*Author: Michelin
At the beginning of 2014, when GeekCar was founded, we always adhered to the position and mission of “the new media of next-generation car technology, loving everything fresh that changes the car life”. For seven years, we have followed the footsteps of automotive technology progress to explore innovative technologies and forward-looking products that can represent the next generation of smart cars, hoping that cars will become warmer from cold steel machines. Just last month, we came across a fan message on our platform:
Did our 7-year secret PPT project of making cars leak in advance? So, we searched our social media and the internet news and found out that Geely has launched a new electric brand – Geometry (please forgive us for the many emotions inside…).
This car, which has the same name as ours, has aroused our great curiosity. With the “GeekCar” halo, can it become the next explosive electric car and even start a new wave of smart car revolution? At the Geometry press conference a few days ago, we tried to find such an answer.
Geometry may help Geely win the new energy revolution
Although we haven’t had a driving experience of the just-launched Geometry 001, we don’t know whether it is a smart car that our GeekCar eagerly anticipates, but it must carry Geely’s expectations. From Geometry, LYNK & CO to this time’s Geometry, Geely has established a huge “electric vehicle matrix”. However, its performance in the electric vehicle field has been relatively weak; new energy vehicle sales account for less than 6% of Geely’s total sales. Therefore, this all-out Geometry attack is a key to creating blockbuster cars with strong product power and thoroughly reshaping brand positioning.
In fact, according to insiders, when Geometry 001 was designed, it benchmarked Tesla’s Model 3, the first explosive new energy car in the field, and even established a benchmarking report of more than 100 pages. After all, in the range of 250,000 to 300,000 RMB, who can ignore such a strong competitor as the Model 3?
Although from a price perspective, Geometry 001 and Model 3 are in the same price range, from the size and positioning of the car model, they cannot be strictly called benchmarking competitors. So is this benchmarking successful? It still depends on the product power.
By comparison, the body size of Jidu Auto’s Jidu 001 is larger than that of the Model 3, and the wheelbase is longer. The 50:50 body ratio combined with the hunting-style vehicle type creates a super-large luggage compartment space. This hits the needs and pain points of domestic users, as the high sales of SUV models in recent years have shown that people have an urgent need for interior space in their cars.
In terms of power, when compared with the Model 3 Performance edition, which has a battery capacity and acceleration performance similar to that of the Jidu 001 Long Endurance Single Motor edition, the Model 3’s range is slightly longer, but the Jidu 001 has a higher output power. Each has its own strengths, but the Jidu 001 Long Endurance Single Motor edition has a significant price advantage. If you choose an ultra-long endurance dual-motor version that costs about the same as the Model 3 Performance version, you can not only get almost the same range and acceleration capacity, but also a larger 100 kWh battery capacity.
However, I am more curious as to why Jidu 001 did not release a single-motor version with an 85 kWh battery capacity this time. After all, based on the current prices of single-motor versions, if the 100 kWh battery is replaced with an 85 kWh one, the price could compete head-on with the Model 3 Standard Endurance edition.
Although from a performance point of view, Tesla and Jidu have their own strengths. For example, in terms of autonomous driving, based on feedback from the latest FSD Beta 9.0 version just released by Tesla, they have certain advantages. However, Musk’s proposal of a full camera pure visual mode has also caused a lot of controversy. Jidu’s city autonomous driving will not be launched until 2022, and there is currently no way to provide detailed testing experience, but we can speculate from the hardware and software configurations: the Jidu 001 is equipped with two 7nm Mobileye EyeQ5H system chips, combined with a high-definition camera, millimeter-wave radar, and ultrasonic radar to form an eagle-eye visual fusion perception system.
Before the BMW iX, it was announced that EyeQ5H system chips would be used to create autonomous driving systems, which is the first time this chip has been used in China. In addition to the Eagle Eye vision fusion perception system, Extreme Vision has also developed a cross-vision fusion algorithm platform named “Bone Recognition”. Although the principles may differ, it sounds similar to X-rays used in hospitals, actually identifying posture by locating human feature points, and can be considered an added version of body language recognition. For example, at intersections, when pedestrians raise their hands, bone recognition can determine whether the pedestrian intends to cross the road or is simply answering a call by analyzing the height and position of the raised hand.
The powerful computing ability of EyeQ5H has already been demonstrated in the previously released full-vision system, but this time it has broken Mobileye’s traditional “black box” model and provided a programmable and open-source version. This openness of the chip undoubtedly provides more space for software customization by car companies, but also tests their software abilities.
Previously, Great Wall Motor partnered with internet giants such as Baidu and Tencent in terms of digitalization and intelligent cabin aspects to make up for their shortcomings in software, and this time it is expected to be reflected in their “progeny” – Extreme Vision.
In addition to the much larger interior space and battery capacity, the standard digital chassis and optional air suspension system of Extreme Vision can expand the height-adjustable range to 117-200 mm. This can also attract many users who have higher demand for driving comfort experience.
For example, someone in my circle who had placed an order for a Mustang Mach-E the previous night had begun to regret it after seeing the release of the Extreme Vision 001.
Will the efforts of independent brands affect the new electric vehicle pattern?If traditional fuel car brands have built their brand recognition and technological capabilities through decades of accumulation, then the “young” new energy vehicle industry is currently experiencing a time of “multi-party contention”, with almost no one having absolute technological advantage or brand domination. In the context of the new automakers, independent brands and traditional fuel car brands all competing, relying solely on a temporary advantage built from assembling hardware through the supply chain and competing on specifications, will soon be caught up by newcomers. So what is the advantage of new energy vehicle brands? What makes consumers willing to pay for them?
For brands like Tesla, forward-looking technology and innovation have won them the recognition of many users. For new automakers, their earlier start, inherent genes of electrification and intelligence, and user mindsets that are closer to consumers have helped them make breakthroughs in the blue ocean of electric vehicles.
Facing Chinese consumers, who have the highest acceptance of electric intelligent vehicles in the world, domestic brands have an advantage over foreign brands that are still adapting to local conditions. Thus, the “accumulation” of traditional brands on fuel cars, and designing electric cars with fuel car concepts, have instead held them back from transitioning to intelligent electrification.
The establishment of the Geely Jikr brand is intended to create a brand with electrification and intelligence genes from scratch. Therefore, at the launch event, we saw that a user who was deeply involved in the design of Jikr was invited to announce the price of the Jikr 001; in the product introduction section, the brand used the common term “curator” used by trendy brands; and even announced that it would offer 4.9% equity to support user co-creation, encouraging users to participate in Jikr’s development…
For years, Geely has been acquiring and partnering to make up for its lack of technical strength. Today, we see that Geely’s European chassis tuning and Lynk & Co’s engines, which are the same as Volvo’s, are all benefiting from this approach. Now, Jikr has chosen to move towards users and improve product user experience by directly talking to users, designing electric cars that users are willing to pay for.
When a brand combines the advantages of “new forces” and traditional independent brands, it is hard not to have greater expectations of it.
Finally
Recently, several independent brands have all aimed at improving user experience, which shows that they all value core soft power in addition to hard-core technology, and that the auto industry is advancing towards the “2.0” era. In this “car 2.0 era”, more user demands will be met, more scenarios will be redefined by intelligent technology, and electric vehicle brand advantages will be re-established on this foundation.
The wind is blowing, so let’s change up the landscape for electric cars.
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.