Beijing Auto Show Technology Outlook New Technologies That Change the Status Quo

Revolutionary technical highlights

    Introduction: The 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition will be held in the new and old exhibition halls of the Beijing China International Exhibition Center from April 20 to April 29, 2014. As one of the most important auto shows in China, many manufacturers choose the Beijing Auto Show as a platform for the debut of their new cars. At this exhibition, you can see some innovative works in automotive technology. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the technological progress of the automotive industry is gradually emerging.

　　Lego Cars

Real cars become Lego

    If you want to know what is the best-selling children's toy now, it must be Lego. A building block company can build anything you want with standard plastic blocks, from animals to machines, from plants to buildings. So many adults are still its loyal users.

　　Lego did build cars with building blocks, but they only looked like building blocks. Today’s car manufacturers are applying Lego’s concept to industrial production, which is the concept of “modularization”. In fact, the concept of modularization is not a new concept. It has been implemented in many industries for many years. Now it is flourishing in the automotive industry. It seems that the cars of the future will be like building blocks.

　　Volkswagen MQB

Adjustable Volkswagen MQB platform

Power modules that can be installed on MQB

    This is the most well-known modular platform from Volkswagen Group. As shown in the figure, MQB is a flexible platform. Except for the fixed distance from the front axle to the engine firewall, all other dimensions, including front overhang, wheelbase, and rear overhang, are adjustable. Therefore, Volkswagen can produce sedans, sports cars, station wagons, SUVs, MPVs, pickups, VANs, etc. on MQB.

MQB platform physical object

    So the Golf 7, Audi A3, and Audi TT you see now all come from the platform in the picture above. Just install different engines, gearboxes, suspensions, and car bodies to become any car model you want, just like assembling building blocks, right? If Volkswagen produces a set of toys based on this concept, it is estimated that it will also achieve good sales and cultivate its own potential users from children.

　　Renault-Nissan CMF

CMF modular platform with greater freedom

    In addition to Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan has also been busy, and they have come up with a CMF platform that is more like building blocks. This platform is more like building blocks, not only can the power, suspension, and body be freely selected, but even the chassis can be freely combined. The front structure, front chassis, cabin, and rear chassis can all be combined to form different models, so that there are more styles of car assembly.

　　Currently we can see that the model using this new platform is Nissan's new X-Trail. Starting from it, future models such as Qashqai, Teana and Murano will all use the CMF platform.

　　PSA EMP

PSA's EMP modular platform

    France's PSA Group announced the EMP platform. The features of this platform are very similar to Volkswagen's MQB. Except for the fixed structure of the engine part, the length of other structures are flexible and variable.

EMP2 Platform

    However, there are two types of EMP platforms: EMP1 and EMP2. EMP1 is a platform specifically designed for producing small cars and small SUVs, and the new Elysee is based on this platform. EMP2 is a platform designed for producing compact and mid-size cars.

　　The impact of modularity

　　The benefits of modularization are self-evident. Manufacturers can freely combine various models to meet the refined needs of the emerging market segments. At the same time, it can reduce R&D and production costs. It was previously unimaginable that one production line can produce 20 models. According to statistics, logistics and inventory costs of large enterprises currently account for most of the production costs. This modular model can naturally reduce these costs.

　　But my question is, if almost all models of a brand are based on the same platform, then what are the "differences" between these dozens of cars? In the future, the cars on the market will look dazzling, but in fact, they are just a chassis with different car shells. It seems to be a boring thing to think about, but it will be very simple to write a test drive report in the future.

　　It also costs a price to let consumers accept the homogeneity brought by this new technology, that is, to reduce prices so that consumers can feel the benefits. When promoting modularization, all media mentioned that "it reduces production costs." But what is the reality? Take Volkswagen as an example. The Golf 7 and Audi A3 using MQB have been launched in China. Looking at their prices, I really don't feel the "reduction." So I am very curious, has the reduced production costs become the company's profits? In the past, the fundamental purpose of promoting technological progress was to make life better and more convenient. Now the significance of technological progress has become to allow capitalists to obtain more profits.

    New breakthroughs in traditional technology

    Small displacement high power engine

　　I really don't want to talk nonsense about energy conservation and environmental protection. With such high oil prices, everyone knows that when buying a car, you should choose a fuel-efficient one. However, in our concept, fuel efficiency and power are always a contradiction. So manufacturers began to look for efficient driving methods, such as hybrid and electric. Objectively speaking, hybrid and electric are not mature technologies at present. Therefore, most manufacturers are still focusing on exploring the potential of internal combustion engines.

　　I remember when Mazda's senior executives came to interview, they mentioned that their engine design genius said that the world's view is that the internal combustion engine will not have a breakthrough in stratified combustion technology until 2035, and before that, the internal combustion engine still has great potential to be tapped. I guess other manufacturers also think so, so they are all tapping the potential of the internal combustion engine. So now various small-displacement turbocharged engines have begun to be mass-produced.

The Jaguar supercar uses a 370kW 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine.

    The previous article introduced a hybrid supercar, the Jaguar C-X75, which uses a 1.6L twin-charged (mechanical supercharger + turbocharger) engine with a power of up to 370kW. I remember a few years ago, it was a great technology to be able to reach 100 horsepower per liter. Now the rumor is that the 500-horsepower four-cylinder engine has been developed long ago, but the best one cannot be given to users at once, and can only be given one level at a time to make the most money. (The 500-horsepower four-cylinder mentioned here is of course not the kind of modified/racing engine that runs a few thousand kilometers and then dies by relying on life to exchange for power, but a mass-produced engine with a life of millions of kilometers)

Ford's 1.0T three-cylinder engine

    So let's take a look at the 1.0T three-cylinder engine that Ford is going to install in the Focus. I don't need to say much about this engine. I have already introduced it a lot last year. You can just take a look at this engine at the auto show. Maybe compact and mid-size cars will all start using three-cylinder engines in the future.

　　Active suspension

The concept of active suspension was already established in the 1990s.

    I guess many people have seen the active suspension video launched by Bose in the 1990s. In the video, the first Lexus model LS can face various potholes and road surfaces as if they were flat ground, and can also jump over obstacles by itself. In fact, similar active suspension concepts have been formed in the 1990s, and some car manufacturers have also conducted corresponding research. At that time, the sensors were mainly ultrasonic detection of the road surface. Unfortunately, in the following 20 years, the relevant technology was not applied to mass-produced cars. We don’t know whether it is due to cost, life, or technical protection.

Mercedes-Benz's Magic Body Control system is one of the active suspension technologies currently in mass production.

    Now a similar active suspension is equipped on the S-Class by Mercedes-Benz and is widely publicized. Unlike the early technology, the Mercedes-Benz suspension uses a camera behind the windshield to capture road conditions. I am more curious whether it will affect the working effect at night or in poor visibility. The S-Class currently sold in China does not have this function, but the Beijing Auto Show will launch an S-Class model with this function as an option, and I believe it will also be demonstrated at the booth.

    Further assisted driving

　　In the early 21st century, when electronic technology developed by leaps and bounds, cars seemed to fall behind the times. When mobile phones had become mobile terminals, cars were still using old CD players. So in order not to be left too far behind, cars began to catch up, and manufacturers began to disclose various technologies that had already completed the experimental stage, including the assisted driving function that has exploded in recent years.

Automated parking technology is improving

    Automatic parking was a very new technology 5 years ago, but now it is commonplace. However, the new generation of automatic parking has completely overturned the traditional model. In an environment where wireless networks cover the surface, some manufacturers have announced the concept of automatic parking that can find parking spaces autonomously, which is the basic part of the "smart city transportation network" mentioned in our special feature "The Not-So-Distant Future" last year.

Summon your car with your phone

    In the concepts released by some manufacturers, this type of parking does not require the driver to drive the vehicle. As long as the parking function is selected on the mobile phone APP, the vehicle will automatically enter the parking lot, find an empty parking space and park. When the owner wants to leave, the vehicle will also automatically leave the parking space and come to the owner. At present, relevant experiments have been carried out in Europe and will soon enter the practical stage.

　　Although we have always been full of beautiful visions for the future and are excited about the idea of ​​cars parking themselves, considering that we live in a country where people still have to queue up to pay parking fees, sometimes waiting in line for half an hour or even being cut off by people who do not understand the principle of "interlaced traffic", it will probably take a very long time for such automatic parking technology to be popularized.

S500 Autonomous Driving

     In addition to automatic parking, autonomous driving technology has also entered the testing stage in Europe and the United States. We have introduced driverless vehicles in the United States in previous "Future" special topics, and now Mercedes-Benz's S500 Intelligent Drive vehicle can also drive autonomously on European roads.

　　As mentioned above, these smart cars can only drive autonomously in an environment that "complies with the rules". Faced with chaos such as cutting in on auxiliary roads, vast crowds of people, and road kings, no matter how smart the machine is, it is powerless. I think the phrase "technology is people-oriented" well describes the entanglement between technology and human nature. The development of technology is for the better life of all mankind, and those who create technology always consider it from the perspective of "for the public", but when these "for the public" technologies are brought into a world full of "self-interest", these technologies will soon collapse.

　　Conclusion

　　People created science, and science in turn constrains people. I think that when the professions of scientists and engineers were born, the basic ethics of these professions had already been established. The founders of many industries followed their own interests and passion for exploring the unknown in their activities of invention, discovery, exploration, and research. Our lives today are largely due to them.

　　As the times change, research funding needs to be obtained through commercial activities, and scientific progress needs to complement commercial activities, so a mutually reinforcing relationship between people and science has been formed. It has been a long-term situation to obtain profits without changing the essence of science. For the future of the automobile industry, I just hope that ordinary people can also afford models equipped with new technologies.