By replacing the new battery from CATL and using multi-speed technology, Chery can reduce the price of plug-in hybrid by at least another 20,000 yuan?

The price of the Chery Fengyun T9 long-range version is 148,900 yuan, which is 35,000 yuan less than the official guide price (183,900 yuan). After adding the national subsidy and replacement rights, this outrageous price is indeed a bit surprising. Even if it does not enjoy the 20,000 yuan national subsidy, the replacement price of 168,900 yuan is undoubtedly quite attractive for a B-class SUV with a body length of nearly 4.8 meters and CDC electromagnetic suspension. In terms of powertrain, this new car is the strongest form of the Fengyun T9 ( parameters | inquiry ) series. The 1.5T hybrid engine remains unchanged, but a larger capacity new battery from CATL (34.46kWh) is used. There is also a dual-motor + 3-speed DHT solution that appears for the first time. The maximum system power of 280 kilowatts is 7 kilowatts less than the V6 engine of the Mercedes-Benz M276. After the weight of the car increased by 109kg, the actual power-feed fuel consumption continued to be around 4L, and the actual pure electric range was nearly 65 kilometers longer than the rated range (CLTC working conditions). It can be said that the application of this power system is still to run farther on a tank of fuel, and it is more suitable for long-distance high-speed scenarios that require power reserves. So the question is, how is the reverse virtual mark of 265km achieved? Keeping the dual-motor + 3DHT within 150,000 yuan, does this mean that the next plug-in hybrid car will be reduced in price?

The new battery of M3P is less than 35kWh, so why is the actual range 65km longer than the rated range?

In the form of plug-in hybrid technology, there are generally two ways to increase the pure electric range. First, from a hardware perspective, you can optimize the thermal efficiency of the hybrid engine and appropriately lower the peak power to keep it working in the optimal efficiency range. For example, BYD's fifth-generation DM technology follows this logic. Another way is to provide a larger battery pack and simply and crudely solve the pure electric range problem with a large battery. Secondly, the software level can be to optimize the battery pack BMS and try to make the power conservation threshold more extreme. However, these practices are usually more suitable for economical plug-in hybrids whose motor power is not large and are best matched with a single-speed DHT gearbox. After all, the ultimate goal is to achieve the ultimate fuel saving effect. So, how can a longer pure electric range be achieved with dual motors and 3-speed DHT, and when the body weight increases by more than 100kg?

The answer is still in the logic mentioned above. This time, Chery did not specially adjust the engine parameters for the dual-motor version of T9. The maximum power and peak torque of the SQRH4J15 model are still 115 kW and 220 Nm, so the focus becomes on the new battery. Regarding this new M3P battery provided by CATL, there was not much explanation throughout the press conference. It only briefly mentioned the energy density of 150Wh/kg, fast charging in 20 minutes (SOC 20%-80%), and the discharge performance in low temperature environment and after power feeding, which is about 6% and 50% higher than that of competitors who did not mention specific models. So it can be concluded that the fast charging rate of the new battery is at least at the 3C level, and the cold resistance and power feeding are also stronger than traditional lithium iron phosphate. Since there is a role of cold resistance, will this be a sodium battery? No, this battery is essentially still a phosphate system, but in order to enhance the energy density, metal elements such as manganese, magnesium, zinc, and aluminum are added to the material, just like the NCM811 battery that mixed nickel, cobalt and manganese in a ratio of 8:1:1, except that the proportion of manganese is larger. According to the technical information previously provided by CATL, the energy density of M3P can reach up to 210Wh/kg, which is quite close to the energy density of traditional ternary lithium batteries.

The problem arises again. According to the chemical properties of elements, the larger the atomic mass of an element, the stronger its metallic property and the more difficult it is to release electrons. In other words, in order to meet the charge and discharge capacity and increase the output voltage of the single cell, the movement speed of lithium ions must be guaranteed, and the atomic mass of other metals added must at least be smaller. Manganese ranks before iron, cobalt and nickel, and is easier to achieve stability and high energy density. With multi-material coating technology, the good cycle stability of the battery pack can be further guaranteed. The key is that the price of manganese and copper is more controllable, which is a unit that is extremely easy to reduce costs in large-scale mass production. So to some extent, the M3P battery used by Chery this time, on the one hand, solves the problem of the heavy weight of the Fengyun T9 car and the endurance through high energy density, and on the other hand, it optimizes the cost of the whole vehicle.

In addition to replacing the battery, the hybrid gearbox actually plays a big role in the entire plug-in hybrid technology architecture. Similar to some mainstream 3-speed DHT structures on the market, Chery's 3DHT gearbox is also composed of two shafts, one for 1st and 3rd gears, and one for 2nd gear. The key is that in the hybrid architecture, the Fengyun T9 uses P2+P2.5. Compared with the previous T9 equipped with a single-speed DHT, the front motor of the new car has been enlarged by 5 kilowatts. This is obviously an adjustment made to strengthen the low-speed scene electric drive. Simply put, it is mainly electric drive scenes and can guarantee performance output. In addition, the thermal efficiency of Chery's fifth-generation engine has reached 44.5%, and this is still a model that can directly cope with the range extension technology. The efficiency of oil-to-electric conversion can basically cope with most power feeding and energy replenishment scenarios, so even without a large-capacity battery, the Fengyun T9's dual-motor + 3DHT solution can achieve a longer pure electric range.

New technology reduces costs by at least RMB 20,000. Will it be more cost-effective to buy plug-in hybrids in the future?

As for the price of the Fengyun T9 long-range version, it has been mentioned before that after the manufacturer replacement and national subsidy rights are added, the official guide price of 183,900 yuan becomes 148,900 yuan, which is equivalent to saving 35,000 yuan directly. This price is even nearly 20,000 yuan cheaper than the pure electric 120km range version of the Fengyun T9, Galaxy L7 and BYD's Song PLUS DM-i. The key is that the new car still uses 3-speed DHT, and with this power structure and price, it is almost impossible to find a second model in the B-class SUV market before November 18. So, why does Chery sell the 3DHT plug-in hybrid car for less than 150,000 yuan?

The article is naturally about controlling costs. Of course, the way to reduce costs is not by reducing configuration, but by doing it from the entire R&D and manufacturing system. Whether it is a pure electric, plug-in hybrid or extended-range vehicle, the bulk of the cost is on the power battery. As we mentioned earlier, the Fengyun T9 is equipped with the CATL M3P lithium iron phosphate battery, or more accurately, the manganese iron phosphate lithium battery. It is precisely because of the addition of manganese-based metal elements that the energy density of the entire battery pack is almost equal to the higher-cost ternary lithium battery, and the performance is more stable than the traditional lithium iron phosphate. Therefore, just at the battery equipment level, at least a considerable expenditure budget can be saved.

Following the power battery and moving forward, we will come to the battery chassis integration technology. Some people may say that this is a technology that was indirectly born out of the optimization of the space inside the cabin of new energy vehicles, and it has little effect on cost control. In fact, this is not the case. It is precisely because the battery pack and the chassis are integrated that the design of the module and the upper shell of the battery pack can be cancelled, or the upper cover material can be directly replaced. For example, BYD changed the upper cover material of the battery of the seal from aluminum alloy to steel; in addition, more batteries can be installed in a limited space, which greatly reduces the use of parts, simplifies the body structure, and improves production efficiency. Tesla's integrated die-casting technology is a typical example. While reducing welding points, it also optimizes the strength of the body frame. Having mentioned this, let's expand on some technical points to talk about. Let's take the Fengyun T9 ultra-long endurance version as an example. The new car does not use an all-aluminum body (the steering knuckle is made of aluminum), but uses 85% ultra-strong steel + 21% hot-formed steel. The torsional stiffness of the body has reached 27000N·m/deg. What direct connection does this have with cost control?

This actually reflects the welding technology and platform advantages. There is no need to elaborate on the former. The focus is on the highly modular platform. To put it simply, the Mars architecture supports the high commonality of components. In the three major parts of the chassis, engine, and gearbox, the basic core components will not appear across models. The production line only needs to complete welding and assembly, and the white body can be manufactured. The increase in production speed, the corresponding reduction in energy consumption, efficiency improvement, and cost reduction, etc., will ultimately be reflected in the product end, which is a cost advantage. In other words, modular design can achieve continuous product improvement, decoupling of technology development, and shorter testing and verification time by developing modules at the same time, thereby reducing costs. Volkswagen's MQB, MEB, and Toyota's TNGA all follow the same logic. Finally, through the diversification of the platform and combined with economies of scale, the entire closed loop of cost reduction and efficiency improvement will be completed.