In 2021, the 19th Shanghai International Automobile Expo: embracing change.
in 2022, the 17th Beijing International Automobile Exhibition (failed to be held as scheduled due to the epidemic): foresee the future.
in 2023, the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Expo: embracing a new era of the automobile industry.
until 2024, the upcoming 18th Beijing International Automobile Exhibition sings “New era, New Automobile”.
Three years ago, the slogan of “embracing change” was still in front of us, while the giant advertisement of Hengchi seemed to be a lifetime away.
Even if we look at the two most important auto shows held between Beijing and Shanghai every other year from the perspective of slogan, one thing is obvious– if we say that in Shanghai three years ago, all parties only saw the imminent earth-shaking changes in the automobile industry.
Well, today, from the perspective of the 18th Beijing Auto Show, most people should already have a clear and clear judgment on what form the future will take.
The future of the electrification of cars is doomed.
The key left to all parties to evaluate is the extent to which the market for pure electric cars can expand, and how much other “other” solutions of various types of non-pure electricity can eventually account for in the market.
In addition, it is what can be developed in today’s most important field of intelligence before the completion of its historical mission.
On the eve of the 18th Beijing International Auto Show, the North-South Volkswagen joint venture made a “big move” for the intelligent evolution of fuel-fueled cars.
In the north, FAW-Volkswagen came up with Maiteng’s B9 replacement model.
It was born out of the PASSAT B9 model released by Volkswagen Group on August 30 last year, but it has made considerable changes to the Chinese market in terms of vehicle configuration, appearance and even cockpit interiors.
The Maiteng B9 has changed a lot compared with the PASSAT B9 in appearance, and it is simply a kind of “special car” in the Chinese market-in a positive sense.
For details, check out the previous tweets of the commune, such as the B9, which is widely regarded as the “last PASSAT”, which is currently only available in the travel version.
Its front face design is also very close to the pure electric model ID.
7 VIZZION launched by Volkswagen Group last summer and autumn, and the same car system has also been transplanted into the cockpit.
, but there are significant differences in Maiteng B9.
First of all, the appearance of the vehicle, no matter the front face or body, as well as the configuration of the standard hatchback, are trying to express its market positioning different from the parent model.
In addition, in terms of the specific configuration of the intelligent cockpit, the Maiteng B9 is also better than the parent PASSAT B9, specifically adding an independent entertainment screen in the co-pilot’s position.
This is obviously a reference to a variety of popular domestic designs.
The situation in the south is similar.
As early as a few weeks before the auto show, SAIC Volkswagen summoned the media to show off its latest intelligent fuel SUV product, Tuguan L Pro.
The model is based on the third-generation Tiguan released by Volkswagen Group in mid-September last year.
In addition to the appearance adjustment of the front and lower face, the improvement of the cockpit is similar to that of the Maiteng B9.
In addition to the ID.
7 VIZZION car system, an entertainment screen is also added in the co-pilot’s position.
The cockpit of Mai Teng B9 and Tuguan L Pro are basically the same, and not only Volkswagen but also Toyota is trying to make a change.
The ninth generation Camry, which was released during last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show and officially went on sale last month, has made a lot of efforts in cockpit intelligence.
It is not only replaced with a new-generation car system with a 12.
3inch screen, but also equipped with Huawei Ecological AI Voice Assistant system, which ensures accurate control of cockpit functions with voice.
At about the same time, two other Japanese companies, Honda and Nissan, as well as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and even Cadillac / GM and Ford, which are increasingly marginalized in the domestic market, also put their smart cockpit solutions on top of their newer models.
Its common practice is to increase the in-car graphic data display interface, increase the HUD equipment, and at the same time achieve a certain voice control ability, at least in the general direction, can keep close to the current aggressive new energy brands.
In short, many established fuel companies seem to be playing well on the track of cockpit intelligence.
From intelligent cabin to smart driving, however, the reason why the intelligent cockpit can be called “smart” does not depend on the number of screens in the car.
Whether there is a unified control system that can achieve a variety of functions, and whether it has a human-computer interaction function far beyond the traditional cockpit, is the fundamental.
The essence of the intelligent cockpit is that compared with the traditional cockpit, it has stronger interaction ability, more powerful information function, and can complete the instructions of the people in the car more intelligently.
in the final analysis, the degree of intelligence is strong or weak.
in addition to the intelligent cockpit solution itself, it also involves the underlying electronic and electrical architecture of the vehicle.
To put it simply, if the driver wants to use voice commands to select songs, then any old-fashioned tanker with an intelligent entertainment system can be easily achieved.
However, if you want to control the opening and closing of the window and skylight by voice command, the premise is that the control equipment of the window and skylight must have the corresponding control interface, so that the cockpit domain controller can control the machine.
Taking this as the standard, the reason why the author focuses on the new models of North and South Volkswagen, but also because those two models are based on the latest MQB Evo platform development.
Compared with MQB A2, MQB Evo has achieved a fundamental innovation in the underlying electronic and electrical architecture.
The development trend of vehicle electronic and electrical architecture, which is also related to the other half of the concept of “double intelligence” of intelligent vehicles, that is, the realization of intelligent driving function.
Back to Volkswagen’s fuel products, the latest Maiteng B9 and Tuguan L Pro are equipped with pure visual intelligent driving solutions provided by DJI vehicles.
The intelligent driving function of L2 + level can be realized.
It includes point-to-point driving in the closed road system, automatic parking function and so on.
At the same time, the system can identify traffic lights and traffic signs.
It may be difficult for Volkswagen to develop a reliable intelligent driving solution at this stage, but from the perspective of China’s automobile industry, you will find that, including the Big four, companies that can actually come up with a complete set of intelligent driving solutions can at least put together the number of two hands.
The cheapest 7V solution for cars in DJI, but it still needs the platform to achieve the most basic electronics.
Electrical architecture standards, as long as your vehicle platform has the corresponding capabilities, then it is not difficult to integrate a third-party intelligent driving solution.
Because of this, Mercedes-Benz’s latest C-Class and E-Class can also be equipped with the L2 + intelligent driving function provided by Nvidia.
Even on several special routes that have been specially designated in Germany, the system can be used in accordance with the L3 standard.
However, there are also negative teachers in this area, such as Toyota.
Although the electronic electrification reform of e-TNGA is called TNGA, it only considers the problem of electrification in the overall architecture, but does not leave enough interface in the aspect of intelligence.
For example, it did not consider setting aside enough interfaces for the intelligent cockpit to drive hardware, nor did it consider the possibility of being equipped with lidar and other components in terms of auxiliary driving.
It can only be said that this car died violently in the market after its launch and it is not unfair at all.
generally speaking, the e-TNGA platform feels like a short and easy one.
Although this is very much in line with the consistent tone of Toyota and even Japanese cars, it is also doomed that it will not completely overturn the existing structure and will be marginalized in this struggle in the long-term future.
The sunk cost is so heavy that if we take this Beijing auto show as a node, the author is optimistic about Volkswagen Group’s efforts to intelligentize fuel vehicles, and its attitude is obvious.
I believe you can understand the specific reasons when you read this.
However, this kind of “bullish” is only temporary.
As the name of the article, the narrow sense of the car only powered by fuel engines, has actually reached the end of its historical mission.
Today, the gradual decline of “oil tankers” is no longer a prediction, but a trend that everyone can see.
The CMA Evo platform developed by Geely has integrated front and rear axle assemblies, battery packs, fuel tanks and controllers, but this does not mean that fuel engines will die with it.
Don’t think this is contradictory, because to put it bluntly, it is clearly shown in the domestic market that there is another way in addition to pure electric cars-hybrid.
If all fuel car companies want to develop well in the future of no more than a decade at most, then apart from developing pure electric cars, they should at least try to invest more in hybrid tracks.
Whether it is an extended range or a mix, it does not include a temporary cure but not a permanent cure of the Japanese style.
However, for most of the overseas car giants, it is very difficult to seriously promote such a project.
Even though it goes all out to join the pure electric track at a time when the trend of new energy is at its peak, it basically does not have the same ability to withstand internal and external pressure as BYD, Geely, Chery, Great Wall, Changan and other enterprises do.
Spend a huge amount of money for several years to seriously develop a high-performance hybrid system.
What’s the problem? The author is going to take the public he is most familiar with as an example.
As we all know, although Volkswagen Group, like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, has an engine product line with thermal efficiency close to 50% in the laboratory, Volkswagen has its own engine product line, although the ultimate thermal efficiency data are not brilliant, but it has a real advantage over similar products in terms of comprehensive fuel consumption.
In view of the fundamental difference in the working state between the direct drive engine and the hybrid engine, neither EA888 nor EA211 engine can be directly used in the hybrid system without major changes.
So investing in the development of hybrid systems and even turning the entire fuel product line to the hybrid direction means that the wide-area and efficient engine system that Volkswagen is most proud of will almost be cut off.
Even in the past two decades, the stratified fuel injection technology, which Volkswagen Group has invested heavily in developing, which is almost regarded by the outside world as its technical signature in the field of internal combustion engines, will directly become waste.
Even if it is as exquisite as the sunk cost of a work of art, it costs more than that.
Having a special hybrid engine is obviously not enough.
No matter its hybrid plan is to choose direct drive or DHT, anyway, all three major platforms of MQB/MLB/MSB need to continue to spend a lot of money on magic reform.
The side effect is that double clutch lines, including DSG, S-tronic and PDK, that have been invested for many years and have finally “survived” will instantly become useless.
Even the Quattro scheme, on which Audi is based, will be greatly affected.
Not long ago, a large-scale electrification transformation and investment in pure electricity product lines directly took away Herbert Dees, the former CEO.
And the above more drastic changes, which will inevitably involve more huge operational problems, and subsequently, may be earth-shaking financial impact ….
In addition to capital interests, there is a problem of “millions of grass workers” that is more difficult to break through.
obviously, the same problem also troubles BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Japanese Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda, as well as traditional car companies with profound technology accumulation all over the world.
However, in addition to pure electric cars, another must and absolutely must cross the natural graben of the past, a gap between life and death.
But I am not optimistic about those overseas giants.
, return to the first electric network home page >.
