When winter comes, the hottest topic in the electric vehicle field is the winter high-speed endurance. This time I had the opportunity to drive the Ideal ONE 1200 km from Suzhou to Beijing, and finally I could test its winter high-speed energy consumption! If you want to know about the performance of the Ideal ONE in winter a year ago, you can check out the test article I published at this time last year. [Ideal ONE winter energy consumption test, telling you the real Ideal.] [Introducing a new “fuel car” to you, Ideal ONE]
Next, you will get answers to the following questions from this article.
-
How does the Ideal ONE high-speed energy consumption perform in 0 degree environment?
-
Which mode, fuel priority or hybrid, is more fuel-efficient on high-speed roads?
-
How does the Ideal ONE’s battery recharge logic work on the highway?
-
Is the 1.2T engine enough to handle a large vehicle?
-
Analysis of the annual energy consumption of the Ideal ONE for 10,000 kilometers of usage.
-
How to choose between an extended-range electric vehicle and a pure electric vehicle?
Ideal ONE Winter High-Speed Energy Consumption Test
Test Environment
Test route: Suzhou to Xuzhou, Xuzhou to Jinan, Jinan to Beijing
Total high-speed test mileage: 1160 kilometers
Test temperature: -4 to 4 degrees Celsius
In-car air conditioning temperature: 22 degrees Celsius
Vehicle load: 800 pounds (three fat adult men weighing a total of 600 pounds, luggage load of 200 pounds, a full-load scenario, when stepping on the accelerator pedal in the city, the sense of pushing back decreases visibly)
Mileage 1: Suzhou to Xuzhou 421 KM
Mode: hybrid (starting the range extender at 80% remaining battery)
Temperature: 0 to 4 degrees Celsius
Range of battery fluctuation: 78% to 80%
Time consumed: 4 hours and 29 minutes
Average speed: 94 km/h (running at an average of 110 to 120 km/h throughout the trip, but the road was under construction in some sections, and experienced drivers understand that it’s already not slow to reach an average speed of 94 km/h on the highway.)
Fuel added: 39.4 liters
Actual fuel consumption: 9.35 liters/100 km
Displayed fuel consumption: 9 liters/100 kmKey Experience:
In the hybrid mode, maintaining 80% of the battery while running at high speeds is not an issue, but the hybrid mode is not designed for high-speed driving. Instead, it is intended for urban driving.
Characteristics of Hybrid Mode:
In urban driving, the battery level can slowly drop to 17%. When the vehicle is moving slowly, the range extender is turned off, and it activates when the speed exceeds 40 km/h to ensure a good driving experience. Vehicle owners who don’t have a home charger but have easy access to public charging can use the hybrid mode to extend the period between charges. The vibration and noise from the range extender are smaller than those from the gasoline mode in the city, and the two modes have the same feel on the highway.
Journey 2: Xuzhou to Jinan, 300 km
Mode: Gasoline priority (range extender starts at 70% charge)
Temperature: 0 to 4 degrees Celsius
Battery fluctuation range: 68% to 70%
Duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes
Average speed: 106 km/h (the owner’s friend drove the entire journey at 120 km/h, quite fast and exciting)
Fuel consumption: 9.82 L/100 km
Display fuel consumption: 9.4 L/100 km
Fuel added: 29.58 L
Key Experience:
In gasoline priority mode, maintaining 70% of the battery while driving at high speeds is achievable. For the hybrid mode fuel consumption, a 12 km/h increase in average speed only results in a fuel consumption increase of less than half a tank. Under similar speed and environmental conditions, the fuel consumption of the two modes is almost the same. However, it is recommended to use the gasoline priority mode on the highway because if traffic jams or some extreme situations occur, the gasoline mode can better preserve the battery and make driving more worry-free.
Characteristics of Gasoline Priority Mode:
For daily driving, the battery level is maintained between 60% and 70% to make driving less taxing for car owners without charging facilities. However, in this version of gasoline priority mode, the power was reduced to ensure the driving experience in summer and autumn. In urban driving in winter, the battery may not be preserved, but a strong power switch for battery preservation mode will be released soon, making winter driving stress-free.
Journey 3: Jinan to Beijing, 439 km (including regenerative braking distance)
Mode: Fuel Priority / Hybrid
Temperature: -4℃ to 0℃
Electricity fluctuation range: 42% to 68% (both modes have obvious recharging)
Time consumption: 4 hours 12 minutes
Average speed: 100 km/h (resuming range at 110 km/h when conditions permit)
Fuel tank capacity: 43.49 liters
Actual fuel consumption: 9.9 liters/100 km
Displayed fuel consumption: 9.5 liters/100 km
Key Insights:
1. Logic of Recharging Electricity
The purpose of the third paragraph of the test is mainly to answer whether ideal high-speed driving can recharge the battery for many car owners. Therefore, after going on the highway, the pure electric mode was first used to consume the battery power to 42% remaining (WLTC remaining range of 63 km), and then the fuel priority mode was turned on to begin the test.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that under the automatic cruise control at 110 km/h, every 100 km can increase the electricity by about 8% to 10%, but it is difficult to recharge when driving by oneself. In fuel priority mode, the electricity can be recharged to the extender starting point of up to 70%, and in hybrid mode, it can be recharged to the extender starting point of up to 80%. When the electricity is higher than the starting point, there will be no logic of reverse charging.
Therefore, I want to ask from my soul: Can a 1.2T engine, as the energy source of the whole vehicle electric drive, drive an SUV over 5 meters long and nearly 3 tons fully loaded at high speeds, and also recharge the battery in reverse, with a high-speed fuel consumption of 9.5 liters/100 km? Is this little horse “pulling” a big car?## 2. Which factor, temperature or speed, has a greater impact on energy consumption?
My testing conclusion is that while driving at high speeds, speed has a larger impact, while in city driving, temperature has a greater effect. The Ideal ONE has an engine to manage the temperature of the car and sudden temperature drops don’t affect mileage that much in highway conditions. This is a major difference between plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles as they have a heat source. However, in city driving, plug-in hybrids don’t have enough time to heat the battery before reaching the destination, and in these conditions, there isn’t much difference between them and pure electric vehicles.
Now, talking about speed, it seriously impacts energy consumption in electric vehicles. The difference between driving at 100 km/hr and 120 km/hr can be huge. I checked the recent high-speed range tests done by major media on electric vehicles where the average speed was about 80 km/hr and found out that the range of pure electric vehicles was about 6 to 7 tenths of the maximum range. If the average speed is increased to above 100 km/hr, the discount rate may increase.
3. The difference between displayed and actual fuel consumption is getting smaller
In my previous energy consumption tests of the Ideal ONE, the difference between displayed and actual fuel consumption was around 0.5 to 0.7. After a 1200 km long-distance test this time, I found that the error has been reduced to around 0.4. Perhaps it is because the calculation of fuel consumption is more complex in plug-in hybrids, but I can feel that the engineers are working to reduce this error as quickly as possible.
PS: An additional piece of information that I found during this test is that when the fuel gauge displays ‘–,’ the car can still run for another 20 km, but I don’t recommend using it up. When the remaining fuel is indicated as 50 km, it is time to plan to refuel.
Review by Mercedes-Benz owner:
I touched the Ideal ONE for the first time, and what most attracted me were the four large screens. It has a strong sense of technology, beautiful UI interface, rich features, and excellent configuration. In terms of the sensation of high-speed driving, it’s not bad, and the overall noise and vibration levels are on par with my own S-Class Mercedes, but when driving uphill at high speeds, the noise is quite noticeable, but considering its price, it is still acceptable.
Review by Subaru Forester owner:
Since it is a domestically produced car, it must have such product power; otherwise, how can it compete with those old brands? The space layout is good, the six seats are a highlight, it can accommodate and haul, which is very suitable for family use, and although it does not exceed expectations, it meets the standard for this price. I am looking forward to its long-term durability performance.
Ideal ONE Annual Energy Consumption AnalysisFrom January 2020 when I picked up the car until now, I have driven just over 10,000 kilometers in a full year and conducted four major evaluations. Therefore, my understanding of the Ideal ONE and extended-range electric vehicles is greater than most car owners.
In 2020, the cumulative distance traveled was 10,140 kilometers, of which 3,223 kilometers were driven using fuel, resulting in a fuel consumption of 8.3 liters per 100 kilometers. The electric mileage reached 6,917 kilometers, with a driving electric energy consumption of 20.4 kWh per 100 kilometers, resulting in a fuel-to-electricity mileage ratio of 3:7. The electricity cost was 700 yuan, fuel cost was 1600 yuan, and the total cost for the year was about 2300 yuan, with a cost of 0.2 yuan per kilometer.
Looking at the annual energy consumption bar graph, green indicates electricity consumption, and blue indicates fuel consumption. I found that only in September and October, when it was suitable to travel far, my fuel consumption was relatively high. For example, in August, I only used 1.6 liters of fuel in 31 days.
What does this mean? If a user can install a home charging station, the Ideal ONE can be used as a pure electric vehicle for urban commuting. Within the Ideal owner group, there are many individuals who do not refuel for half a year, and when they need to travel long distances, they only need to spend three minutes refueling at a gas station – it’s that simple.
What else does this show? A medium-sized SUV weighing 2.3 tons with a comprehensive energy consumption of 8.3 liters for long-term use is quite fuel-efficient. Based on my previous tests, the Ideal ONE saves 10% to 15% more fuel in urban areas than fuel vehicles in the same class, and performs similarly in high-speed scenarios.
Ideal ONE owners have already achieved the original product positioning: low electricity cost for city use and high fuel efficiency for long-distance use.
How to Choose Between Extended-Range Electric Vehicles and Pure Electric Vehicles?
Under current technology conditions, the only shortcoming of electric vehicles is energy supplementation efficiency. Whoever can better solve this pain point wins, so major manufacturers use extended-range, fast charging, and battery swapping methods to make up for the shortcomings of electric vehicles. When choosing an electric vehicle, you are choosing among various solutions offered by each company. In terms of efficiency, there is no doubt that the extended-range electric vehicle solution is the most efficient.
Therefore, extended-range electric vehicle technology is gradually being adopted by major automakers and new forces. Brands such as Geely Auto, BAIC Motor, Dongfeng Langtu Automobile, and Xiaoniu Electric Vehicle are all making efforts in this area. Nissan already has an extended-range electric vehicle, and even Honda IMMD is about to launch an “extended-range version”. Therefore, this is not a “superfluous” technological route, as the Ideal ONE has already proven through its sales volume over the year.
As a consumer, how should you choose? The first depends on your actual needs, and the second depends on whether you can accept the other party’s shortcomings. Shortcomings are the lower limit that can be tolerated. Taking the recently popular Tesla Model Y as an example, if you are single and have a geek spirit, pursuing the cutting-edge driving assistance technology, then Model Y is undoubtedly the right choice for you; if you have a family car demand, you occasionally need to take your children and parents out for a drive, and do not want to be restricted by charging conditions, then the 6-seater Liangxiang ONE is your best choice.
There is really no good or bad in terms of technical routes and problem-solving solutions, only whether they are suitable for you as a user. Listening to others say good and bad a hundred times is not as good as test driving it yourself. Then you will naturally understand who is doing things with their heart. Therefore, in this era of transportation revolution, it should be a time of vigorous competition and diversity, only in this way, can it be the best era for users.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.