Report by Roomy
Edited by Zhou Changxian
On June 25th in Chongqing, at AVTA Headquarters, three men who stand behind the spotlight of this brand appeared on stage for the first time together: Changan Automobile Chairman Zhu Huarong, Huawei’s rotating Chairman Xu Zhijun, and CATL’s Chairman Zeng Yuqun… The three men wearing simple white shirts, sitting at the AVTA booth at the Chongqing Auto Show, talked about the imagination for this jointly created CHN new model and the future of AVTA based on CHN empowerment.
Their confidence and vitality were so impressive.
For this brand-new brand with its first model to be launched soon, each sentence that Zhu Huarong, Xu Zhijun and Zeng Yuqun spoke pointed out the origin of their confidence. These three sentences can also be regarded as promises to AVTA.
Zhu Huarong said: “By deploying the strongest Chinese power, we will create an internationalized Chinese high-end brand AVTA.”
Xu Zhijun said: “When I came to Chongqing last time, I was attracted by AVTA 11, took a picture and reported to my wife that our next car must be it.”
Zeng Yuqun said: “We must use the best and most advanced technology in AVTA.”
AVTA has three giants to support it, holding two top technology cards, the “new generation intelligent electric vehicle technology platform CHN” and “three technology groups,” and AVTA 11 is empowered by them. “New platform, strong computing, high voltage charging” are core technologies. There is also a clear direction, “to build a global brand in the high-end Smart Electric Vehicle industry.”
Compared with the birth of new forces in the auto industry, AVTA lacks the confusion of “feeling the stones to cross the river” finding direction. Compared with the hesitant transformation of traditional auto companies, AVTA gained a firm conviction with the support of three powerful forces.
In contrast, AVTA has demonstrated its advantages, first is technology, and second is maturity.
Old Bottles Cannot Tell New Stories
AVTA announced its market-oriented operation and independent operation on May 20th of last year until June 26th of this year when Zhu Huarong, Xu Zhijun, and Zeng Yuqun stood together for AVTA. In more than 300 days, AVTA’s speed has caught the attention of the industry, and it has also launched a mature new product, AVTA 11.
Previously, an insider of a traditional auto company, who was deeply trapped in the transformation dilemma, lamented that “AVTA is on the right track, making a whole new intelligent platform from the beginning.” He believed that this is where many traditional auto companies lack determination in their transformation and the root cause of their slow transformation pace.To put it bluntly, the credit book of the fossil fuel car era is not as useful in the intelligent era. Old platforms cannot produce new wine, and of course they cannot tell new stories.
“Our only development direction is electrification,” said Konstantin von Kellenbach, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercedes-Benz, at every public occasion after the domestic launch of the Mercedes-Benz EQC. However, at the beginning, the “oil-to-electric” EQC did not land ambition smoothly, without a revolutionary platform architecture or “top technology”.
Similarly, BMW, a longtime rival, once tended to develop exclusive platforms for the i3 and i8. However, due to uncertainty about the trend of electrification, it was impossible to predict which will be more popular in ten years, fossil fuels or electric vehicles? To ensure profitability, BMW has slowed down its exploration of electrification and become more conservative.
The experience of Mercedes-Benz and BMW in “oil-to-electric” stories is enough to represent the pain of traditional car companies’ transformation. After all, new car companies such as Tesla, Nio, and Ideal are directly impacting the market scope of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
“The first thing consumers want to buy is my brand, then my electric car,” this kind of thinking has faded away with the change of trend. The argument that “the essence of a fuel vehicle and an electric drive vehicle is a vehicle, and the difference is only the power system” is no longer mentioned.
The giants deeply feel the chill of the times. Konstantin von Kellenbach firmly abandons the traditional strategy of prioritizing the S-class; “comprehensive electrification” is his biggest goal during his tenure, and a new electric platform is in progress. BMW is the same.
“Exclusive platform” has become a must-pass for transformation. Whether it is a car company or a consumer, “exclusive platform” is regarded as an important technical indicator of an electric intelligent car. The platform cannot decide everything, but it generally determines the product power of electrification. This is also one of the reasons why “ABB’s electric cars are not scientific enough”.
In fact, exclusive platforms have been an old topic, and new forces that occupy the core focus of the industry have exclusive electric intelligent platforms. The firmness of Mercedes-Benz and BMW is just a deeper understanding of the intelligent era.
The all-new evolution that started with the electrification of the automotive industry has swept from Germany, the birthplace of automobiles, to the distant East. China is undoubtedly the final battleground of the intelligent era. The leaders under the spotlight have issued firm goals and rushed towards the footsteps of intelligentization.
Therefore, in this era of various trends, there are also a hundred flowers blooming in various technological routes.# Volkswagen Group is developing the next-generation pure electric platform integrating pure electric products. Hyundai’s pure electric platform E-GMP has been applied to Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands. Geely’s pure electric platform SEA has empowered multiple models. NIO NT2.0 platform has been deployed in multiple products…
Powerful auto players have set foot to be the first to touch the future in China, where hope is being nurtured. In the era of traditional fuel vehicles that lasted for many years, China has been “the home of others”, but in the era of intelligence, Chinese auto brands have the responsibility to make the Chinese market “our home field”.
As Li Bin and He XPeng have always said, “what matters is not just to live, but to live stronger.” How to make Chinese auto brands truly seize the era of intelligence and become the answer that needs to be explored in this marathon of car-building.
Li Bin has his own way, He XPeng has his own method, and Li Xiang has his own strategy. As the leading enterprise of Chinese auto brands, Changan Auto has also given a new answer.
Changan Auto, Huawei, and CATL, with their unique advantages in vehicle manufacturing, intelligent car solutions, and battery energy, have jointly created the CHN platform, which is the answer. The practice of the three parties in the market has achieved long-term and good results, and is the most solid endorsement.
Tan Benhong, Chairman and CEO of Avida Technology, said, “The determination and confidence of Avida Technology to deeply cultivate the new smart electric vehicle field comes not only from the trust and support of all parties in Avida Technology, but also from the empowerment of three giants, Changan Auto, Huawei, and CATL.”
CHN Platform in the Right Balance
The CHN platform is a flexible modular car-making platform jointly developed by Changan Auto, Huawei, and CATL. C represents Changan Auto, H represents Huawei, and N represents CATL. At the Chongqing Auto Show press conference, Zhu Huarong said, “CHN” is the international code of China. “This also means that we are destined to use the strongest Chinese power to create an “internationalized” Avida.”
As various platform technologies are pouring in, “performance”, “computational power”, and “algorithms” are touted as “hardcore” indicators. There are even new brands directly challenging on posters, “Don’t talk about it if there are less than four laser radars.” Computational power has become the ultimate indicator for evaluating the performance of intelligent driving chips, and even evolved into a “competition” judged by computational power.
Of course, the blooming of various technologies and fierce competition is a good thing, which means the vigorous development of an industry, and the internal competition is destined to roll out some top-notch technologies. However, the wisdom from ancient times to the present is “in the right balance.”
High computing power means that breakthroughs in hardware and software synchronization must be achieved, and some redundancy is necessary for future technical upgrades, but it must not be a case of putting the cart before the horse when it comes to the essence of automobiles. After all, cars are ultimately a “third space”, and emotions and comfort are always necessary.
Unlike many other brands, Changan Automobile has years of market exploration experience, and when it comes to building the Avita CHN platform and brand concept, it has unreservedly empowered the latest scientific research achievements to Avita.
Therefore, from the birth of Avita, it was endowed with the concept of “crossing from computing power to intelligence and understanding your needs”, under the auspices of which the Avita CHN platform had a clear definition of “specializing in SEV and demonstrating the core power of intelligent electric vehicles”.
Do you still remember at the Avita brand launch event, when the four words “emotional intelligence” confused the industry – “What does this new brand Avita really want to say?” “Has Avita come too late, and is emotional intelligence not as impactful as a few laser radars?” – Too many voices swept over Avita at the same time.
Avita did not rush to explain to the outside world, as Tan Benhong said: “The automobile industry is a marathon, not a relay race, so you need to choose the right track, seize the right opportunity, and a good thing is not afraid of being late.”
Therefore, when Avita unveiled the CHN platform, the industry began to understand what Avita really wanted to do. Of course, as a platform blessed by the three giants, top-notch technology is still essential.
“New platform, powerful computing, high-voltage charging” are the three main features of the CHN platform, clear enough. Moreover, unlike other technology platforms on the market, the CHN platform does not focus solely on mechanical, three-electric or intelligent driving systems, but integrates them all. The CHN platform has high scalability, high performance, high endurance, high safety, large computing power, high-voltage charging, and other characteristics, and is divided into six layers to digitally define.
The integration of software and hardware, and the upgrading of electronic and electrical architecture, means that automakers can no longer simply integrate various components into the vehicle, as they did in the past. The intelligent cooperation of software and hardware to fully exert the efficiency of the entire system is the only way forward.
Currently, on the new NT2.0 platform of NIO, only the full-stack self-developed chassis domain controller has resolved the user complaints that “NIO OS system updates will affect the suspension experience” that have been persistent since the NT1.0 platform era.# The English Translation of the Markdown Chinese Text
All along, platform technology has been the forte of Volkswagen. However, in the era of electrification, Volkswagen’s platform technology iteration is insufficient, making it impossible to keep up with the latest technology.
Currently, Volkswagen’s ACCELERATE strategy’s important carrier is the PPE platform. Learning some characteristics from Audi’s Etron and Volkswagen’s MEB, the product size is designed based on Audi A4’s blueprint, with the main core point being to support the 800-volt architecture. However, to achieve the effect of intelligent coordination between hardware and software, the next-generation platform technology SSP is still needed to achieve this.
As a newcomer, AVITA came up with a platform architecture that Volkswagen has not yet completed, a platform structure that took new players like NIO seven years to complete. The six-layer platform from L1 mechanical layer, L2 energy layer, L3 system layer, L4 scene layer, L5 ecological layer, to L6 cloud layer is proposed to creatively realize E.I. Emotional intelligence on this electronic-electrical architecture basis.
The unique 6-layer decoupling digital definition is not only the most complete and efficient intelligent electric vehicle supply chain but also a mature solution, especially for intelligent driving. It can be said that AVITA CHN platform has the strength to create the next unique definition for “intelligent electric vehicles.”
With the evolution of the vehicle’s electronic-electrical architecture, domain controllers have gradually become mainstream. The domain controller fusion architecture used by the CHN platform adopts domain controllers for the power domain, intelligent driving domain, intelligent cockpit domain, and vehicle body domain for a layered deployment of information, with deep integration of defense and more efficient and secure information interaction. At the same time, the chassis domain redundancy architecture and the intelligent driving domain’s redundancy communication fully meet the safety requirements of advanced intelligent driving assistance functions.
Xu Zhijun said, “Based on 30 years of technical accumulation in the ICT field, Huawei will provide AVITA with a comprehensive solution for intelligent vehicles through Huawei Inside.”
Zeng Yuqun said, “The cooperation between CATL and AVITA technology started with joint research and development of the CHN platform, but it goes far beyond technical investment. CATL will provide a continuous driving power supply for the new generation of intelligent electric vehicles under the AVITA technology.”
Changan Automobile ensures quality, Huawei makes the entire vehicle more intelligent, and CATL makes the power supply continuous. Strong alliances can exert an effect greater than the sum of their parts. AVITA hopes to become the leader in the new arena, a goal recognized by the capital market.In today’s capital market, cautious attitude is shown towards wholesale automobile enterprises. The steady growth of Avita’s collaboration in car manufacturing has achieved a valuation increase of over seven times, indicating something important.
The New Wine of Avita 11
With strong technical support, can Avita tell the story of high-end intelligent electric vehicles?
All technology needs mass production to have practical meaning. The CHN innovation platform has handed the responsibility of mass production to Avita 11.
When building Avita 11, as Song Ziyou said, “on Avita, we must use the best and most advanced things.” Changan Automobile, Huawei, and CATL all provided their best talents and technologies to the development of Avita 11.
As the second-largest shareholder of Avita Technology, CATL empowers Avita Technology in the “three-electric” field, as well as energy management and charging network ecology, while ensuring the stability of Avita’s battery supply chain.
Although Huawei has not invested in Avita, its smart driving team joined hands with Avita’s engineers in Chongqing to build Avita 11.
Rarely, the three parties joined strongly to build Avita with clear division of labor and mutual integration. In other words, mutual trust prevailed so that the industry’s concern about “soul theory” did not apply to Avita.
For instance, many people worried about Huawei’s participation in the Avita project. Huawei’s involvement in Avita was unprecedented, according to Wang Jun, COO of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution BU and president of the Intelligent Driving Solution product line. Huawei has also made improvements in many aspects, including modeling, which Changan Automobile has accepted.
“Modeling is the most complicated thing. The modeling of Avita 11 was delayed for a long time because the modeling team had to redesign due to the configuration of LIDAR, so we also participated in modeling, including interior design and proposed our improvement opinions, including mileage. Everyone coordinated well, because we have indeed gotten rid of the purely supplier-oriented model.”
Although the traditional supplier model may be highly efficient, it can lead to mismatches with market and consumer frequency for the model and technology. Avita’s aggregation model avoids this problem from the very beginning. Accurate tracks are essential, and as well, intelligent competition has already entered the stage where it needs to “store food widely and build walls high” to prepare for the sprint.
In other words, Avita does not have enough time to explore slowly as its first product must hit the mark. Avita 11 can indeed shoulder this heavy responsibility and hope.This model, which has been deeply empowered by the CHN platform, is powerful in terms of design aesthetics and driving quality, high-end intelligent driving covering all scenarios, diverse intelligent applications, continuous evolution ability, compatibility with high-power charging, ultra-long endurance, and other product strengths, all of which demonstrate the strength of the CHN technology platform.
The Avita 11 adopts a brand new exterior design with a full sci-fi feel. The front part features a closed grille with front lights on both sides in boomerang shape, giving it strong recognition. The interior features two cockpit design styles, “blue-gray” and “Burgundy,” bringing a special sense of luxury and a collision of color aesthetics.
In terms of autonomous driving solutions, as the first high-end SEV equipped with Huawei’s HI full-stack intelligent automobile solution, the Avita 11 is equipped with three lidars, six millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, 13 cameras, and 400Tops computing power to achieve intelligent driving under complex urban road conditions.
This computing power is quite restrained compared to configurations that easily reach 1000TOPS. Avita believes that while autonomous driving is still evolving from L3 to L4 levels, there is no need to pursue computing power and algorithm radicalism deliberately. Only with high computing power and powerful algorithms can we achieve our strong calculation goal of “400Tops of computing power, coupled with powerful algorithms.”
On the three-electric system, CATL has brought out the best technology. The Avita 11 is equipped with CATL’s CTP ternary lithium battery pack with capacities of 90kWh and 116kWh, delivering a CLTC comprehensive range of 555km and 680km. The car uses a 750V high-voltage platform, and the maximum charging power can reach 240kW. With the appropriate charging station, it can achieve a 30%-80% charging speed in just 15 minutes. The four-wheel-drive version of the Avita 11 has a maximum power of 425kW with dual motors front and rear, a maximum torque of 650Nm, and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 3.98 seconds.
Zeng Yuqun said, “During the project development phase, I had many opportunities to see the test cars. However, when this car was unveiled without camouflage, I was once again ‘amazed.’ More importantly, CATL has equipped the Avita 11 with industry-leading electrification technologies, such as superfast charging, CTP efficient grouping, and NP self-isolation, which perfectly integrate high performance, endurance, and safety into the Avita 11. I believe that this car will be very competitive in the market.”
Thanks to the deep empowerment of the CHN platform, the EV model, Avita 11, can comprehensively meet users’ high-level demands for SEVs, bringing them excellent driving experience, high-power charging compatible with current and future standards, long-range endurance, high-level intelligent driving covering all scenarios, endless intelligent applications, and evolving capabilities.
However, Avita’s goal is to use technology to redefine high-end and service, which is the original intention of its brand “emotional intelligence” concept. From the market demand to the concept of intelligentization, Avita has broken some gaps. It can be said that the arrival of Avita 11 is answering the question of “what kind of intelligent EV does the market really need.”
In fact, when the Avita brand was released, Banhong Tan had made it very clear that “from the perspective of consumers’ psychological needs, we actively explore humanized travel technology for the future, create emotional intelligent travel experience for users, and create a smart life covering all scenarios.”
For example, Avita’s intelligent cockpit is more in line with consumers’ usage habits. One core with multiple screens, one chip controls multiple screens in the car, bringing consumers a better multi-screen collaborative and interactive experience. Besides, on the same hardware architecture, the synchronicity of audio and images is better.
Overall, Avita’s pace is fast and steady, and its direction is clear. Just like Zhuhuarong said, “We need to use Eastern wisdom to grasp the most critical EV technology in our hands.” The CHN platform and Avita 11 are typical representatives of Chinese automotive brands rising high. Behind Avita is China’s determination and hard power to lead the era’s trend in the automotive industry.
“At the same time, I hope that Avita will never forget its original intention and continuously achieve the goal of creating an internationalized Chinese high-end brand,” Zhuhuarong raised higher expectations for Avita at the press conference.
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.