powered vehicles.

But that was just "making a living".

The days of selling gasoline-powered cars were all just for show; I was never truly happy.

Wang Chuanfu's unwavering goal has always been to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to the new energy sector and completely transform the industry—to launch a full-scale offensive!

Just recently, in recent years.

BYD has also ushered in an opportunity for further transformation. Internally, its battery technology reserves, electric drive technology, and supply chain layout have all been gradually improved.

Consumers in the market are becoming increasingly accepting of hybrid electric vehicles (DM) and pure electric vehicles.

This also means.

In their next plan, they can completely abandon the gasoline-powered vehicle segment and instead focus on hybrid and pure electric models.

"Mr. Wang, the latest sales figures for new energy vehicles are out."

Inside the board's office, Wang Chuanfu was reviewing documents when his secretary walked in with a report.

Has anything changed in the market?

Wang Chuanfu didn't look up, but he slowed down the pace of his grading.

"Yes, the Xingchen Motors you were following before sold an astonishing 19,000 units last month."

The secretary had just finished speaking.

Wang Chuanfu put down his pen and looked up, somewhat surprised.

"hiss…"

He had been paying attention to Xingchen Motors since its first month on the new energy vehicle sales chart.

At the time, I just thought the track was very novel.

But I never expected it to have such great potential and develop to where it is today.

Nearly 20,000 units? What does that even mean?

Although it's just a small car priced under 50,000 yuan, it has truly opened up a new upper limit for the current new energy vehicle sector.

"amazing."

Wang Chuanfu commented.

"The opinions of Xingchen Automotive, including the founder of this car company, are very divided among consumers and other car companies."

Some say he's a maverick in the car manufacturing industry, while others say he's lowered the bar for domestic cars, starting with electric vehicles for the elderly and then moving into the automotive world.

The secretary said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Information flows quickly in the industry. In the first month of the Star Mini's big sales, someone had already thoroughly investigated its history.

Many car reviewers and professionals have commented on his rise to fame.

Wang Chuanfu, however, did not pay attention to this aspect. What he cared about was how much profit would be behind the sales of this kind of new energy small car in the 40,000 yuan range after it took off.

Based on the configuration of the Star Mini, he made a rough estimate.

Even without government subsidies, this price still yields a gross profit margin of at least 10%-15%.

If you include government subsidies, it becomes terrifying.

Not only can it recover the initial costs of building the factory and R&D, but it can also make a huge profit.

The key point is that the initial requirements for technical accumulation and funding are not too high.

to be frank.

Even he was tempted by the sales figures.

"It's all just envy."

Wang Chuanfu shook his head: "Those startup car companies that can achieve this sales volume are all complaining, but behind the scenes they're probably dismantling things overnight and even building new cars!"

Ha ha!

What kind of people are these domestic counterparts?

How could he not understand?

That's when.

An engineer walked in.

"Mr. Wang, the reverse engineering report for the Star Mini is out..."

　Two chapters, 6,500 words each; I'll add another chapter later to reach 9,000 words.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)