Translator:
Author: Chang Yan
In recent years, Ultraman has suddenly become popular.
Whether it’s WeChat’s expression pack or B station’s Ghost Animal Zone, they are all occupied by Ultraman, who come in different shapes and sizes.
And I, once again, have demonstrated my disconnect with the times. When everyone talks about post-00s’ topics, they often treat me as a middle-aged person. And when we finally discuss Ultraman that middle-aged people are good at, it reveals the fact that I had no childhood.
Those who want to relive the story of Ultraman are like the current electric vehicle market. In this time of technological reshuffle and brand restructuring, all companies hope to have a signature platform like Ultraman. Of course, if it can be as invincible as Ultraman, and beat other competing products like small monsters, that would be even better.
But to achieve that, you need to have a platform, and a Chinese name.
Tonight, General Motors unveiled the Chinese name of its Ultium platform at its Chinese headquarters: “Aote Neng”. They hope that after the brainwashing of Ultraman just now, everyone can remember it.
This should be the first pure electric vehicle platform of a joint venture brand that has an official Chinese name.
Previously, the automotive platforms of overseas brands liked to use English abbreviations, which is also understandable. First, this is due to the difference in language and culture, and second, the platform itself is biased towards basic technology, which naturally creates a gap between it and consumers.
However, in the era of electric power, the concept of a platform began to emerge. In addition to being able to quickly compile all the advantages of a car’s underlying core into a collection for endorsement, the key is that it can become the most important basis for consumers to choose an electric vehicle.
In the past, you needed to compare technical parameters one by one, but now you only need to compare one platform.
Moreover, more and more models will use the same platform, and comparing one platform is equivalent to comparing dozens of models.
Previously, General Motors has said that by 2025, it will introduce over 30 pure electric vehicles worldwide, of which more than 20 will come to China.You can see the diversity of vehicle types and price points covered by the Ultium platform from the various models launched overseas, ranging from the Cruise Origin pure electric autonomous shared vehicle, BrightDrop pure electric logistics vehicle, to the GMC HUMMER pure electric Hummer series and the Cadillac LYRIQ intelligent pure electric luxury SUV, which are different in brand, price, and function, but share the same platform.
Therefore, if you are General Motors, you will definitely want to find ways for everyone to recognize the benefits of this platform.
The name “Otter Energy” may not necessarily be excellent in terms of meaning and grammar, but at least it contains the popular understanding of “Energy” among ordinary people and is easy to remember.
More importantly, it shows special attention to the Chinese market.
At last year’s General Motors Technology Day, a video was specifically produced for the Ultium platform, vividly demonstrating what a platform is and its potential applications everywhere.
Surprisingly, upon the release of the Otter Energy brand, General Motors localized this video with more familiar characters and more understandable scenes for Chinese consumers, doing a complete localization interpretation.
You can see Lang Ping, Xue Zhaofeng, and B-Director in it. With just a few names, you can imagine how they are trying to strike a balance between professionalism and universality, and how they are trying to make as many people as possible understand this platform.
In General Motors’ own words, they have achieved 100% localization for Ultium Otter Energy battery cells and other key components.
From last year’s Tech Day to this year’s VIP Electronic and Electrical Architecture Exhibition and the Chinese name release, General Motors has demonstrated a strong idea of using technology to establish its name and platform to empower the electrical era. We believe that the technology demonstrations of this platform are just the beginning.
However, what everyone may be more concerned about is when the vehicle models derived from this technological platform will be available on the market as soon as possible.According to the latest news, the first product based on Ultium from China, the Cadillac LYRIQ smart pure electric luxury SUV, will be officially launched next year.
However, we still hope to be faster, especially for other brands and models.
For a platform, the shorter the distance from the display node to the application node, the greater the technological dividend, as long as the architecture is determined.
After all, this is an era of great diversity.
After all, Ultraman became famous in the past with his quick fighting style.
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.