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

Chapter 142 What is Reverse Engineering?! (These two chapters contain many technical details)
Take a chestnut.

If we want to pursue "ultimate efficiency", then optimizing the internal structure of the range extender, which is the engine, is definitely essential.

The advantage of range-extended vehicles is that the engine's only task is to "generate electricity in the high-efficiency speed range," which is usually 2000-4000 rpm.

Just like when a person exercises, maintaining a steady, slow pace is like practicing health preservation.

Instead of operating like a conventional engine, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes abruptly stopping, sometimes accelerating wildly...

The two have completely different operating conditions, wear and tear, and lifespan.

(Note: In the following text, range extender is equivalent to engine)
...

"Mr. Xu, regarding the selection of range extenders, we have shortlisted several manufacturers..."

If we want to purchase a domestically produced 1.5T four-cylinder engine.

Domestically, you can choose from Dong'an Power, JAC Motors, Brilliance Auto, and Chery Automobile.

In terms of performance, Brilliance's BM15TD is the best, after all, it has the backing of BMW's joint venture technology.

It features exclusive variable valve lift technology, which optimizes intake volume, improves efficiency at low and medium speeds, and boasts top-tier quietness and design life in China.

However, the procurement costs are high, and the premium is significant.

...

In addition, Chery and JAC engines are also good, mature, and have unique features.

However, after some negotiation... Dong'an was willing to offer us the lowest cost price, and was also willing to spend a longer period to set up a dedicated team to cooperate with us in customizing and developing a special range extender.

Furthermore, Dong'an's 4-cylinder engine's speed and torque are nearly perfectly matched to the range extender's commonly used range of 2000-4000 rpm, enabling stable power generation without changing the load.

Wang Jingming explained in detail.

Recent choices regarding "range extenders".

The R&D team also investigated many domestic manufacturers.

At this stage, the research and application of 1.5T engines in China is actually quite mature.

Of course, the top-tier manufacturers are those with joint venture backgrounds. With the technology of joint venture engines as a backing, if they can conduct in-depth research and development to transform them into range extenders, that would be truly impressive.

As for importing, that's definitely out of the question; the cost is too high.

We've been negotiating the engine supply with Brilliance Auto for several rounds.

But no agreement was reached.

Technologies like "variable valve lift technology" (which improves intake efficiency) and "dual variable valve timing technology" (which optimizes combustion efficiency) are currently scarce resources in domestically produced engines.

Furthermore, they use BMW's engine manufacturing standards, and both the "cylinder block casting precision" and the "piston-cylinder wall clearance" are far higher than the industry average.

Its overall performance is among the best of domestically developed engines.

and.

There is another advantage to purchasing this type of engine.

That is, it comes with its own "brand endorsement".

The dominance of German luxury cars from BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi) in the Chinese market is undeniable.

It belongs to the realm of faith!

If the collaboration on Xingchen's second car is successful...

By directly announcing that they use the same engine as BMW as the range extender, they not only gain high recognition within the industry, but also make a large number of consumers of gasoline-powered vehicles look at them with more respect.

At first glance, wow—"BMW uses its engines to generate electricity"?
Furthermore, Xingchen Motors' new energy vehicle three-electric technology is known as being among the top tier in the industry, making this a powerful alliance!

but.

The idea is good.

In fact, Brilliance Auto's capacity utilization rate has reached 80% this year, with joint venture gasoline vehicles being the core source of profit.

Not only can prices not be lowered, but it's also difficult to allocate many resources to cooperate with Xingchen Motors on any "range-extended customization" projects.

Furthermore, the joint venture agreement also includes clauses granting exclusive rights to engine technology and supply.

If we really want to make the purchase, we'll have to negotiate with BMW's headquarters and pay an additional licensing fee.

The final estimated costs are hard to justify!

……

Looking back at the attitude of domestic manufacturers, it's much better.

Dong'an Power's core business in recent years has been small-displacement engines. However, due to the upgrading of emission regulations, it has been in the "China V to China VI" cycle for the past two years. In addition, with the implementation of the new carbon credit regulations, it has become increasingly difficult for traditional engine manufacturers to make a living.

They were already in a period of seeking business transformation. Although their engine technology was at an average level, they were willing to lower prices and cooperate in research and development!

You need to understand that a range extender isn't just something you can use by simply taking the engine and leaving it at that.

Take Dong'an's engine as an example, its thermal efficiency is only 37%, which is two percentage points lower than that of BMW's 1.5T engine.

Xingchen Automotive's goal is to increase the thermal efficiency of the engines it purchases to at least 39%.

Because range extenders "generate electricity only in the high-efficiency speed range," they can use higher compression ratios, optimize internal structures, speed strategies, cylinder block structures, balance shafts, and so on.

This includes reducing weight by adopting an all-aluminum chassis and redesigning thermal management...

Essentially, they rebuilt the engine according to their own requirements.

For every 1% increase in thermal efficiency, fuel consumption for power generation can be reduced by approximately 0.2L/100km.

This is considered a very important standard for range-extended vehicles.

These deeper aspects are the real challenges of range extenders.

It requires a lot of time and relentless research and development, as well as close cooperation from suppliers; neither aspect can be neglected.

"Then let's choose Dong'an."

Xu Yi didn't hesitate; the consequences were written all over his face.

One situation is like offering a warm welcome only to be met with a cold shoulder, while the other is like receiving a price reduction offered at the customer's expense. The procurement cost remains the lowest.

Is there even a need to think about this?
German luxury car manufacturers have been developing this for over a century, and it's very difficult to improve engine thermal efficiency by even 1%.

If he remembered correctly, the highest thermal efficiency of mass-produced engines in hybrid vehicles in his previous life was as high as 47%.

For range-extended electric vehicles, an engine thermal efficiency of 41% is already quite impressive.

This is mainly because the two sides have different technical approaches.

The characteristics of a hybrid engine are "high compression ratio + full load optimization".

The engine of a range extender vehicle is designed to perform at its best within a narrow operating range, which is "extreme combustion efficiency at low and medium speeds".

This also results in the engine combustion thermal efficiency of range-extended vehicles being inherently lower than that of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

In addition, they also have to consider the noise issues of "vibration and NVH" to achieve the ultimate in low noise and elegance, which requires sacrificing some thermal efficiency.

Therefore, if a range-extended vehicle can achieve a thermal efficiency of around 40%, it is already at a top-tier level in the industry.

Therefore, it's no exaggeration to call the range-extending engine's 41% thermal efficiency an industry benchmark.

...

It is foreseeable that it will be very difficult to improve engine thermal efficiency in a short period of time.

There will be many bottlenecks.

But then again.

When have Xingchen Motors ever been afraid of bottlenecks when it comes to R&D?

"Yes, we will send an email expressing our interest to the person in charge of Dong'an Power later..."

Wang Jingming continued, "We are currently working closely on the entire range extender system solution, and overall the progress is quite rapid..."

"Recently, we reverse-engineered most of the mainstream hybrid and range-extended electric vehicles on the market, including the range-extended Chevrolet Volt and the first range-extended GAC Trumpchi GA5 in China..."

There are also hybrid models from the Toyota Prius and Honda Accord Hybrid, as well as DM models from BYD.

can be seen.

The workshop at Xingchen R&D Center is almost entirely filled with hybrid and range-extended vehicles from the market, all disassembled into pieces.

In particular, every detail of the core power system has been studied.

Several key models were purchased, disassembled, and their details were compiled into separate technical manuals.

The level of dedication shown in this reverse engineering is truly remarkable, making him one of the most hardworking individuals in the industry.

what?
It's incredibly rude of our competitors to secretly reverse engineer our products.

It turns out we were also conducting intensive reverse engineering on our competitors' projects.

That’s okay!

As industry insiders, we all take this very seriously.

How can you understand something without taking it apart?

How can you improve if you don't understand?

How can you stay far ahead without making progress?
Since it doesn't copy the patent exactly and complies with the law, why not do it?

Industrial development is essentially just everyone copying each other.

If one day you copy the best in the industry and reach a level that is far ahead, your competitors will not hate you. On the contrary, they will take the initiative to buy your mass-produced models, study and disassemble them more carefully, and regard you as a benchmark for progress.

They might even create a separate technical manual just for you!

...

"We've disassembled range-extended electric vehicle models from both domestic and international manufacturers, and we've pretty much figured out the powertrain structure. Our competitors' solutions aren't that complicated..."

However, in terms of detailed optimization and technical structure, Toyota's hybrid system has been very inspiring to us.

Their engines have very high thermal efficiency, and the THS hybrid system has a sophisticated structure, the highest level of integration, and the smallest size among all hybrid vehicles.

Including the shift jerkiness observed in actual testing, it's even less noticeable than domestically produced range-extended vehicles, and the vibration is almost imperceptible during startup, making it a subject worthy of in-depth study.

Wang Jingming exclaimed in admiration.

At this stage, domestically produced hybrid and range-extended electric vehicles were only in their initial stages.

If we're talking about which car company in the entire industry is doing the best, then without a doubt it's the Japanese brand Toyota.

They launched their first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in 97. Going back further, they actually started developing hybrid technology as early as the 60s.

Ten years later, Toyota has hundreds of patents protecting every aspect of its hybrid technology, from the structural design of planetary gear sets and control algorithms to battery management and motor control.

How amazing is this system?

Structurally, the entire system does not have a traditional gearbox.

The planetary gear set functions as a power coupler, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and a power distributor, ensuring that the engine always operates within its optimal efficiency range.

Even BYD's current DM system actually bypasses this patented technology and uses a series-parallel hybrid architecture.

Simply put, there are two power transmission paths: at low speeds, the electric motor drives directly, and at high speeds, the engine drives the wheels through a clutch.

Before the launch of the Super Hybrid dmi, this hybrid technology was significantly inferior to Toyota's.

But this thing.

It's not that whoever is ahead will necessarily win.

Giant automakers have their own set of problems.

Although Toyota has leading technology, it is impossible for it to bring the price of hybrid vehicles down to below 150,000 yuan, let alone 80,000 or 90,000 yuan.

They possess a technological monopoly advantage, but they keep it shelved, refusing to sell it to you unless you raise the price.

But domestic car manufacturers can.

(End of this chapter)