Li Ruifeng: Intelligent DHT hybrid is the best solution for global new energy technology

The sky over Ukraine has been bombarded with artillery fire for six days.

On February 28, the highest price of London Brent crude oil futures exceeded $100 per barrel. During the next oil price adjustment window, it will soon be possible for the domestic No. 92 fuel price to return to 8 yuan per liter.

Car owners are beginning to get anxious. With oil prices high, the thought of switching to an electric car is coming up from time to time.

After a tour of the electric vehicle stores, consumers went from one anxiety to another.

Subsidies for electric vehicles have declined, insurance premiums have risen, and battery costs have increased significantly, so automakers have announced price increases. Long queues for charging during holidays and a significant reduction in driving range in winter are still the unspeakable pain for electric car owners.

On February 28, one day before the launch of Weipai  Mocha DHT-PHEV  (  parameters  |  inquiry  ), Weipai CEO Li Ruifeng said in an interview with Automotive Business Review that in the face of these consumer anxieties, in terms of new energy technology, intelligent DHT hybrid is the world's best solution and a higher-level technical solution.

"Compared with the extended-range and pure electric technology routes with lower technical barriers, mastering efficient DHT hybrid technology requires the support of advanced and mature engine, motor and transmission technologies." Li Ruifeng said, "And Great Wall Intelligent DHT is the best hybrid."

With the support of the two core technologies of Smart DHT and Coffee Intelligence, Weipai's future goal is not only to stand on the product price ladder of 300,000 yuan and reshape the brand and user perception. More importantly, they hope to help users achieve the real "full scene 0 anxiety".

The underlying logic of the optimal solution for DHT hybrid

Li Ruifeng regards DHT hybrid as the third new energy technology route, different from pure electric and extended-range, and regards it as the world's optimal solution, with several main considerations.

First of all, in the perception of Great Wall Motors and Weipai, the automobile energy revolution under carbon neutrality and carbon peak is not a simple energy replacement, but a technological revolution.

The core mission of the technological revolution is to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Carbon is the biggest enemy of mankind. The sources and structures of carbon emissions vary in different regions and scenarios. A simple energy alternative that solves all problems with one technical route is sometimes not only ineffective, but may also increase the pressure of carbon emissions by increasing the proportion of non-clean energy use.

The continuously iterated and upgraded DHT hybrid technology can achieve more efficient application combinations through the dynamic combination of engines and electric motors in different carbon reduction scenarios and working conditions.

Secondly, in terms of product experience, DHT hybrid technology can better meet the diversified travel needs of consumers and achieve zero anxiety in all scenarios.

Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, DHT hybrid technology realizes the deep integration of engine + electric motor, which not only brings better vehicle starting response, but also realizes efficient operation of engine and electric drive motor through intelligent system switching in different speed ranges, minimizes the problem of low thermal efficiency of engine, and maximizes the balance of power and fuel consumption, realizing 1+1 greater than 2.

At the same time, compared with pure electric vehicles, DHT hybrid technology can perfectly avoid consumers' pain points of "250 kilometers away from home and queuing for 3 hours to charge" during holidays and the general reduction in vehicle range in winter.

Third, the world's core automakers are all developing DHT hybrid technology for new energy. In the future, the power hybrid mode featuring hybridization will be the mainstream of the market for a long time.

Japan's Honda Motor and domestic automakers such as Geely and BYD are also actively planning and promoting DHT hybrid technology.

The industry predicts that by 2035, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China will exceed 60%, among which PHEV is an important part of the new energy market, and will have a market size of millions in the future.

Among them, DHT hybrid technology has a market share of more than 70% in the PHEV market segment, and the market prospects are broad. Not only in China, but also in Europe, the sales volume of the PHEV market is equally considerable.

As a company that has developed early and has deep technical reserves in this field, Great Wall Motors' Weipai DHT hybrid, as the earliest multi-speed DHT technology to be mass-produced in China, can have a first-mover advantage in this new energy technology route.

Long battery life + two-speed parallel scenario revolution

"Subsequent Weipai products will not only realize the DHT product layout of the entire series. Starting from Mocha DHT-PHEV, Weipai products with long battery life + two-speed intelligent DHT will also bring consumers a new experience that comprehensively surpasses fuel vehicles and has no mileage anxiety." Li Ruifeng said.

On March 1, the Wei brand Mocha DHT-PHEV with 130kW highly integrated DHT gearbox + 39.67kWh high energy density battery + 38% high thermal efficiency 1.5T engine + 135kW high performance electric rear drive axle (four-wheel drive) will be officially launched.

Weipai also hopes to leverage the Mocha DHT-PHEV's "long range + two-speed hybrid DHT" technology, compared with new forces' pure electric, extended-range and Japanese hybrid technologies, to create a scene revolution in consumer car experience.

Taking the broad vehicle use scenarios of consumers as an example, they can be roughly divided into low-speed scenarios and high-speed scenarios. In the two different scenarios, different technical routes have different economic benefits.

Weipai CMO Qiao Xinyu told Automotive Business Review that according to the Ministry of Transport's statistics on people's daily commuting mileage in 42 cities, the average distance on weekdays is 38 kilometers.

The Mocha DHT-PHEV's 204km pure electric long range under WLTC conditions can not only meet consumers' pure electric commuting needs for a week, but also make up for the shortcomings of DHT in medium and low speed scenarios compared to pure electric and extended-range products, and can also give full play to the power performance and economic advantages of the two-speed DHT in medium and high speed scenarios.

In specific scenarios, DHT two-speed hybrid also demonstrates certain unique advantages.

For example, in terms of driving pleasure, Mocha DHT-PHEV can provide a full-load hybrid mode. In the launch start mode, the four-wheel drive version can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds.

When dealing with climbing sections, the maximum torque output by multiple power units simultaneously also greatly improves the vehicle's climbing performance. In addition, the fuel economy and NVH performance of the engine direct drive mode on high-speed roads are significantly better than those of extended-range vehicles.

For example, a typical scenario in people's daily car use is overtaking, that is, completing vehicle acceleration from 60 km/h to 80 km/h, or from 80 km/h to 120 km/h.

Generally speaking, series connection has an efficiency advantage over parallel connection at lower loads, can achieve speed decoupling, and the engine operates in the optimal efficiency zone. However, for medium and high loads, the transmission efficiency of series connection is worse than that of parallel connection.

When the Mocha DHT-PHEV is cruising in the suburbs (60 km/h-80 km/h), the engine power direct drive mode enters the first gear, shortening the power transmission path, and the engine high-speed ratio gear direct drive or hybrid drive to obtain maximum torque and improve the overall power acceleration performance. The motor is ready to intervene at any time to dynamically adjust the engine's optimal economic working area.

When cruising at high speed (80 km/h to 120 km/h), the engine switches to a more economical gear ratio for direct drive. The vehicle speed increases, but the engine speed remains within the economic range, ensuring fuel efficiency while avoiding excessive engine speed and increased noise.

It can be seen that Mocha DHT-PHEV uses a highly integrated intelligent DHT system, which can not only realize pure electric and hybrid modes, but also uses an efficient energy management system to further subdivide the power output into EV mode, series mode, engine power direct drive mode (1st gear), engine power direct drive mode (2nd gear), full-load parallel mode and energy recovery mode. Six scenarios, innovatively and revolutionary, realize zero anxiety for consumers in all travel scenarios.