On March 10, 2023, at Great Wall Motors’ Intelligent New Energy Conference, Great Wall released the latest technology-intelligent electric drive hybrid technology (Hi4). Officials said this is a set of Designed specifically for high-end driving needs in new energy scenarios. The new technology is a technology that can bring users "the experience of four-wheel drive, the price of two-wheel drive, the performance of four-wheel drive, and the energy consumption of two-wheel drive." Great Wall plans to use this brand-new technology for the first time in the new Haval new energy models that have been launched recently. This set of intelligent four-wheel drive technology will also be fully popularized in all new energy products in 2024.
Looking back at the two days before the press conference, Great Wall Motors released a production and sales report for February. In February, car sales reached 68,209 units, a year-on-year decrease of 3.65%. The cumulative sales in the first two months of this year were 129,728 units, a year-on-year decrease of 129,728 units. down 28.94%. Its brands Haval, WEY, Euler, etc. have all declined to varying degrees. Great Wall Motors, which has fallen behind in the new energy transformation, urgently needs to take measures to reverse the market decline and regain the confidence of consumers and investors. Success or failure depends on this.
What is Hi4?
Hi4 adopts the P2+P4 configuration. The biggest highlight is that it achieves four-wheel drive without increasing the number of motors, making the overall cost controllable. Achieving standard four-wheel drive + front and rear axle kinetic energy recovery makes it possible to popularize four-wheel drive technology. Compared with the previous generation of DHT technology, Hi4 intelligent four-wheel drive electric hybrid technology reduces comprehensive fuel consumption by 15% under all operating conditions, and achieves greater user value in terms of cost. To sum it up in one sentence: "You get the experience of a four-wheel drive at the price of a two-wheel drive, and you get the fuel consumption of a two-wheel drive with the performance of a four-wheel drive."
The configuration of Hi4 intelligent control electric drive electric hybrid technology includes a hybrid-specific engine, a hybrid-specific two-speed DHT transmission, a high-power and efficient electric rear axle and a low internal resistance power battery. Under this configuration mode, Great Wall Motors will launch two sets of powertrains, 1.5L+DHT+P4 and 1.5T+DHT+P4 in the future. The maximum system power of the powertrain can reach 340kW, and the engineering thermal efficiency reaches 41.5%. Fuel consumption can be reduced by 6%-7%.
At the same time, the two-speed DHT gearbox used is directly linked to the engine output. When the engine is in a high speed range, it can be transmitted to the front axle at a relatively low speed, and the rear drive motor is still driven by pure electricity. . Officials revealed that models equipped with Hi4 technology will cover a variety of models from A-class to C-class. Judging from the appearance of the product schematic displayed by Great Wall at this press conference, the first model equipped with Hi4 electric four-wheel drive system will be the upcoming one. The Lanshan DHT-PHEV, which was launched in April, made me full of expectations for the price of the new car and the actual driving experience.
In the era of smart electric drives, software upgrades are also worthy of attention. Based on intelligent energy management and intelligent torque vector control systems, Hi4 intelligent four-wheel drive electric hybrid technology can dynamically switch between "3 engines and 9 modes" according to the characteristics and needs of different operating conditions. Specifically, it can realize electric two-wheel drive mode, pure electric There are 9 modes: four-wheel drive, series mode, 1st gear direct drive, 2nd gear direct drive, parallel two-wheel drive, parallel four-wheel drive, single-axis energy recovery, and dual-axis energy recovery.
What benefits does Hi4 bring?
Specifically, according to the user's daily use scenarios, it can be mainly divided into 6 daily use conditions to express this set of Hi4 intelligent four-wheel drive The working mode with optimal overall efficiency of hybrid technology.
1. Driving on urban roads: Driving on urban roads often encounters traffic lights and traffic jams, and vehicles stop and go. At this time, when the battery power is sufficient, you can drive in 2-wheel drive mode to reduce fuel consumption.
When the battery is low, the vehicle can activate the series mode. On urban expressways, the system intelligently automatically switches to the 1st gear direct drive mode. This can avoid the engine's low-power operating space and directly switch to the optimal speed range to save energy and reduce consumption. Goal;
2. Urban rapid acceleration/climbing conditions: Compared with the north, this kind of working condition is more likely to occur in cities with mountainous roads and large terrain changes. This kind of working condition requires short-term mobilization. Power requirements, this is the pure electric four-wheel drive mode matched by the motor, which can maximize power as quickly as possible, and the first-speed direct drive can also provide more efficient power for the vehicle;
3. High-speed cruising conditions: Under high-speed conditions, the vehicle switches to the 2-speed direct-drive mode, and the engine is in the high-efficiency operating range. The 2-speed intelligent adjustment cooperates with the high-efficiency kinetic energy recovery mode to further reduce fuel consumption;
IV. High-speed acceleration/ Climbing conditions: parallel two-wheel drive and parallel four-wheel drive modes, while maximizing the power of the engine in the efficient operating area, the remaining power is provided by the motor;
5. Deceleration and braking conditions: Hi4 architecture comparison The advantage of the traditional dual-motor series-parallel architecture is the addition of a dual-motor dual-axis energy recovery mode, which results in a higher overall energy recovery efficiency.
6. Curved and non-paved roads: Hi4 architecture designs an iTVC intelligent torque vectoring control system, which can take advantage of the advantages of dual motors on the front and rear axles to control the torque of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. During the starting and acceleration stages, power can be evenly distributed to the front and rear axles, improving the adhesion of the four wheels. At the same time, in cornering and non-paved roads, the Hi4 architecture can improve wheel turning tracking and wheel passability through torque adjustment.
Focus on the main track of new energy competition
At this conference, Great Wall Motors did not mention the pricing range of new products. According to insiders of the manufacturer, the new models will be based on According to the "market" pricing principle, there will be some surprises in terms of price. At the same time, Great Wall executives have been mentioning that Great Wall Motors is China's leader in SUV manufacturing. So far, its products are mainly SUV products, and it has unparalleled system capabilities and technical advantages in the industry in SUV manufacturing.
It has always been mentioned that four-wheel drive is often the high-end or top-end model of a car. The price premium of a four-wheel drive vehicle is more than 8,000 to 10,000 yuan higher than that of a two-wheel drive vehicle. The high fuel consumption of SUVs deters many consumers. To this end, Great Wall Motors used its professional SUV manufacturing capabilities and four-wheel drive technology research to finally launch the new intelligent four-wheel drive electric hybrid technology Hi4. Next, Great Wall Motors is expected to become the first car brand in the world to announce the popularization of electric intelligent four-wheel drive. .
In early 2023, Geely Automobile launched the Galaxy Technology brand, and Chery launched the Mars Super Architecture. With the release of Great Wall Motor's Hi4 technology, the three giants of independent brands have begun to accelerate their transformation towards new energy. In fact, Great Wall Motor's internal senior management is very active in the transformation of new energy and intelligence. It began a comprehensive layout many years ago, and has many technical patents for hybrid, pure electric, hydrogen energy and other technical routes.
For example, the "Lemon Hybrid DHT" technology we are familiar with is actually released and promoted earlier than BYD's DMi super hybrid technology. However, in the past two years, it has been obsessed with category innovation and multi-brand management. The new energy transformation strategy was not focused enough, so that it did not achieve outstanding results in the market. In view of the important layout of BYD, Geely, Changan, Chery and many joint venture brands on the hybrid technology route, 2023 will be the year of explosion of plug-in hybrid products.
The reshuffle of traditional fuel vehicles is accelerating. Fierce competition and changes in the market structure have made the trial and error costs of large fuel vehicle sellers like Great Wall Motors continue to increase. From the anxiety of the leader Wei Jianjun, the expectations of investors, the pressure from dealer partners, and even the doubts in the public opinion field, everyone related to it is sweating for Great Wall Motors, and countless pairs of eyes are tight. Watch every move of the Great Wall.
Can Great Wall survive 2023? Perhaps with the implementation of Hi4 technology, we can get some clues, but the take-off of Great Wall Motors has just begun. Just as everyone expected, Great Wall Motors There is an urgent need to usher in a new hot model in the field of new energy vehicles.
Text/Bai Yong
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