A heart-to-heart talk with a Roewe and Geely new energy ride-hailing driver

In the environment where the public opinion on new energy vehicles is prevalent, whose views can make the hesitant holdout move closer to the edge of exploration? People who drive a lot definitely have the right to speak. So, who drives a lot? The car owners? No, it’s the drivers of new energy ride-hailing cars! Let’s talk about it.

Initially, my intention was to talk to several new energy ride-hailing car drivers who drive pure electric vehicles to see what they think of the vehicles. However, Shanghai’s license plate policy is not as inclined towards pure electric vehicles as Beijing, so most ride-hailing car drivers who can choose their own vehicle models will choose a plug-in hybrid model. The car models I encountered mainly include: Roewe ei6, Roewe RX5 new energy, Roewe e550, and Geely Emgrand EV350 on Cao Cao ride-hailing platform. (I was not happy that I did not come across BAIC and “King of the Forrest” Ei5…)

Among them, the first three are plug-in hybrid models, and only the Geely Emgrand EV on Cao Cao ride-hailing platform is a pure electric vehicle. Therefore, let’s focus on the hybrid system of Roewe from the perspective of drivers, and see if Roewe’s hybrid system is purely for the sake of the hybrid system. Is there any progress between the old and new hybrid systems? Is it convenient to use pure electric vehicles for ride-hailing?

Geely Emgrand EV

Under the current technological and policy environment in Shanghai, almost all ride-hailing car drivers will prioritize hybrid cars without range anxiety. Therefore, some friends who fear electric cars can rest assured that you are really unlikely to encounter pure electric ride-hailing cars…

Unless you are like me and use Cao Cao ride-hailing to call for a car. Cao Cao ride-hailing’s pure electric vehicle model is the Geely Emgrand EV350, which has a battery capacity of 43.5 kWh and a comprehensive range of 300 kilometers. It should be noted that Cao Cao’s vehicles are all owned by the company and employ drivers, so Cao Cao’s background can see a lot of data, which will be reflected later in this article.

I called for the Geely Emgrand EV350 twice in total. One driver had an energy consumption of 14.4 kWh/100 km, and the other was 16.1 kWh/100 km. It is very good to achieve this level in the winter with the air conditioning on (the air conditioning wind speed is small, mainly for defrosting, and if it is not turned on, it is not feasible. If it is turned on at a high speed, the range will not exceed 180 km). I estimate that they have developed “cotton legs”.

Some drivers who run on other platforms’ chauffeured cars may need to drive 300-400 kilometers a day, while those running electric cars usually drive only about 200 kilometers a day. In summer, they can charge their cars once a day, while in winter, they need to charge them twice a day. Their charging locations are also quite random. When the cruising range is below 50km, they use Cao Cao’s app to find the cheapest charging pile nearby for charging, and they basically know where the cheapest charging piles are in the area.

Both drivers do not have the conditions for home charging and rely on external fast charging. Even the cheapest fast charging is hard to cost less than RMB 1 per kWh, so there is no advantage in cost compared to excellent hybrid cars. However, they always feel that pure electric cars will save them some money compared to hybrid cars.

I asked Master Wei, many people are very worried. What if my travel distance is very long, but the called car does not have enough power? We can’t go to charge the car together with the driver, can we? Master Wei told me not to worry. Cao Cao’s background can see their remaining cruising range. If the cruising range is insufficient, it will only dispatch you some short-distance orders that can be reached. If someone orders a car to a place 100 kilometers away, it will be dispatched to a driver with sufficient power.

Then I asked a question that everyone is more concerned about. Did they ever break down on the road?

To be honest, there was really one. He took a passenger to Hangzhou, and on the way back, the dashboard displayed that the remaining range was only more than 50 kilometers. However, he thought that the power was enough and did not charge it at the nearby charging pile. Then, the charging pile at the next stop happened to be broken! He could only continue driving with a stiff upper lip, but just 800 meters away from the charging pile, the car ran out of power and could not be pushed. He had to call a tow truck.

After this experience, he said that now, if he drives in the city and the cruising range displayed on the dashboard is below 50 kilometers, he must go to find a charging pile. If he goes on a long journey and the cruising range displayed on the dashboard is below 80 kilometers, he will definitely go to find a charging pile.

Finally, let’s talk about the real driving experience of one of the masters. He said that driving an electric car is really much more fun than driving a gasoline car. Driving a gasoline car during the Chinese New Year always feels like stepping on the gas pedal to no avail, and overtaking on the highway is too slow…

Roewe EI6

It must be said that Roewe, as a local brand in Shanghai, is really popular on the road. Whether you use Didi or get on the Roewe-provided Enjoy Travel, the probability of getting an EI6 is very high. The first car I called was an EI6.

As there was no photo of the actual car, I had to find a picture on the official website for reference. This is what the ei6 looks like.

During the conversation with the driver, we won’t go into details. Let me just share the key information with you.

Before purchasing a car, Mr. Su considered the Corolla Hybrid and the WM EX5 (this is not an advertisement, I was also surprised when I heard it at the time).

The reason for considering the Corolla Hybrid was simple: first, the car is cheap, around 140-150 thousand yuan; second, it is very fuel-efficient, about 0.3 yuan per kilometer in the city. However, the disadvantages are also obvious: first, you need to spend an additional 100,000 yuan to get the license plate; second, the space for both the front and rear seats is relatively small.

Mr. Su’s impression of the WM EX5 is intelligent. He watched all the promotional videos of WM before buying a car, and was particularly impressed with the projection window on the driver’s side, but it was not available until August 2018. Mr. Su had no choice but to give up and chose the Roewe ei6.

I told Mr. Su that the Corolla also has a plug-in hybrid version that can be registered as a green license plate, which will be available in March at a price of more than 190,000 yuan. However, Mr. Su said it was too expensive and the Roewe ei6 only costs more than 170,000 yuan.

So far, Mr. Su is very satisfied with this car. It accelerates quickly and has a relatively large space. He charges the battery pack with a home charger every day. The battery pack capacity is not large, only 8 kWh, and it takes 3 hours to fully charge with slow charging. The pure electric cruising range is 53 kilometers.

With a full battery, Mr. Su drives more than 300 kilometers a day, and the cost is about 0.3 yuan per kilometer. Note that this is the fuel consumption in hybrid mode, which can be said to be comparable to the results of Toyota’s hybrid technology! Previously, he spent about 0.5 yuan per kilometer on his fuel car. Let’s do the math. If he drives 10,000 kilometers a month, he can save 2,000 yuan in fuel costs.

In addition to being cost-effective, Mr. Su is also very satisfied with the 10.4-inch central control screen. Based on the AliOS-powered Banma Zhixiang system, the map is very smooth to use, and there are many details displayed. When some passengers were unable to locate certain places accurately, it was very convenient to find them through this large screen. I also tried it and it was indeed smoother than the WM.

The above is the evaluation of a Roewe ei6 ride-hailing driver. It is obvious that he has a very good impression of this car, and its high market share also shows that many people recognize the ei6.

Roewe RX5 Energy-Saving New Energy ModelThe Roewe RX5 is also popular with car owners, and when Mr. Zhang bought this car, he didn’t hesitate much, compared to the BYD Tang, which was only available in the old version at that time and had an unappealing appearance and unsatisfactory interior, so he gave up. Finally, considering the possibility of driving with his family in the future, he chose the RX5 over the EI6 and paid around 240,000 yuan.

Mr. Zhang has driven more than 40,000 kilometers so far, with an average fuel consumption of only 4.4 L/100km, which is about 0.3 yuan per kilometer. Even under heavy load, the fuel consumption is only 6 L/100 km, so he is very satisfied with the fuel consumption. He also thinks that the acceleration is very fast and the driving experience is very enjoyable.

It seems that current Roewe new energy car owners are very satisfied with their cars, but…

5 years ago, Roewe owners didn’t seem to think so…

Roewe E550

The Roewe EI6 is a high-encounter car, and the Roewe E550 has the highest encounter rate. Recently, 80% of the Didi calls I made were for E550. In order to diversify my “talk show journey”, before each call, I would sincerely pray not to call the E550. But if I unfortunately get an E550, I will cancel the order for the first time with my 20 years’ of experience in being single. Here, I would like to apologize to many E550 drivers, sorry…

When I first got the E550, I thought it was a gasoline car. Because the vehicle information displayed was: Roewe 550, and the license plate was also a normal 5-digit license plate, so I cancelled the order without hesitation. But after several consecutive calls to the E550, I didn’t have the heart to cancel anymore, so I decided to sit in…

After getting on the car, I was surprised to find that the Charge was prominently displayed on the dashboard. After confirming with the driver, I realized that I had hit the jackpot and this was a plug-in hybrid model. However, because I bought it relatively early, there was no dedicated license plate for new energy vehicles in 2014, so it was impossible to distinguish whether it was a new energy vehicle from the license plate perspective.I had a conversation with two e550 owners, and they both shared similar opinions on this car. They believed that they bought the wrong car and regretted their decision. They were particularly disappointed with the car’s performance, and felt that they were tricked by the subsidy offered by the government. Both drivers reported fuel consumption rates of 7-8 RMB per kilometer, which is relatively high for a 1.5T engine.

One of the owners claimed that the 1.5 engine’s fuel consumption is even higher than his 2.7 Ruifeng at home, and that the idea of being fuel-efficient is a lie. He even suspected that they installed a 2.5 engine instead of a 1.5 in his car. However, he remained relatively calm while expressing his opinion.

On the other hand, the second owner was more talkative and eager to share his opinions on new energy cars with me. He spoke in Shanghai dialect, and I had to continue the conversation despite the language barrier. He was upset about the high fuel consumption and the fact that he had to spend a fortune maintaining the car, which had already driven over 270,000 kilometers. He could only take it to 4S stores for repairs because local stores were unable to fix it for him. He emphasized that buying a Volkswagen or Audi was a more practical choice, and that new energy vehicles were not worth the purchase.

He even recommended that I should not be deceived by subsidies and invest in a Volkswagen or Audi instead, as they are reliable and practical. As for BYD Qin, the only people who would buy them are those who like to speed. In conclusion, he advised me to buy a Volkswagen or Audi and enjoy safe and comfortable driving experience.

Lastly, I would like to compare the e550 and ei6 from a hybrid perspective and see what advancements Roewe has made in the past five years, which created such a significant difference in the owners’ opinions.

Regarding the older version of e550, I will not go into the details of its hybrid system. The crucial thing to note is there were three power sources: the engine, ISG motor, and TM motor. The ISG motor worked as both a starter and a power generator and is bound by the driving belt with the engine. The TM motor was responsible for driving the vehicle. The energy storage was a combination of a fuel tank and a 12 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. The system did not have a traditional gearbox.

The driving logic of the system has four modes:

Pure electric driving
Pure engine driving
MT motor and engine parallel drive
Engine drives the ISG motor, generates electricity to supply the battery, and then the battery powers the TM motor (series mode)

The battery charging logic also has four methods:

External power supply charging
Kinetic energy recovery charging
Idle charging### 4. When the engine is running, there is sufficient power to drive the ISG motor to generate electricity.

There is no problem with the structure of this system, but the work logic is highly demanding. Only when everyone is in the most efficient output range can the fuel-saving effect be achieved. Toyota spent a long time exploring before developing the highly fuel-efficient TSH system.

Furthermore, the series connection mode in the e550 driving logic and the idle charging in the charging logic are really unfriendly to fuel consumption.

At that time, I was puzzled if there was such an abstract working logic like idle charging. After asking the driver, I found out that it is true! The driver said that the idle speed of this car has never been lower than 1000 rpm, and it can reach up to 1700 rpm at its highest point…

The current hardware of ei6 is also similar to these few components, including one engine, two motors, and one battery pack. However, the fuel consumption control of ei6 is very good, which is probably due to three reasons:

The car is relatively new.
The technical level of hardware has improved a lot compared to 5 years ago.
Roewe has summarized a relatively fuel-efficient working logic after 5 years of experimentation.

Through the comparison of attitudes between new and old car owners, it must be said that the improvement of technology really requires accumulation of time, but in the early stage, we could only exchange experience with reputation.

Although the progress of the plan was not quite what I had imagined, I did not encounter many pure electric ride-hailing cars, but I still felt the development of plug-in hybrid new energy vehicles. The overall fuel consumption was reduced and the driving experience was improved. This is the charm of electrification.