Ideal and Volkswagen are in a "fight" over plug-in hybrid and extended-range technology. Who has the final say?

Just last week, I witnessed the first "cloud fight" in the history of the Chinese car industry. The two sides were Volkswagen, representing the plug-in hybrid camp, and Ideal, representing the extended-range camp. The cause of the story was also something I experienced personally. Just last week on September 8, I participated in a test drive of Volkswagen's full range of SUV models and full range of PHEV models in Chengdu. At the technical communication meeting before departure on the first day, Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China and CEO of Volkswagen Brand China, mentioned the technical characteristics of different new energy vehicle models when answering questions from the media. He said that "extended-range technology is simply nonsense and the worst option", and as a result, this article was born.

Are extended-range electric vehicles outdated?

Feng Sihan said at the event, "The ultimate goal of developing electric vehicles is to reduce carbon emissions, but if it is generated by burning fossil fuels, then there is no need to do so." Feng Sihan also wanted to express that if this is the case, it is more straightforward to use internal combustion engines. As a bystander at the scene, I was inevitably a little surprised by these remarks. After all, I have been working in the media for so many years, and such a "big battle" is really rare.

When introducing the Volkswagen PHEV model, Feng Sihan said, "I drive a Passat GTE every day in Beijing, and I mainly drive in pure electric mode in the morning. When I get off work in the evening and the traffic is smooth on the Fourth Ring Road, I choose hybrid mode to enjoy the driving pleasure." Feng Sihan continued, after the Volkswagen Group collected statistics, it was found that more than 60% of PHEV users have an average daily commuting mileage of less than 50km. In addition, these users generally have private charging piles. Therefore, the PHEV model with a pure electric range of 50km launched by the Volkswagen brand is sufficient for daily use.

When asked by the media at the scene how Volkswagen views series hybrid technology, which is commonly known as extended-range electric vehicles, Feng Sihan said, "From the perspective of a single vehicle, extended-range electric vehicles have certain value. But from the perspective of the entire country and the earth, it is simply nonsense and the worst option. Volkswagen is determined to continuously reduce carbon emissions. If we continue to burn fossil fuels and use oil to generate electricity, then there is no need to make electric vehicles."

Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China and CEO of Volkswagen Brand China

As the technical communication meeting was coming to an end, Wiedemann, head of Volkswagen Group's China R&D department, said, "Extended-range electric vehicles have added a lot of costs and the technology is more complicated. Even from a single vehicle perspective, the development potential is not great. We have been studying the feasibility of extended-range electric vehicles a few years ago. It is completely outdated to discuss this technology now."

Wiedemann, head of Volkswagen Group China R&D

On the eve of this Volkswagen event, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Auto, had already cursed at some people who complained about extended-range electric vehicles at a fan event, saying that they "have no user thinking" and "have come up with shitty technology." Unexpectedly, in such a short time, Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China and CEO of Volkswagen Brand China, came out to lead the battle. At the Ideal Auto fan event, Li Xiang also asked the audience a few questions, "All  owners of Ideal ONE  (  parameters  |  inquiry  ) at home, will you switch to electric vehicles? 2. You have both fuel vehicles and Ideal ONE at home, will you still drive fuel vehicles?" Obviously, the leaders of various car companies are standing up for their own brands, so which one is more suitable for the current situation, plug-in hybrid or extended-range technology? The author believes that it is still necessary to let the market and consumers decide.

The day after Volkswagen Group China CEO and Volkswagen Brand China CEO Stephan Wöllenstein expressed his views on September 8, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Auto, also issued a letter of request on Weibo. He said: "I am very willing to conduct a comparative test of energy saving and environmental protection with Volkswagen's most advanced PHEV, simulating real usage scenarios (you can also refer to the daily usage scenarios of Volkswagen China CEO), and use the most realistic numbers to see who is more energy-saving and environmentally friendly in reality."

Volkswagen is Volkswagen after all, and naturally will not respond to such a "small matter". After all, if Volkswagen officially responds, it is the result that Li Xiang wants to see the most, and it is entirely possible to harvest a wave of "brand traffic".

Screenshot of Li Xiang's Weibo

Ideal Auto currently has only one model on sale, the extended-range electric SUV Ideal ONE. In August, 2,710 Ideal ONEs were delivered, and a total of 14,892 units have been delivered in 2020. As a model priced at more than 300,000 yuan, this performance is quite eye-catching among the new forces in the car-making camp. The author also mentioned above that the quality of a product should not be a game between merchants, but should be determined by market sales performance and user experience.

Li Xiang also mentioned in the following Weibo post that he wanted Ideal ONE to compete head-on with the seven-seat Audi Q7 PHEV, which is the closest in size, and welcomes Volkswagen/Audi to participate in the comparison test. Let's take a look at the advantages of Audi Q7 PHEV through book data.

Audi Q7 New Energy Analysis (PHEV)

The Audi Q7 New Energy currently sold in China is the 2019 model. In fact, the official pictures of the new Audi Q7 PHEV were exposed as early as early October 2019.

Audi (Import) Audi Q7 New Energy

Price: Starting from 703,800 and ending at 155,800

In terms of power, the new Q7 PHEV uses a combination of a 3.0L V6 engine and an electric motor. Audi also matches the car with an 8-speed automatic transmission and a quattro all-wheel drive system. Its combined maximum output power is 326kW and its maximum torque is 700N·m. Officials revealed that the car's 0-96km/h acceleration time is within 6 seconds and its maximum speed can reach 241km/h. The battery capacity is 17.3kWh, which can provide the car with a pure electric range of 40km under the WLTP standard. (This data comes from Audi official)

In terms of power, the 2019 Audi Q7 PHEV is equipped with a plug-in hybrid system consisting of a 2.0T engine, a lithium-ion battery pack, an 8-speed manual transmission with an integrated electric motor, and a quattro full-time four-wheel drive system. The 2.0T engine has a maximum power of 252Ps and a peak torque of 370N·m. The motor integrated in the gearbox has a maximum power of 128Ps and a peak torque of 350N·m. The lithium-ion battery pack has a capacity of 17.3kWh and is equipped with a liquid cooling system.

In terms of battery life, the 2019 Audi Q7 PHEV has a pure electric driving range of 56 km, and a total range of up to 1,070 km. In addition, the driver can use the EV button to switch the vehicle freely between pure electric driving mode, hybrid automatic mode and hybrid hold mode.

In terms of charging, the 2019 Audi Q7 PHEV takes 2.5 hours to fully charge (charging time depends on factors such as local power infrastructure). At the same time, it has a mobile phone remote charging function. Users can control the start and end of vehicle charging at any time through the mobile phone app and set their preferred charging time.

The P2 plug-in hybrid technology of the Audi Q7 PHEV can be seen as a hybrid technology developed on the basis of gasoline vehicles. The engine speed of a fuel vehicle fluctuates greatly, so add a motor and a set of batteries to it, and use the motor to bear part of the engine load to stabilize the engine speed. Its advantage is that it only requires slight changes to the fuel vehicle, and the cost of implementation is relatively low.

Analysis of Volkswagen PHEV system

The PHEV technology used in the Volkswagen series is the simplest P2 architecture in the current hybrid technology, which means that an electric motor is inserted between the traditional engine and gearbox.

From a structural point of view, this is also a low-cost and easy-to-implement hybrid architecture. On this basis, a separate electric motor is provided for the rear axle to drive the rear axle, forming the P4 architecture.

In terms of economy and emission reduction, Volkswagen's plug-in hybrid configuration also has a very obvious problem of excessive fuel consumption fluctuations. For example, when driving on a road where the battery pack is not charged, the engine is responsible for driving the wheels and charging the battery pack at the same time. At this time, the load on the engine will be greater than the load of the extended-range electric power system generating electricity, and the fuel consumption will be higher.

DQ400e gearbox structure diagram

The motor is integrated into the DQ400e

In terms of data, Volkswagen PHEV is equipped with a plug-in hybrid system consisting of an EA211 1.4T engine and an electric motor. This system includes a DQ400e gearbox with an integrated electric motor and a 1.4T engine. Among them, the maximum power of the engine is 110kW, the total power of the electric motor is 85kW; the system comprehensive power is 155kW, and the system comprehensive torque is 400N·m. Take the Passat PHEV that Feng Sihan drives daily as an example. When fully charged, it can travel 63km in pure electric mode, and the comprehensive fuel consumption is as low as 1.4L/100km.

Ideal ONE Analysis

Ideal ONE's extended-range electric technology can be seen as a hybrid technology developed on the basis of pure electric vehicles. Its advantage is that the power comes entirely from the electric motor, so the power output is very smooth and linear, and the driving experience is basically the same as that of a pure electric vehicle.