The Look of Future Cars
Before we dive into the topic, may I ask what do you think future vehicles will look like?
Well, I asked around the experts in our company, and surprisingly, everyone had a consistent answer. With the assistance of autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit, a new type of form will emerge, targeting the “Third Space,” which differs from traditional fuel-powered cars (SUV, sedan) and even from the current forms of electric vehicles (Volkswagen ID .3, Kia EV6).
In the era of electric vehicles, we have seen models with short front and rear suspensions and bulky body forms built on an electric platform. Moving even further into the future, I believe that cars will look like what I drew here.
These types of models are similar to “minibuses,” but with smaller dimensions and higher space utilization. The tires are pushed towards the outer edge of the car, while the body is round and wide like a “capsule,” reducing wind resistance and maximizing cabin space.
The cabin layout is entirely modular, and can be customized based on user demands for sleeping, entertaining, cargo or passenger transport, and outdoor activities. In the ideal state, the cabin and chassis can be separated, and by simply switching the upper cabin, the modules can be replaced at any time, switching between SUVs, sedans, and caravan usage.
Of course, all of this will depend on the relative maturity of autonomous driving technology.
Box Cars?
To be honest, when I first saw this picture, all I could think of was Canoo. Is it possible that Canoo has started domestic production?
On December 15th, the company named “Hezi Zhixing” held its first brand launch event in Beijing, targeting B-end users and releasing two car models.
The first model, BM-400, is aimed at the special car, ride-hailing, and taxi markets and plans to achieve mass production in 2023. It adopts a three-row, five-seat layout, with the body length, width, and height of 4530/1900/1790 mm, and a wheelbase of 2850 mm. The NEDC range is 420/530 km, supporting 600 V high-voltage fast charging and battery swapping. Currently, more than 42,000 intended orders have been placed.
The other model, BM-600, is aimed at the mid-to-high-end rental market and is expected to be mass-produced and launched in 2024. It adopts a three-row, six-seat layout, with the body length, width, and height of 4900/1900/1790 mm, and a wheelbase of 3100 mm. The NEDC range is 600 km, supporting 600 V high-voltage fast charging, and is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2024.
The full name of this company is Beijing Hezi Zhixing Technology Co., Ltd., which was established in 2013 and currently has over 200 professional automobile design engineers. Since the establishment of the Zhixing Hezi brand in 2019, they have focused on creating travel tools for B-end markets.
These two cars have several highlights:
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L-shaped seat layoutAs for the third space, the cabin layout is a matter of expertise. I once saw a model’s legs fighting on Canoo’s promotional page. And Hozon Auto has launched L-shaped seats for the travel sector, which I currently find impractical. It appears inadequate for family users and multi-passenger travel. Judging from their promotional images, I think it’s more suited for middle-class weekend getaways. Conversely, a traditional seating arrangement would be more appropriate for passenger travel.
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High-DO digital smart interaction platform system
For B-end user landing scenarios, Hozon Auto integrated various functional requirements and launched the HIGH-DO system, which is simply more oriented to the third space’s intelligent cabin.
It covers on-board large-screen entertainment systems, in-vehicle machine vision technology applications, connected cars, in-vehicle intelligent control, etc., enabling in-car entertainment services such as large-screen games, live broadcasts, on-demand, and KTV. It also connects to smart cities and smart transportation, providing city promotional video advertising services, local specialty ordering, and other consumer experiences in the car.
The goal is to create a brand new service system covering cities, operating companies, drivers, and passengers.
- “Octopus” modular platform
The BM-400 and BM-600 are both built on Hozon Auto’s self-developed “Octopus” 1.0 modular platform. The chassis shares as many as 95% of the components, which can be flexibly customized for different bodies, adapted to different spaces, and compatible with battery modules with different capacities.
The construction of the “Octopus” 2.0 platform is expected to be completed in May next year. Under a more unified abstract standardized interface and modules, the platform will support three driving forms: front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive. It also adopts the power battery CTC structure, and the front suspension completely follows the first-generation platform. It is further enhanced by the skateboard platform with line control throttle and line control steering, thus achieving advanced intelligent driving functions.
There are now more and more companies in the industry that make “skateboard platforms.” Personally, I defined it as highly integrated, flexible modules, and line control. For those who are not familiar with it, you can skip ahead to the end of the article and click on the Canoo link to learn more.
- Low-cost Vulnerable Parts Replacement
As it is aimed at B-end operating vehicles, maintenance costs need to be low enough to truly hit the user’s pain points. Hozon Auto, during product definition, standardized parts and interfaces, allowing easier replacement of the front and rear bumpers on their own.
A knowledgeable friend introduced me to the surprisingly low cost of the slightly smaller BM-400. As for how low the cost is, everyone is welcome to guess in the comments.Regarding energy replenishment, Box.Cars Co-Founder and Chairman of Yougan Technology, Wang Zhe, introduced that: “Currently, Box.Cars plans to develop two types of supercharging piles, 240 kW and 480 kW, with a maximum voltage of 1,000 V. This equipment has the advantages of power sharing, intelligent scheduling, matrix control, flexible charging, and intelligent billing. It is expected that by 2022, it will be able to achieve a driving range of over 200 kilometers with a 10-minute charge, and by 2023, a driving range of over 400 kilometers with a 10-minute charge.”
Final Thoughts
I have to admit, although Box.Cars’ products are aimed at the B2B market, they really resonate with me. First and foremost is their cute and lovable appearance. While being rich in technology, it also exudes a sense of quality. If given the opportunity, I would love to meet the design team behind these two products.
Secondly, their entire product concept aligns with my conception of the future of cars. Of course, they also did not forcefully incorporate the “skateboard platform” concept, which is commendable.
Finally, I have written a detailed introduction to the Canoo brand in a previous article, where I also roughly introduced the skateboard platform: The American New Forces That Dig Into Jia Yueting’s Market Share: Canoo, Their Lives Are a Little Difficult
And I have also provided a detailed introduction to Rivian:
Rivian’s Initial Public Offering Documents Revealed, Could it Be the Largest IPO This Year?
This Company’s All-Electric Pickup Trucks Begin Delivery Next Month
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.