Volkswagen's attempt to build a modular platform began in the 1980s, and it upgraded from PQ system platform technology to modular platforms such as MQB and MLB. Different from traditional platform technology, modular platform can effectively improve the speed of automobile manufacturing. At the same time, the excellent scalability of the platform can meet the R&D and production of products of different levels, types and brands, and the cost is further reduced. It is understood that from 20 12 to 20 19, the models produced on the MQB platform increased from 1 to1. This speed of 1 year has brought a lot of dividends to the fuel vehicle market of SAIC Volkswagen.
In 2009, in order to further save energy and reduce emissions, the state intensively launched a series of new energy vehicle support policies, and the new energy vehicle market quietly emerged. In order to get the "cake" early, both traditional car companies and emerging companies have entered the new energy vehicle market. The scene at this moment is like the bonus period of domestic fuel vehicles. As long as you enter, you can get a share. However, under such temptation, many people found that SAIC Volkswagen did not enter the game? Will SAIC Volkswagen with a keen sense of smell find such a good opportunity? At that time, many people were in an uproar.
Don't SAIC Volkswagen want to seize the opportunity? In fact, in the eyes of SAIC Volkswagen, big opportunities are also facing big challenges. Battery safety problems of new energy vehicles occur frequently. How to improve the quality while ensuring the safety of users' car use? This is a more important issue than competition between markets. If this problem is not solved at all, even if you can get a bonus in a short time, you will hit a wall in the future development. Moreover, SAIC Volkswagen is different from BYD, Tesla and other companies. It has its own patents on battery technology and needs a powerful "killer" to gain greater competitiveness. At this time, the concept of "modularization" has once again become the highlight of SAIC Volkswagen's development of new energy vehicles.
There is an old saying that "there is specialization in the industry." Volkswagen Group, which has conquered the modular platform of fuel vehicles, is more handy in the establishment of a new energy modular platform. 20 15 created a brand-new modular platform for new energy, named MEB platform. It is reported that MEB platform adopts the design concept specifically for electrified power system, and everything revolves around the battery. At the same time, the internal combustion engine and oil circuit are abandoned, which brings a more spacious and flexible new spatial layout, and can also copy the advantages and market foundation of traditional automobile research and development. On the one hand, by adopting the flat battery module layout, the wheelbase of the vehicle is longer, the front and rear suspension dimensions are shorter, the wheelbase is greatly improved compared with the traditional fuel vehicle at the same level, and the internal space is more spacious. At the same time, the flat design makes the original central platform disappear, and the middle passengers in the back row can enjoy more comfortable leg space. On the other hand, the battery pack is completely embedded in the bottom of the vehicle, which significantly reduces the center of gravity of the vehicle and realizes the front and rear weight distribution close to 50:50.
This platform, which breaks through the internal space limitation of traditional fuel vehicles and puts battery safety in the first place, has really opened the road to the development of Volkswagen's global new energy market, and also opened the door to the development of SAIC Volkswagen's domestic new energy vehicles.
Good tools can often achieve twice the result with half the effort. Isn't it true that SAIC Volkswagen uses new energy to build cars? With the support of MEB pure electric modular platform, in 2020, Volkswagen launched the new energy production model ID.4 overseas. As the first model of ID. Family and new car also shoulder the historical mission of opening a new era of mass electrification. Since then, SAIC Volkswagen has established its own MEB factory in China, and launched a brand-new pure electric SUV model ID.4 X, which sounded the assembly number for entering the domestic new energy market.
For SAIC Volkswagen, ID.4 X is subversive. The first is the naming method. This simple combination of letters and numbers closely conforms to the theme of "reduction" of new energy vehicles, and also deviates from the naming method of SAIC Volkswagen's traditional cars, which has unique significance. Secondly, the ID.4 X is different from the traditional "oil to electricity" mode, and it is a real 100% pure electric vehicle, which has an epoch-making significance.
The most important point is that ID.4 X subverts the main direction of traditional new energy vehicles with "mileage" as the core and puts battery safety in the first place. Thanks to the advantages of combining the superior resources of SAIC- Volkswagen MEB platform with localization, the battery pack design of ID.4 X model is like putting Lego together, leaving a place to put the battery pack in the middle of the chassis. The outer frame is made of aluminum alloy, and the bottom is made of high-strength aluminum stamping nail. The interior adopts high-voltage horizontal connection design, which can be said that the battery pack is divided and then wrapped in "armor". In the upper part of the battery pack, in addition to the intelligent control chip, the circuit board is also equipped with a 2 millisecond high-voltage cut-off mechanism, which can cut off the power supply at the first time in an emergency. The upper cover covered by the battery pack is covered by the triple sealed shell of SAIC Volkswagen, and the triple protective breathing valve is used to protect the safety of passengers in the cockpit. For such a design, SAIC Volkswagen calls it 360 all-round protective armor.
The battery itself, the battery pack of SAIC Volkswagen ID.4 X is provided by Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., which is a supplier of new energy vehicles such as Tesla and the top battery supplier in the world. In order to make the battery withstand various environmental pressures under extreme conditions, it passed 338 battery safety tests such as temperature shock, chemical corrosion and extreme collision, exceeding 285 national standards (only 53 national standards). In the process of packaging the battery pack, SAIC Volkswagen also adopted new technologies such as aluminum Mig welding, RIVTAC riveting and micro MIG welding to strengthen the strength of the battery pack.
In battery safety technology, we often hear about battery centering technology and intelligent battery cooling system. No technology can really guarantee the safety of 100% battery, only take multiple measures to strengthen the safety protection level. However, "it is easy to get started, but difficult to produce fine products." In order to improve the safety probability, car companies have worked hard on the details. Based on MEB platform, SAIC Volkswagen has guaranteed the installation location, packaging technology, circuit control and other aspects, and is committed to solving the problems caused by the battery safety contradiction of new energy vehicles. This is enough to show SAIC Volkswagen's determination to subvert safety protection when building new energy vehicles. In this regard, when 20021China publicized the importance of safe driving in major cities, its main purpose was to improve users' safety awareness, and SAIC Volkswagen set an example to do this.
At the level of other products, ID.4 X adopts a brand-new design language. The air intake grille of the traditional fuel vehicle no longer occupies the extra area of the front, and the simplified single transverse grille is closed to connect the lights on both sides, which not only broadens the visual effect of the whole front, but also is no longer bulky. The horizontal bar and the "VW" logo are newly added with light strips, and the visual effect is more prominent because the headlights will be turned on together. At the same time, the lower air intake grille has become thicker than before, mainly to highlight the identity of its SUV and increase the sports effect.
The side of the car body retains the unique high waistline design of SAIC Volkswagen. However, in order to add fashion elements, ID.4 X uses contrasting colors up and down, and the roof is black. This different superposition of multi-level colors has broken the traditional style of Volkswagen fuel vehicles, especially the through taillights. Like the front of the car, logo also has lights to show the brand sentiment. In terms of body size, the length, width and height of ID.4 X are 4612/1852/1640 mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2765 mm Although it is a compact body, its wheelbase exceeds that of previous fuel vehicles, which is due to the unique space optimization ability of MEB architecture.
Inside the vehicle, ID.4 X will further expand the subversive effect. This completely different interior style from SAIC Volkswagen in the past is particularly impressive. Simple horizontal lines are used to construct the whole central control model in the car, and the suspended central control LCD screen becomes particularly eye-catching, while the 5.3-inch full LCD instrument panel on one side is no longer embedded in the central control, adopting the same suspended design as the central control panel. There are colorful atmosphere lights in the car, and the center console after removing the gear handle is more concise and has a strong sense of the future. Button layout, semi-touch buttons replace the previous physical buttons, and the operation between fingers may feel the technological sense of id.4x In addition, the vehicle will be equipped with AR-HUD enhanced head-up display function to comprehensively enhance the technological sense of the vehicle. As for the shift button of the vehicle, where is it? ID.4 X is selected on the right side of the dashboard, which is more convenient based on the operating habits of Chinese people.
In the configuration section, ID.4 X will be equipped with IQ. The drive system built by SAIC Volkswagen, as well as the brand-new vehicle-mounted auxiliary system, comfort system, infotainment system, control and display system are all passed down in this system. At the same time, in terms of active driving safety, high-order ADAS driving assistance functions reaching L2+ level, such as ACC full-speed adaptive driving and lane departure warning, will appear on the ID.4 X car.
However, the ID.4 X of SAIC Volkswagen is only the beginning of new energy, and then in June of 20021,17, the intelligent pure electric SUV with ID.6 X went on the market, positioning the second-child family, 7-seat large space layout and longer cruising range calibration, which further expanded the competitiveness of SAIC Volkswagen in the main market segments of new energy vehicles. According to Volkswagen's future strategic plan, SAIC Volkswagen will also launch a number of new energy vehicles based on MEB platform and the lineup of ID. The family will become stronger.
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, SAIC Volkswagen entered the new energy market late, and its competitive advantage is not great, but SAIC Volkswagen is not a "showboat", but more like a "terminator" and a "pioneer" in a sense. "End" is the era of Volkswagen's previous single fuel vehicle strategy, and "Pioneer" is the future development path of brand new energy. Moreover, in SAIC Volkswagen's view, competition will only increase market internal friction. In this era of energy innovation, leading the progress of new energy market is the key.
SAIC Volkswagen has always emphasized how to fully integrate into the local market in China. With the arrival of MEB modular platform, many domestic models have developed better. With the further expansion of SAIC- Volkswagen in the field of new energy, SAIC- Volkswagen's situation of "letting a hundred flowers blossom" in the fuel vehicle market may reappear in the new energy market.
Write at the end:
New energy vehicles will be an important development field of the domestic automobile market in the future, and also a core competition place valued by many automobile enterprises. SAIC Volkswagen entered the market with MEB modular platform, instead of seizing the market as a competitor. Instead, we thought about how to optimize battery safety and lead the new energy vehicle market to develop upwards. This is the beginning of healthy competition in the market and the sense of responsibility of SAIC Volkswagen as a traditional leading automobile enterprise.
Perhaps SAIC Volkswagen entered the market late, but the MEB platform technology and products it brought were not "late". The excellent quality and safety performance of ID.4 X show the confidence of the brand in making a good car. Perhaps in the near future, we can see the accumulation of SAIC Volkswagen in the new energy market and write the legend of a new chapter in the enterprise.