Preface
At the beginning of this article, I want to ask you a question: in 2022, do we still consider pure gasoline cars?
Huawei’s rotating CEO Yu Chengdong said: “Pure gasoline cars have high fuel consumption, weak functionality, and poor power.”
Changan President Zhu Huarong said: “China has initially met the conditions for stopping the production of pure gasoline cars.”
Li Bin of Nio said: “I really don’t understand why people still buy gasoline cars in 2022?”
2022 is also a magical year.
The impact of the international situation has caused soaring oil prices, the rising prices of raw materials for lithium batteries have led to soaring battery prices, incomplete charging facilities during holidays, continued charging queues at service areas, power supply shortages in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, charging queues for pure electric cars, the last year for plug-in hybrid vehicles (including extended range) to enjoy green license plates in Shanghai, and the Shenzhen government’s subsidy for open-source Hongmeng vehicle models, with a total comprehensive subsidy of up to 40,000 yuan…
Why I Believe in AITO
The first time I saw AITO’s scenario, like many ordinary people, I just passed by Huawei for some other reason, and I happened to see a car: “Oh my gosh, did Huawei build a car? This isn’t the Seres SF5 Huawei Selection?”
I remember it was a Sunday in December last year, and I was renting a car for a self-driving tour in Beijing. I drove from Daxing to Liangxiang to pick up my cousin, went to Guomao in Beijing, and then while shopping at In01 Yintai, I suddenly discovered a new car in Huawei’s store.
As a die-hard fan, I also went to see the Seres SF5 Huawei Selection in June 2021. At that time, my impression of Seres was: the appearance is radical, and the interior is mediocre. Although the Sigma headlights on the front face are highly recognizable, I really don’t think they look good (at least not until I saw the Altair 11).
So when I saw this car, I really couldn’t believe that Wanjie M5 and Seres SF5 were siblings. The interior of Wanjie has undergone significant changes, especially the removal of the raised tail on the rear window that I disliked in the SF5!
Yes, I’ve talked so much and haven’t talked about the main point yet. Here are three main reasons why I believe in AITO.
- Huawei is one of China’s smartest companies, and it can’t make two bad cars in a row and ruin its own brand.
For well-known reasons, everyone knows that Huawei’s main income and profits in the past came from its “consumer end business,” which has not performed well in the past two years. Huawei needs to quickly find a new, more effective cash cow to feed and regenerate itself.Facing the pressures of the pandemic, anti-globalization, and trade sanctions, Huawei’s investment in the automotive industry can no longer continue to burn money. If the money runs out, that’s when the real “chill” will be passed on to everyone.
2. The experience of this car is almost unbeatable within 300,000 RMB
Since my family also owns a BBA in the 250,000-300,000 RMB range and I took my mother’s Q3 to school every day in high school, and have been driving the Q3 myself since I got my driver’s license after the college entrance examination, I can basically say that “no one knows better than me what a luxury car in the 250,000-300,000 RMB range looks like, what it has, and how it drives”.
Before I saw the Huawei vehicle, I was one of the first to see it. So when I saw the Wanjie M5, I didn’t expect it to only cost just over 250,000 RMB. If you compare its interior with that of Tesla, XPeng, NIO, and Gaohe, you’ll see why I say that…
Then before the Chinese New Year this year, there was a concentrated test drive event in Shanghai, and my whole family went to experience the driving feeling of the Wanjie M5 on the test track. This car is really easy to drive, and the low center of gravity handling feeling of the range-extender pure electric platform is really handy! Praise!
Cars like the Audi Q3, which don’t feel confident even when driving through the bends at 35 mph, should be “thrown into the trash can.”
3. I am not the earliest first batch of car owners
This is quite interesting. When the Wanjie was launched, it didn’t have the current best-selling “Zhi Zhen” version; instead, it had three versions – rear-wheel drive standard version, four-wheel drive performance version, and four-wheel drive flagship version. The first batch of car owners who got their cars in March were almost all performance versions that are now almost 0 new additions. Rumor has it that because there was a shortage of old-model motors, the Zhi Zhen version was pushed out and it is about 30,000 RMB cheaper than the flagship version while matching its hardware.
Oh yes, the “Zhi Zhen” version has been giving away three optional extras worth 6,000 RMB since the end of May until now. Except for the mandatory tire kit and headrest speakers, most people choose the HUD head-up display as their third option, because it is quite useful and looks good, with just the right information density, information volume, and display area!
And then, the first batch of car owners who got the thrill of driving this car for 3000 km posted a lot of daily use videos on Bilibili, which made me understand the convenience and intelligence improvements of the Wanjie M5 in their lives. This made me more convinced that this is a good car.
My major at university was hotel management, and our teacher once said:
In general, there are three kinds of customers who write reviews for our hotels:
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Your service disappointed me so much that I will definitely write a negative review today!
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Your service impressed me so much that I will definitely write a good review to praise you today!
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The experience of this stay was mediocre; you guys did a pretty good job, so I’ll write an average review.
Why I chose a range-extended car# Translation
The summer of 2022 is truly hot, and every time I get into my mom’s 17-year-old Audi Q3 or my dad’s 11th-generation top-of-the-line Peugeot 508, I think to myself, “If only this car had remote air conditioning.”
As far as I know, except for some Chevy cars from 2017 and 2018 that came with OnStar service, I am not aware of any other gasoline cars that can do this. Starting the engine and burning fuel in place can easily cause incomplete combustion, leading to carbon deposits that affect power and fuel consumption.
Moreover, at the beginning of the article, I said that “this year is a magical year, with soaring oil prices and battery raw material prices, no charging facilities at home within six months, the last year for hybrid green license plates in Shanghai, and a desire for worry-free travel in the future.”
Under these conditions, we have expanded our car-buying range to include plug-in hybrid and extended-range hybrid vehicles.
This leads us to our family’s driving scenario. My dad drives nearly 110 kilometers back and forth between Songjiang and Pudong (east and west of Shanghai) every day. If we choose a BYD DM-i Series product, even if we buy the version that covers 110 kilometers, we still need to use some gasoline every day and wait in line for charging. By the time the remote air conditioning is activated, it would probably already be the hot air conditioning.
If we choose another brand of hybrid car, it seems that almost none of the brands with technical expertise are left.
Then, at this moment, the WENJIE M5 appeared. It has a “pure electric range of 180 kilometers” and a daily available mileage of 150 kilometers. Even after considering the round-trip 110 kilometers commutes, it can be completed purely on electricity. And, WENJIE M5’s cruising range is even underrated, which completely solves our family’s driving needs.
There is also an extra bonus point: “Since the WENJIE M5 is an extended-range hybrid, the engine does not directly participate in driving, so the driving experience of this car is quite similar to that of a pure electric car, and its acceleration from zero to 100 km/h is far superior to the BYD DM-i.”
On the Eve of M5 EV’s Release
In conclusion, I want to ask you a question: If the WENJIE M5 EV model is very popular, will the owners of the extended-range M5 be disappointed?
I don’t think so. There is a huge difference in the powertrain between these two models, and few customers are evenly distributed between hybrid and pure electric vehicles. A hybrid or a pure electric vehicle might be better suited for a specific consumer.
Therefore, no matter how much the M5 EV model improves, and how much it hurts us existing M5 owners, it doesn’t matter!
“Let Chinese-made cars rise up and give consumers more and better choices in the internal struggle, and together, let’s crush joint venture cars!”
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.