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

Chapter 55 Advanced Configuration: 400V DC Fast Charging Port!
For a new energy pure electric vehicle.

The core architecture of the three electric systems, along with the chassis, represents the inherent capabilities.

You can only truly appreciate the difference once you drive it.

Meanwhile, the R&D department has completed most of the new pure electric chassis architecture and electronic control design.

Besides.

It's an upgrade to the internal configuration.

The configuration of this new car.

The internal system has been upgraded to a full-fledged small compressor air conditioner, not a stripped-down version.

The 8-inch entertainment screen has also been upgraded.

very beginning.

A solution for installing air conditioning in a senior citizen's electric vehicle.

Wang Jingming had some doubts when developing Star 01.

But the feedback from the consumer market after it was actually installed truly shocked him.

Despite being a "crippled" compressor, strictly speaking, it can only blow cold air and cannot control the temperature at all, making it difficult to achieve the effect of rapid cooling of the entire vehicle.

And that "super-crippled reversing camera" with a 40Hz refresh rate screen, strictly speaking, the effect is not good, and the delay is very obvious.

However, when it was put on the market, consumers were very satisfied with this configuration and almost none of them complained.

……

This is actually a matter of respect.

At a price point of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, which is generally unpopular, having air conditioning and a clear view of the reversing camera is quite advanced!
this time.

With a higher overall vehicle budget, Xu Yi did not choose to use a downgraded compressor. Instead, he had the R&D team find a supply chain factory to customize a small compressor with stronger cooling power and efficiency, but without increasing the cost by much.

Because of their large order volume, the original cooperative supply relationship has completely turned into a dominant one, and the bargaining power has become much greater. As a result, the factory has set up two separate production lines for them.

The supply chain is such a magical place.

The larger the quantity, the lower the cost.

Lower costs mean higher production volumes!
Most industrial parks in China are still in a period of rapid development.

As the technology continues to improve and the domestic production rate of equipment continues to increase, manufacturing costs will continue to decrease.

Companies with integrated supply chain capabilities will have an increasingly significant cost advantage in this area.

...

Some time passed.

The customized power battery cells jointly developed by Xingchen and Weineng have also rolled off the production line.

They said it was a joint research and development effort.

In reality, it's equivalent to a disguised form of "deep customization".

Xingchen tends to set high standards and specifications for the required battery cells, while Vaillant is responsible for meeting those requirements.

Technical problems encountered during the development of the new solution were resolved jointly by the technical teams of both parties.

During this process, Xingchen's R&D team expanded its recruitment, bringing in a group of relevant talents. Combined with the R&D team's foundation at Weineng, as a second-tier power battery manufacturer in the industry, most of them were university PhDs in materials engineering. Later, they were even transferred over to "cooperate and guide," resulting in a rapid increase in the technical level of internal power batteries.

Also.

They also purchased a battery packaging production line from the Vaillant factory at cost price.

With the massive influx of funds from Xingchen, the relationship between the two sides has become somewhat blurred.

In addition, Xu Yi promised a large number of orders.

The senior management and board of directors of Vaillant were so happy that they had forgotten what the world was like.

……

The R&D department internally named the first batch of lithium iron phosphate battery cells that rolled off the production line as A1 cells.

The battery pack encapsulated in this way is the first-generation power battery pack of Xingchen Motors.

Currently.

Market research shows that, currently, for new energy vehicles priced below 100,000 yuan, excluding companies like BYD that have their own battery manufacturing plants, most battery packs are sourced from second-tier or even lower-tier battery suppliers in the industry.

The energy density of the produced individual battery cells is "90-100Wh/kg", but after adding the heat dissipation module and packaging them into a battery pack, the energy density is only "70Wh/kg".

Previously, the battery pack supply that Shandong Weineng provided for new energy buses was at this level.

After improvements, the system energy density of the first-generation Xingchen power battery pack can reach 88Wh/kg.

This is a significant improvement. It puts us at the level of the current industry's top tier.

Similar to BYD's vehicles, the system energy density is between "85-95 Wh/kg".

The main reason is that the current mainstream battery manufacturing processes and materials technologies are not much different from each other, and there is not a significant gap between them.

As a second-tier factory, it also has its own technological reserves.

The only problem is that the initial costs of improving the battery cells and packaging process cannot be reduced.

Moreover, the battery packs purchased for new energy buses are usually large enough and do not have very high requirements for energy density, but are very sensitive to price.

Without the support of a large number of orders, the high costs of R&D and production line improvement in the early stages cannot be amortized.

It's unrealistic to expect to reach the top level in the industry by simply investing heavily in research and development.

First-tier battery manufacturers have their own technological reserves, and their R&D funds and orders are much more abundant than those of second-tier companies. How can they compete with them in terms of R&D investment?

Ultimately, it all comes down to a lack of money and orders.

Now that Xingchen is taking on the development costs and subsequent order procurement share, the problem is easily solved.

but.

This will also lead to excessively high early-stage development and initial production costs for Xingchen Motors.

Developing a new energy vehicle that meets the industry's mainstream standards is a completely different matter from developing a low-speed electric vehicle for the elderly.

……

"The battery liquid cooling system and the OBC+DCDC module are in place, and testing can begin now."

Inside the research and development workshop.

Sun Pengfei and a group of R&D engineers gathered together.

Now that the battery pack, a core component, has rolled off the production line, it signifies the complete completion of one of the most significant R&D processes for the entire vehicle.

Compared to the brand-new high-voltage electric drive architecture of the whole vehicle, body mold making and shell stamping have become minor aspects.

What they are testing now is the DC fast charging function of the battery pack.

As per Xu Yi's request.

In addition to meeting all other requirements, the new car must also come with DC fast charging capability.

"The charging speed is very fast, with a full charging power of 29KW. At this speed, it can charge from 10% to 95% in a maximum of 25 minutes."

"The liquid cooling temperature is normal, and the high and low power discharges are also normal..."

After several rounds of testing, everyone's faces showed a relieved and joyful expression.

"On the other hand, isn't it a bit too expensive to include this fast charging feature in an entry-level model...?"

Wang Jingming couldn't help but speak.

Based on the models currently available on the market, those equipped with DC fast charging are now priced at least 80,000 yuan or more.

The function of DC fast charging is very simple.

First, it is compatible with the DC 9-hole fast charging port of State Grid charging piles.

Secondly, it's fast.

A small battery pack with a capacity of 20 kWh can be fully charged in about 60 minutes.

However, for car manufacturers, the increase in costs is also significant.

DC fast charging requires the addition of a DC "OBC+DCDC module".

In addition, the 3.3kW AC slow charging port is cooled by air, while the DC fast charging port must use liquid cooling and compressor cooling.

On average, the initial cost of DC fast charging for each vehicle is close to three thousand yuan.

Moreover, this part of the cost cannot be saved.

If battery heat dissipation is not handled properly, it can either catch fire or explode.

Cutting corners in fast charging modules and high-voltage wiring harnesses will also cause the same problems.

They certainly don't want their car to spontaneously combust and make headlines as soon as it hits the market!

Fortunately, their three-electric architecture and liquid cooling system are all self-developed. As long as the production volume catches up later, there is a lot of room for cost optimization.

Sun Pengfei began, "According to President Xu, we should try our best not to make things difficult for consumers regarding essential features..."

……

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(End of this chapter)