Introduction: It is hoped that Great Wall Euler will intervene in the investigation as soon as possible, eliminate the common risk of spontaneous combustion, and give Euler pure electric new and old car owners a peace of mind. It is also a quality assurance for future Euler customers.
Recently, a notice on restricting Euler brand electric vehicle owners from charging at a certain charging station in a certain area has been spreading in several new energy vehicle groups. Although it is not explicitly prohibited for Euler owners to enter the charging station, it is clear that the charging station is not welcoming to the Euler brand electric cars.
Even more extreme, some charging stations in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province directly posted notices to suspend or prohibit all models of Great Wall Euler cars from entering the charging station, citing the recent incidents of Euler car self-ignition in Taiyuan.
According to sporadic online reports, this incident mainly occurred in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Since the summer, there have been several incidents of Euler iQ models self-igniting during the charging process, which has led to some charging stations prohibiting Euler models from charging or requiring Euler owners to stay with their vehicles during the charging process. In the event of self-ignition, Euler owners are responsible for all losses.
After this incident, Euler owners in Taiyuan have encountered different degrees of charging difficulties.
Reporters from “Electric Potential” & “Jin Gang New Energy” consulted other city netizens in the vehicle enthusiasts group across the country. They said that they have not seen any notices similar to the one in Taiyuan that bans or limits Euler owners from charging. A Guangzhou online car-hailing driver who frequents various third-party charging piles said that he has not seen similar notices in Guangzhou for the time being.
Similar to the situation of banning a certain brand of electric vehicle, it is not common in the past few years since the rise of new energy vehicles. There have also been incidents of pure electric bread trucks being banned from charging due to self-ignition during the charging process in the past two years.
The investigation results later revealed that pure electric bread trucks were mostly unknown shanzhai automobile brands, products produced many years ago for high subsidies, with vehicle parts cobbled together and questionable battery quality, resulting in easy spontaneous combustion during the charging process.
In this incident, the Euler iQ was used as a commercial vehicle in Taiyuan for the most part.# Introduction
Euler iQ is a new energy brand under Great Wall Motors, and also its first new energy model. On August 31, 2018, the first model of Euler ORA, iQ, was launched at the Chengdu Auto Show. The official guidance price that year was 188,800-204,800 yuan (the price range after the subsidy was 92,800-108,800 yuan).
According to the data from Autohome, sales data for this model have not been recorded since December 2020. Its highest sales were recorded in March 2019, with 3,029 units sold, and the lowest recorded only single-digit sales.
Battery and Safety Issues
The Euler iQ model uses a 46.7kWh three-element lithium battery supplied by Funeng Technology. Due to issues with Funeng batteries, BAIC conducted large-scale recalls earlier this year, raising concerns about the quality of Funeng batteries.
Regarding the recent incidents of Euler iQ spontaneous combustion in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, apart from external objective factors, such as the hot weather of summer, individual vehicle structures may have been damaged due to battery collisions, leading to spontaneous combustion. We cannot rule out the possibility of technical problems with the Euler iQD electrical control and battery.
Self-developed Battery Technologies
Various domestic car manufacturers have been developing their own battery technologies in recent years, with a focus on safety and battery material and density, in order to firmly grasp battery technology in their own hands, and to reduce the cost of external battery cell procurement. In addition to BYD’s security-blade battery, GAC unveiled its own safe-for-purpose magazine battery technology and more than 1000km ultra-high battery density silicon negative-pole batteries by the end of 2020.
Great Wall Motors also introduced its new battery technology, officially named “Dayu Battery,” at the Great Wall Technology Festival held at the end of June.
The purpose of these car companies in developing their own battery technologies is to ensure better quality and control over the technology, and to reduce costs. In the next year or two, the Euler brand’s models are likely to be equipped with their own self-developed batteries, which will improve the safety and endurance capabilities.
However, for now, we hope that the manufacturer, Great Wall Motors, will intervene in the investigation as soon as possible to eliminate the risks of a general occurrence of spontaneous combustion, provide reassurance to Euler’s new and old electric vehicle owners, and provide confidence guarantees for future Euler customers.
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.