Alpha T by Hozon vs. Model Y by Tesla: How to Choose?

To be honest, when a friend of mine asked me this question last year, I was a bit surprised. Who would compare Hozon’s Alpha T with Tesla? Can they even be compared? How do you compare them? I’m sure many people would have the same reaction as me.

However, the most interesting part comes next. My friend compared them for a while, hesitated for a while, and finally chose the Alpha T.

Why?

Over the past few months, I have gained a deep understanding of Hozon and tested a long-range version of the Alpha T for 2000 kilometers. Here are some answers.

Hozon and Tesla have completely different user bases.

Visible Strengths

If you compare the Alpha T and Model Y carefully, you will first come to a very clear conclusion: from a product perspective, the Alpha T is not weak at all, and it has successfully held its own position.

For example, let’s take the three most commonly considered aspects of a new energy vehicle: battery life, configuration, and performance.

Let’s take a look at battery life first.

The importance of battery life for pure electric vehicles does not need to be emphasized. The Alpha T uses SK battery cells from South Korea, with a maximum capacity of 93.6 kW・h, and the official display of battery life is 653 kilometers. The long-range version of the Alpha T we tested is their main model, which is priced at 276,900 yuan. For comparison, the rear-wheel drive version of the Tesla Model Y, which is currently the best selling model, costs 316,900 yuan and has a driving range of 545 kilometers. In other words, our Alpha T is 40,000 yuan cheaper and has a battery life of 100 kilometers more than the Model Y.

At this point, someone is bound to say that Tesla’s three electric elements are strong, and the battery life is accurate. I fully agree with this.

However, Hozon’s ability to control electricity consumption is also widely recognized in the industry. I used to hear people say that Hozon’s battery life is solid, but I didn’t realize how solid it was until I drove it myself.Translated English Markdown:

Two practical scenarios in my daily life

I often take my children to play at Austin Park during weekends. The navigation shows it’s 19 kilometers away from where we live, and the remaining mileage is 370 kilometers. However, our average speed was only about 20-30 km/h on the urban roads, and when we arrived at the park, the remaining mileage showed 353 kilometers, which means we only lost 17 kilometers during the whole ride, even two kilometers less than the actual distance.

When I go on business trips, I usually drive to the airport. The remaining mileage was 350 kilometers when I started the car that day, and the navigation showed that the airport was 26 kilometers away. However, after driving on the highway, the remaining mileage decreased to 323 kilometers, which was 27 kilometers less than before. Only one kilometer more than the navigation distance.

The average power consumption in my daily driving is about 15-16 kW·h. Of course, I mainly use economical mode while driving. The temperature was 15 degrees Celsius on the testing day I mentioned before, which was relatively friendly to the battery. However, the target completion rate of the cruising range will definitely be slightly lower when driving at 120 km/h in winter.

After talking about the cruising range, let’s take a look at the configuration.

To be honest, Alpha T is not the type of car that catches the eye at first sight. However, in the real using process, you can definitely feel its comprehensive ability of configuration.

• For example, when getting close to the vehicle, you don’t need to take out the key. The door will automatically unlock, and the hidden door handle will pop up, which is very ceremonial.
• For example, when sitting in the car, the texture of everything you see and touch is top-notch. Whether it’s the embossed decorative panel or the NAPPA leather seats with punched holes and double stitching, or the three-piece panoramic sunroof with an area of up to 2.6 square meters, they are all worth the price.
• For example, in terms of storage space, there is a wireless charging area for mobile phones, a large storage space under the central armrest, and a small space below the center console to store important but less frequently used items. It’s very user-friendly overall.
• For example, the seat design, length, thickness, and softness are all suitable. The driver’s seat supports 12-way electric adjustment, which can be controlled by touching the instrument panel, while physical adjustment buttons are also reserved, so that users won’t feel awkward just for the sake of pursuing technological sense.

In addition, there is another very important point: intelligent configuration.

As I have experienced many new energy products of newly created automakers before, although the in-car functions of the Alpha T are quite complete, such as navigation, music, and video, they are still not the most prominent in terms of overall interactive logic and UI beauty compared with fuel vehicles.However, the 20.3-inch 4K display of this car is of high quality. I remember one time when I was charging, I opened Tencent Video and watched a movie in the car. The delicate display effect really shocked me. Coupled with the high-end Harman sound system, the bass texture is especially great, and the sound is like water flowing past the ears, which gives a great sense of immersion.

By the way, the 4K display of the JHONFOX Alpha T car machine also supports split screen display. For example, the driver can open the navigation on one side and the passenger can watch a video on the other side, satisfying both needs at the same time without affecting each other.

As time goes by, you will find that there are many hidden surprises in the configuration of the Alpha T. For example, the ambient lighting effect at night, including the logo projected on the ground when the car door is opened; the HUD with freely adjustable height and well-designed information layout; and when the assisted driving is turned on, the lane keeping and following rhythm are very stable and there is no need to panic when encountering sudden lane merges, etc.

Of course, there is also performance.

The electric motor power of our JHONFOX Alpha T long-endurance version is 160 kW, and the torque is 360 N·m. In fact, when driving, it is not simply fast, but comfortably fast, with excellent tuning skills. Firstly, it does not have the dizzying drag feeling that many new energy vehicles tend to have. Combined with the stable high-speed and light low-speed steering feel, people can have a lot of confidence in driving as soon as they get in the car. Secondly, its chassis is well-balanced, with good handling and comfort, and it can execute the driver’s instructions very well. especially on some bumpy roads, the suspension is crisp and resilient, making the passengers feel very comfortable.

Moreover, there are some invisible “underlying skills” that make JHONFOX products stand out. For example, manufacturing.

Many users who see JHONFOX products for the first time wonder why there is a “Blue Valley Magna” logo at the rear of their cars?

The answer is simple: it represents their origin.# Joint Venture between JiHu and Magna Creates Blue Valley Magna Premium Manufacturing Base

Alpha T and Alpha S, both products of the manufacturing base in Jiangsu, Zhenjiang, established through a joint venture between JiHu and Magna. The name Magna is already familiar to many people as it is one of the world’s largest automotive components suppliers. We all know that luxury cars such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, BMW 5 Series, Jaguar I-PACE, are all produced by Magna on behalf of these car manufacturers. Magna’s manufacturing history spans over a hundred years, with over 3.7 million luxury cars manufactured. JiHu’s products are entirely built according to Magna’s MAFACT (Magna Factory Concept) standard system. This system includes several sections such as quality, manufacturing, material control, logistics, engineering design, human resources, cost, and safety, and its execution is extremely stringent.

The core of manufacturing is the strict adherence to standards with no compromise. JiHu’s products are fortified with high- quality standards that have resulted from uncompromising attention to detail in manufacturing, which has earned praise, such as noting that there was not a single failure point in the body of Alpha S in one online discussion after a crash test with a competitor’s vehicle. This is incredible, and it really underscores the quality assurance brought by Magna.

However, just having manufacturing standards is not enough. Good food tastes better with an excellent chef, but the quality of ingredients ultimately determines its overall flavor. For JiHu’s products, supplier selection is the equivalent of ingredient selection.

Did you know that out of the top 100 global automotive component suppliers, more than 70 work with JiHu? Well-known names like Bosch, Harman, Michelin, BorgWarner, Faurecia, and Autoliv, are just some examples of JiHu’s suppliers. Whether it’s Alpha T or Alpha S, they can both be described as luxury pieces. JiHu’s products are designed with quality materials in mind, and this is due to their vast and diverse supplier network. For instance, Alpha T achieved a Deer Test score of 77 km/h, which is comparable to BMW M3 and Porsche Cayman S, while its stopping distance for 100 km/h is 36.02 meters, ranking it among the best SUVs in its class. Alpha S performed exceptionally well in its deer test, achieving an astonishing 80 km/h, a standout result in the entire industry. JiHu’s and Magna’s tuning aside, high-quality products from suppliers such as Bosch’s ESP_hev+iBooster and Michelin’s PS4 high-performance tires play a vital role in achieving these results.

After discussing manufacturing and suppliers let’s talk about safety, another invisible but important part of product design.Polestar uses the “upper steel and lower aluminum” body structure and chooses different materials for different body positions.

For example, for areas prone to cabin destruction in collisions such as the A, B pillars, and door sills, ultra-high-strength hot-formed steel with a strength of 1500 MPa, represented by the dark red area in the picture, is used. This kind of hot-formed steel is frequently used in icebreakers and can withstand pressure of over 10 tons per square centimeter, equivalent to the weight of two adult elephants. Overall, Polestar’s white body uses high-strength hot-formed steel, advanced high-strength steel, and high-strength steel, which account for over 33% of the application rate.

Another example is the use of aluminum. Take the front longitudinal beam position as an example. This is a new aluminum alloy material with a higher yield strength and a collision folding angle of over 110°, which is far beyond the national standard requirements. It can effectively absorb energy in the case of over-collision.

However, the upper steel and lower aluminum body structure has a production difficulty – connection.

Due to the different characteristics of aluminum alloy and steel materials, they cannot be connected by traditional welding processes. How does Polestar solve this problem?

They use two connecting processes: Self-Piercing Riveting (SPR) and Flow Drill Screw (FDS).

The former is to directly press a rivet point between two metal plates as a fixing, while the latter is to let the screw rotate at a high speed and enter into the metal plate, which first softens and yields before cooling, forming a better clamping fixing.

For example, the Polestar 1S uses 1188 SPR self-locking rivets and 460 FDS flow drilling screws on the body. Together with the steel and aluminum mixed body, they build the rigidity of Polestar products. Data does not lie, under this combination of combinations, Polestar 1S’s body torsional rigidity reaches 55000 Nm/deg, and Polestar 2’s body torsional rigidity reaches up to 60000 Nm/deg, even higher than the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Of course, in addition to the safety of the body, Polestar has also put a lot of effort into user’s concerns about the safety of pure electric vehicles, including battery safety and water safety.

For example, in terms of batteries, the overall energy density of the Polestar battery pack can reach as high as 194 Wh/kg. They define the battery body as an “undeformable area” and arrange four transverse and one longitudinal reinforced beam inside the box to decompose and absorb collision energy. In addition, including immersion, cold, high pressure, bottom fire, extrusion, ball hitting, dust-proof and other tests, none were skipped. By simulation testing alone, more than 1,000 hours have been done.# ExtremeTech: More Than Just a Car Company

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For example, in terms of wading depth, the national standard requires a depth of 100 mm to meet the qualification. ExtremeTech’s product has achieved 800 mm. It is worth mentioning that there are currently very few models on the market that can wade more than 800 mm, and they are all SUVs.

This is not all that ExtremeTech has done in the field of safety. Not long ago, I learned that they have also strengthened the vehicle’s anti-corrosion standards, ensuring that every car purchased by users can achieve 10 years of rust-free. In the CA-CAP anti-corrosion performance rating, ExtremeTech products received five stars, and won the second-highest score among the 109 participating models in the past 10 years. Furthermore, Alpha S and Alpha T have also received CN95 Healthy Cabin Certification. The actual measurements of eight substances such as benzene, styrene, and formaldehyde released by the cars are more than 81% lower than the national standard limit values, and benzene emission is almost zero.

Who Are ExtremeTech Products Suitable For?

So, what do you think? Have you gained some new insights into ExtremeTech?

Their products do not pursue any fancy or unnecessary actions, but try to achieve the ultimate in the functions that users most often use, making the products as balanced as possible. This reminds me of those quiet students in the class who silently study, who are not outstanding at ordinary times and do not speak much. Not until they face difficult exams, everyone suddenly discovers, “Wow, he is actually so strong.”

To be honest, this logic is not intuitive. Especially in this era of information explosion, ExtremeTech seems not so cool, nor is it a traffic star who tells stories. Therefore, this objectively results in many potential users passing by ExtremeTech. But can you say that ExtremeTech’s product logic is wrong?

ExtremeTech is also very clear about its positioning. They cannot meet everyone’s needs, but if you value quality, focus on discovering your inner world rather than blindly showing off, and hope to find a quiet and practical companion for you and your family, then ExtremeTech products may be more suitable for you than many other electric vehicles.

That’s all.

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.