■? BMW? How strong is the i4 concept car?
The conference was short, but the dry goods were full. The characteristics of the new car are summarized as follows:
1, using a brand-new family-style design language, new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles have the same style, such as the increasingly huge kidney grille;
2. Brand-new interior design, using conjoined screen for the first time, with the charm of old rivals;
3. Adopt the fifth generation eDrive electric drive technology, before BMW? IX3 and BMW after it? INext will adopt the same technology;
4. Front and rear double motors, with maximum power of 390kW, acceleration time of 0- 100km/h 4 seconds and maximum speed of 200 km/h, it is not excluded that there will be a high-performance version of three motors;
5. The battery capacity is 80kWh and the WLTP battery life is 600km. It is not ruled out that there will be a version with longer battery life in the future;
6. The battery pack weighs 550kg, so the energy density of the whole package is about145.5wh/kg; /kg。
7. The charging power can reach 150kW, and it can charge 80% of the power in 35 minutes, and the battery life can be increased by 100 km every 6 minutes.
BMW versus BMW? The I4 concept car is highly anticipated. Will the new car compete with BMW? INEXT teamed up against Tesla Model? 3 and model? 10. At the same time, BMW has not given up the fuel car, and BMW? I4 There are also 4 series of refueling trucks on the same platform; Even the upcoming BMW? IX3, BMW also generously admitted that it is a pure electric version of X3. At the just-concluded BMW 2020 financial report meeting, Qi Puce, chairman of BMW Group, said that BMW's next generation? The 7 Series will also launch a diesel version, a gasoline version, a plug-in hybrid version and a pure electric version.
Engine and motor, two-handed BMW, can your hands be hard?
The BMWi4 concept car tells us that everything is hard.
In order to achieve "both hands must be hard", BMW has paid a lot of real money. With a BMW? For example, I4, the new car will be produced in Munich factory, and the factory will also produce BMW on the * * * line? 4 series, for which BMW spent 2 billion euros to upgrade the factory. At the same time, BMW has invested more than 5 billion euros in research and development for five consecutive years because of its numerous models and rich technical routes. In order to remain competitive in the future, by 2025, BMW will continue to invest more than 30 billion euros in research and development.
In fact, through the experience of Volkswagen and GM in developing pure electric platforms, how much can we see that traditional car companies have? It is not easy in the field of pure electric. But money is very important, but who doesn't have money yet? So, how to balance the internal combustion engine and new energy sources with such stubbornness as BMW?
The secret lies in the fifth generation eDrive electric drive technology.
■ What is the fifth generation eDrive electric drive technology?
In March 2008, BMW passed a Project called "Project? I plan. Three years later, BMW officially released BMW? I3 concept car and BMW? I8 concept car. The electric drive technology carried by these two cars is called eDrive electric drive technology.
Time came to 202 1, I series ushered in the first decade, and eDrive electric drive technology also evolved to the fifth generation. Although this decade is similar to the "lost decade" for I series, it is a decade of continuous evolution for eDrive technology. From plug-in to pure electricity, from extended range to 48V, eDrive electric drive technology has been constantly given new content. The fifth generation eDrive electric drive technology has become a masterpiece of BMW and the cornerstone of BMW brand "the next century".
There are two key places here-battery and electric drive.
1, high/low power?
The first is the battery, because cars are more sensitive to height, so BMW? The battery height on the i4 concept car must be shorter. For your information, BMW? Is the battery size of i3 173mm/45mm? /125mm (battery height), which obviously can't satisfy BMW? The demand of i4. So at BMW? Based on i3, BMW? I4 further lengthens and lowers the battery height, BMW? IX3 is similar.
At present, BMW has not announced the specific size and specifications of the new battery.
However, we can get the answers we want from the videos widely circulated on the Internet. For example, the overall module arrangement has changed from vertical double row in the past to horizontal double row now; 20 batteries form a small module, and 2 small modules form a large module, so that one end plate can be used; Depending on the model, the battery pack can be composed of 6 or 8 large modules.
It says BMW? The battery capacity of i4 concept car is 80kWh, but the reduced battery height will obviously lose some capacity. What should I do? BMW's approach is to plug a set of batteries in the central channel to make up for the lost battery capacity. That's why we are in BMW. In the back row of the i4 concept car, you will still see a bulging bag.
BMW for BMW? I4. BMW? IX3, BMWiNEXT and other models are equipped with NCM8 1 1 square shell batteries, and the battery suppliers are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and Samsung SDI. It stands to reason that the energy density of the whole package of these two companies should not be as low as the current estimate of 145.5Wh/kg, and it is still unknown what special design BMW has. However, we can also roughly guess that for traditional car companies like BMW, battery safety and power consumption are their most concerned issues, and the demand for energy density is not as urgent as that of domestic manufacturers.
In BMW's official press release, "Its? Extreme? Slim? Architecture? And then what? Optimization? Energy? Density "to describe the battery pack under the fifth generation eDrive electric drive technology. From the technical point of view, CTP technology may be used, otherwise how to improve the volume energy density? However, from the results, it is really difficult to solve the limitations of the hybrid platform of oil and electricity.
Although the official rumor that BMW built its own battery factory has been refuted, it does not mean that BMW has given up control of the battery. In 20 19 years alone, BMW invested more than 1074 million euros in the procurement of batteries and related raw materials. Among them, it not only extended the cooperation time with Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. (extended to 203 1 year), but also increased the total order amount from 4 billion euros in 20 18 to 7.3 billion euros. At the same time, BMW also reached a long-term cooperation with Samsung SDI and signed a large order with a total amount of 2.9 billion euros.
Starting from 2020, BMW will go deep into lithium and cobalt mines in Australia and Morocco to purchase raw materials and supply battery materials for Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Samsung SDI. To this end, BMW also announced on 20 19 1 1 that it had reached a cooperation with Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Industry and signed an order with a total amount of 540 million euros.
It can be seen that although BMW does not produce batteries, it directly connects with the upstream mines of battery production, so the control of battery consistency is no less than its own production.
2. Highly integrated electric drive
Followed by electric drive, BMW takes a highly integrated three-in-one route of "motor, reducer and electronic control system". By integrating the electric drive system, it reduces power consumption and increases battery life, which is not much different from other car companies. Compared with the previous generation products, the highly integrated electric drive system is smaller, lighter and more suitable for different vehicles, and the power-to-weight ratio is improved by about 20%.
From some network videos, we can also see that due to its small size and excellent spatial adaptability, the motor can be placed on the P4 rear axle or front axle to form a four-wheel drive form. In addition, the advantage brought by modularization is that the size and power of the motor can change with the power demand of different models.
BMW among BMW? As mentioned in the press release of the i4 concept car, the new car will use non-rare earth motors. It should be noted here that the rare earth-free motor is not an asynchronous AC motor, but it still belongs to a synchronous motor in a large scope. However, there is not much public information about this motor at present, and it is impossible to determine how BMW bypassed its dependence on rare earths.
However, from a 20 12 motor patent application, we can see that in BMW? I3 and BMW? On the i8, BMW used a hybrid synchronous motor. This kind of motor combines the advantages of permanent magnet synchronous motor and reluctance motor, reduces the use of rare earth and makes permanent magnet synchronous motor produce self-magnetization effect. The superposition of additional excitation effect brought by self-magnetization effect and current excitation can make the motor work more reliably at high speed.
However, it should be emphasized that this patent eight years ago clearly stated that the motor "reduced" the use of rare earth, rather than "not using" rare earth. Obviously, this is different from the motor on the BMWi4 concept car. We also expect BMW to disclose more technical data of rare earth-free motors in the future.
■ How to get to BMW in the future?
1, save money.
Although BMW's financial performance in 20 19 was excellent, its total annual revenue exceeded10 billion euros for the first time. The annual sales volume also exceeded 2.53 million vehicles for the first time, with a gratifying increase. But we all know that the environment in 2020 will only be worse and the challenges will be more severe. Nicholas Peter, head of finance of BMW Group, lowered BMW's profit forecast to 2%-4% in 2020. From his report, we clearly heard the cry of "saving money for life".
To this end, starting from 202 1, 50% of BMW's traditional power models will no longer develop follow-up products, and the money saved will be concentrated on launching more power models. In addition, BMW will regularly evaluate and simplify the vehicle series. In terms of indirect procurement, materials and production costs, BMW Group will strengthen internal coordination and continuously improve efficiency.
2. Keep fuel vehicles and increase the proportion of new energy.
With Volkswagen and GM? Unlike electric vehicles, BMW will continue to retain traditional fuel vehicles. Zipser, chairman of BMW Group, said that sustainable travel solutions must win people's favor, not tell them what to do. Therefore, almost every product line of BMW provides at least one electrified product. They believe that consumers should have the right to choose and choose electric travel without making any other compromises. This concept is called "option" by BMW.
By 2023, BMW will launch at least 25 new energy vehicles, more than half of which are pure electric vehicles. According to Zipzer, the next generation BMW 7 Series will launch four different power forms: diesel, gasoline, plug-in hybrid and pure electric. The new car is expected to be officially launched in 2022.
No matter how much BMW respects consumers' "right to choose", new energy must be BMW's most important reliance in the next century. According to BMW's forecast, by 202 1, the demand for electric vehicles will double that of 20 19; Before 2025, the global new energy sales curve will show an obvious upward trend, with an average annual growth rate of more than 30%. In order to remain competitive, by 2025, BMW will continue to invest more than 30 billion euros in research and development.
3.PHEV is still the focus of this year.
BMWiX3, BMW? I4. BMW? INEXT is undoubtedly the model that BMW will push in the next few years, but at least not this year. According to LMC? Automotive predicts that the sales volume of PHEV models in Europe will surpass that of pure electric vehicles in 2020. It is estimated that the sales volume of PHEV models will reach 765,438+07,000 this year, accounting for 4% of the whole market. It is estimated that the sales of pure electric vehicles will reach 652,000 in 2020, accounting for about 3.6% of the market.
This pre-planning is basically in line with the current situation of BMW. According to statistics, in just 20 19 years, the sales volume of BMW 530Le in China reached 26,000, and the combined sales volume of all markets in the world reached 45,000. Besides, BMW? X 1？ Last year, the sales volume of PHEV in China was 4,585, while the sales volume of PHEV models of MINI in the global market was 654.38+200,000.
According to the previous BMW model planning, in addition to the existing X 1? In addition to PHEV and 530Le, 330e and X2 will be added this year. PHEV、X3？ Plug-in hybrid vehicles such as PHEV. Moreover, in order to encourage consumers to use more electricity and less oil and give full play to the advantages of PHEV models, BMW has made three preparations. One is to increase the battery capacity of PHEV models and increase the cruising range of pure electric vehicles, such as domestic X 1? PHEV increased the battery capacity to 24kWh, and the pure electric cruising range reached 1 10km, making it the plug-in hybrid vehicle with the highest pure electric cruising range in China.
Second-hand preparation is driving? Regional digital service. Users can automatically switch to pure electric mode when driving into a certain setting area. At present, 58 cities in Germany and parts of Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and other countries are set as areas where DriveZones can be activated automatically.
The third preparation is "BMW? Points ",this plan aims to encourage users to charge the PHEV model, and then record the pure electric mileage of the owner, and these points can be converted into free charging.
Through these measures, BMW hopes to encourage consumers to use pure electric vehicles more and reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, these measures can also promote the sales growth of new energy vehicles and help BMW and the European Union tighten carbon emission regulations.
■ National review
With the popularity of the BMWi4 concept car, we can help you sort out BMW's work priorities this year, existing technical reserves and future expectations. We are deeply impressed by the determination of Volkswagen's strong men to break their wrists, and we also respect BMW's insistence on old users. Then the problem is coming. Suppose BMW is the soul model of BMW in the future? The 3 Series also launched a pure electric version. Will you support it with real money?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.