Author: Dolly
In a blink of an eye, half of 2021 has already passed, and the annual college entrance examination is once again upon us. Everyone has gone through the student stage, and can the young students successfully pass this exam? The same goes for the auto industry – without going through the “student” stage, without experiencing the “big exams” time and time again, how can they achieve the “peak” moment of car making?
Since 2019, Evergrande’s subsidiary, Hengchi, has undergone multiple “big exams.” Currently, Evergrande Auto has released a total of nine models under the Hengchi brand, including Hengchi 1, Hengchi 2, Hengchi 3, Hengchi 4, Hengchi 5, Hengchi 6, Hengchi 7, Hengchi 8, and Hengchi 9, covering A, B, C, and D level positioning as well as sedans, SUVs, and MPVs.
On June 6th, Hengchi Auto, a subsidiary of Evergrande, announced the official start of summer testing at its Shanghai R&D center. This marks a solid step forward towards mass production at the end of this year and bulk delivery next year.
Summer testing begins, facing a “fire and ice” double challenge
Before mass production and delivery, Hengchi Auto is subjecting its models to the strictest testing standards to fulfill its commitment to being world-leading in technology and world-class in product quality. During this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, Hengchi Auto showcased its nine models to the public, dispelling doubts about “concept car manufacturing.”
“A march cannot be started without first taking care of provisions.” At Evergrande Auto’s Shanghai R&D base yesterday, Hengchi Auto officially launched summer testing. It will take five Hengchi models, including Hengchi 1, Hengchi 3, Hengchi 5, Hengchi 6, and Hengchi 7, to Turpan, Xinjiang for this summer test. Through testing and experimentation under extreme conditions, Hengchi will further verify the hard power of its five models.
It is well known that the average daytime temperature in Turpan in the summertime is over 40℃, with extreme surface temperatures reaching up to 80℃. In such extreme conditions, this will be the ultimate test of the reliability and durability of the Hengchi electric vehicle’s three-electric system, thermal management strategy, braking performance, battery performance, air conditioning system, as well as interior and exterior design components.
Environmental adaptability testing for cars is carried out to ensure that each model developed can maintain stable performance in complex environments. Therefore, it not only needs to withstand the test of summer “heat”, but also needs to endure winter “cold”, especially for new energy vehicle companies.
In fact, Hengchi has already carried out environmental adaptability testing before. As early as February of this year, Hengchi experienced a -35℃ extreme cold weather test in Yakeshi, Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, known as the “City of Ice and Snow”. For new energy vehicle models, low temperatures represent range depreciation. Only through winter standard tests can the vehicle’s reliability, comfort, stability and safety in extreme cold environments be fully tested.
From the performance of the 10 Hengchi vehicles that participated in the test, overall they exhibited extremely strong durability and reliable three-electric systems, which can be said to have lived up to the expectations of “car-making entrepreneur” Xu Jiayin’s presence at the scene, and provided a solid foundation for the upcoming mass production. In addition, Hengchi has already carried out a series of technical tests in Germany, Sweden, and Austria. Only by undergoing tests under such “real-life” extreme conditions can the strong reliability of Hengchi’s multiple models be truly reflected.
Strong independent intellectual property rights ensure world-class status for Hengchi
For new energy vehicle companies, only with strong technological support can they “break through” the current market, seize their own place, and get the attention and favor of consumers. In May of this year, Hengchi announced patent information to the public for the first time.
3012 pieces! That’s right, Evergrande has applied for a staggering 3012 patents in China and abroad, of which 1355 have already been granted. This represents a leading position in the industry, covering not only vehicle main structure patents such as electric chassis structure, suspension system, steering control, and brake control, but also components that are critical to new energy vehicles, such as battery cells, battery modules, and battery packs. This means that Evergrande has already established a global leading technology and complete patent layout for the entire industry chain, and mass production is just around the corner.
As a new force in car manufacturing, Evergrande Auto was established less than three years ago. How could it have such a huge number of technology patents? This cannot be mentioned without referring to Xu Jiayin, the “car-making model worker”. When Evergrande Auto was established, Xu Jiayin set three grand goals for Evergrande’s car-making business: firstly, to become the world’s largest and strongest automotive group in terms of scale; secondly, to achieve world-class core technology and independent ownership of intellectual property; thirdly, to ensure world-class product quality.
Behind the scenes, we can see Evergrande Auto’s continuous and high-intensity investment in scientific research. It has established a global research headquarters and 16 branch institutions, forming a high-level research and development team of more than 3,500 top scientists and researchers. It has already invested a total of RMB 47.4 billion (as of December 31 last year). With enormous human and financial resources, coupled with Xu Jiayin’s “going all out” attitude towards his work, Evergrande Auto is poised to become a world-class new energy vehicle company.
Behind the intelligent manufacturing is the standard of Industry 4.0. Evergrande Auto has established a wholly-owned intelligent technology company, which, together with the extreme environment testing of the vehicles and its strong independent intellectual property, is undoubtedly the most critical and core aspect of car manufacturing. Evergrande Auto’s Shanghai base is built according to the standard of Industry 4.0, with the construction of a high-end intelligent factory covering 526 acres, incorporating digitalization, intelligence, and ecology. In April of this year, Evergrande Auto’s Shanghai factory kicked off its production line at the Shanghai Auto Show. At the same time, the factory organized a large-scale event called “A Thousand Media Outlets Visit Evergrande Auto” to send a strong signal to the outside world that the production line will be fully operational for future mass production.The two major factories of Evergrande NEV in Shanghai and Guangzhou have started trial production, using the highly intelligent and connected Industry 4.0 standard to achieve communication and collaboration among all components, thus achieving high efficiency and precision in production. With the ambitious goal of an annual production and sales of over 1 million vehicles by 2025 and over 5 million vehicles by 2035, we believe that with the help of the two major factories, this goal is imminent.
It is worth mentioning that on May 31, Evergrande Hengchi Intelligent Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd was established. It is indirectly 100% owned by Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Investment Holding Limited. It is not difficult to see that Evergrande NEV will make another strong effort in automobile technology, network technology, intelligent technology, etc. In the future, Evergrande NEV will inevitably become one of the new forces of independent brand car makers.
From the Shanghai Auto Show in April, we can see that the appearance of nine Hengchi models shows Evergrande’s determination in car making. Coupled with its industry-leading number of patents, the Industry 4.0 standard factory construction and the establishment of an intelligent technology company, we can see the strength of Evergrande in car making. With the official start of summer testing, the delivery of Hengchi for mass production is imminent. In fact, capital is not scary, what’s scary is the emergence of car making newcomers like Evergrande with both financial strength and core technology in this “capital is king” era.
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.