This winter, Switzerland ’s “electric dad” is likely to be “banned”. A few days ago, a Swiss official drafted a proposal to limit the use of electricity in order to prevent the country's energy shortage from exacerbating. One of the bans on electric vehicles stated: "Private use of electric vehicles is only allowed for absolutely necessary travel (for example, work, shopping, medical treatment, etc.)." It is commonly known that electric vehicles are not driven "unnecessarily".
It is not difficult to understand that the battery life of electric vehicles is generally reduced by half, especially in winter. But the discount on battery life is only the first step. Electric vehicle owners must have encountered problems when traveling: the vehicle cannot start, the engine noise increases, the power "hibernation" is slow to respond, and the air suspension malfunctions, etc. Therefore, major car companies have also come up with sophisticated car-making technologies and solutions and applied them to their own flagship products.
Just some time ago, AutoLab took an in-depth look at three cars that have been hotly discussed in the electric circle - BYD Tang DM-i, AITO Wenjie M5 and Geely Xingyue L electric version. We disassembled them from three aspects: "vehicle safety, NVH, and three electrics". Let's take a look at whether these three "traffic players" are just in name or have real abilities.
When buying a car, safety is usually the first factor we consider. It is related to the sense of security and happiness when traveling.
BYD Tang DM-i's body panels are made of steel, but the welding process uses conventional spot welding. It can handle daily "little fights" on the road, but if a collision occurs at high speed, the body will tear due to insufficient strength. And its front anti-collision beam is the shortest among the three cars. As for its biggest highlight - the battery, due to its relatively complex internal structure, it is difficult to disassemble it later. Therefore, if you encounter problems and need repairs, it will undoubtedly increase the economic and time costs. The "traffic" component is greater than the hardware strength.
AITO Wenjie M5 has the same body material as BYD Tang DM-i, but it adds Apras welding process to the welding process, making the body more "pressure resistant". In order to ensure the safety of the rear-wheel drive motor, AITO Wenjie M5 uses an aluminum alloy rear anti-collision beam. Therefore, in terms of body strength and welding process, it is more "stable and sophisticated" than BYD Tang DM-i.
The Xingyue L electric version learns from the strengths of the two and offsets their weaknesses. I think it is the least likely to collapse in terms of safety among the three. As for the body, it uses high-strength steel materials and the same Apras welding process as the AITO Wenjie M5, and it is the only one among the three cars with an active air intake grille design. The collapse zone of the front anti-collision beam is 1276mm, which is the longest among the three cars. The rear anti-collision beam is also made of roller-formed iron, but compared to the BYD , it has more energy-absorbing boxes, which can absorb more impact force during a collision and reduce the impact on passengers in the car. In terms of body safety quality, it is directly close to luxury cars.
Finally, in terms of battery safety, the Xingyue L electric version battery pack has a total of 17 installation points on the front and both sides. In the event of a side impact, it is equipped with three cross beams, which act like a "buffer device" to prevent direct damage to the battery by external forces.
In the first round of the safety competition, the Xingyue L electric version not only ensured the safety of the members in the car when an accident occurred, but also protected the components in the car from damage as much as possible, reducing the cost and time of later repairs. It won the victory.
If safety issues are the "threshold" for consumers to choose this car, then NVH performance determines how quickly consumers will make up their mind to buy it.
BYD Tang DM-i adopts a cast iron front suspension structure, and a half-shaft vibration absorber is added to the front single-side half-shaft to reduce the vibration frequency of the half-shaft. In addition, the entire vehicle has a "carpet-style" sound insulation design, which is full of details and leaves no blind spots. Sound-insulating cotton is affixed to the inside of the tire's wheel cover lining and the front and rear bumpers, which can reduce to a certain extent the noise caused by the knocking of stones when passing on roads with a lot of sand and gravel.AITO Wenjie M5 also has a "carpet-style" sound insulation design throughout the car, but there is no silent covering behind the front door, and it is the only design among the three cars that does not have a half-shaft shock absorber. However, its all-aluminum alloy front suspension load will also be smaller, so it is useless.
The front suspension structure of the Geely Xingyue L electric version is the same as that of the BYD Tang DM-i, but shock absorbers are added on both sides of the half shaft, making it less likely to detect frustration when accelerating and starting. In addition, its rear muffler has a volume of 4+32 liters, which is the largest among the three vehicles, reducing engine noise from the source.
Generally speaking, the Geely Xingyue L electric version handles the entire NVH control more properly. And compared with the entire vehicle that directly uses a large amount of sound insulation materials , the Geely Xingyue L electric version intervenes from the source of noise, fundamentally solving the noise and vibration problems, which shows its responsible attitude of truly wanting to solve the problem.
Finally, when an electric vehicle passes the consumer inspection of safety and NVH quality and is successfully driven home, the real "test" has actually just begun. How long can this car stay with us? What travel application scenarios can be covered? Will it be recommended to others to buy? The answers to these questions all point to the "three major parts" of the car - the three batteries, the battery motor and the electronic control system.
In terms of the entire three-power electronics, the overall structure of the three-power electronics of AITO Wenjie M5 is the simplest among the three. There is only a range extender + generator in the front engine room. In addition, the 1.5T range extender is also the only cast iron material among the three vehicles, which is relatively backward. The technical value of BYD's three-electric system is relatively average, but its advantage is that it can effectively reduce the cost of the entire vehicle. The BYD Tang 1.5T engine, EHS dual-motor transmission system, p1&p2 motors, etc. are all self-developed. The single-stage reducer is modified from a traditional gearbox. Although there is room for upgrade redundancy and a series-parallel mode, there is not much room for parallel operation, and the integration of the hybrid system is relatively low.
The three-electric system of the Geely Xingyue L electric version can explain to us what real "technology and hard work" are, and it contains a very high amount of "technology". First of all, a large number of units such as P1, P2 motor, dual-clutch system (one is responsible for 3-speed transmission, and the other is responsible for power output), hydraulic control model, electric series pump, planetary gear group, etc. are integrated together. Not only is the size the smallest, but the visible cost of the P1 motor and other components is also the highest among the three cars.
Secondly, the core highlight of this system is the 3-speed variable frequency electric drive DHTPro. Compared with BYD's single-speed transmission, the efficiency and performance advantages of the Xingyue L electric version can be infinitely magnified in high and low speed conditions. When starting, the 1st gear ejects faster, and the high-speed 3rd gear to 2nd gear has stronger acceleration ability in the middle, which solves the pain points of limited high-speed driving and poor driving quality under power loss, etc. As for the parallel mode just mentioned, the Xingyue L electric version can achieve parallel direct drive at 20km/h, and has an extended-range mode with a pure electric drive experience. Owning it is equivalent to owning a BYD Tang DM-i and an AITO Wenjie M5 at the same time, which is truly great value for money.
Finally, in terms of batteries, the battery capacities of BYD Tang DM-i, Geely Xingyue L electric version, and AITO Wenjie M5 are 45.8, 41.2, and 40kWh respectively. However, the battery energy density of the Xingyue L electric version is 167Wh/kg, which is the highest among and . High energy density means long cruising range, so the cruising range of the Xingyue L electric version once again ranks first among the three. It can achieve a cruising range of 1,250km under WLTC operating conditions in extended-range mode, and can drive to 1,300km+ in electric-hybrid mode. There is no such thing as range anxiety. After all, every inch is longer and every inch is stronger. Its technological leadership is undoubtedly the best answer to consumers.
After stripping away the glamorous appearance and dismantling these three cars, I believe everyone will have a deeper understanding of their leading technologies and product quality. The Xingyue L electric version is very good in terms of safety performance, NVH attitude towards car manufacturing, and performance in three aspects of electricity. It is fully worthy of its 25w price and the reputation of "all-round electric vehicle".It can be seen from it that the huge "traffic" blessing and "fans" control and review method will not add much points to the product itself. Using technology to speak is the best way to give back to the market.
