Translation

Title: Huawei’s first pure electric vehicle, M5 EV, surpasses Tesla’s Model Y in multiple aspects

The title “Huawei Automobile” is becoming more and more a reality, and ultimately the one that can be called the “son” belongs to the automotive industry.

In the past, based on the physique of Cyrus, the M5 and M7 models of the question realm that have been launched are extended-range models. The ruthless competition below also needs to match the appropriate level, so the poor guys who are often taken out to compete by Richard Yu (Yu Chengdong) are always compared to ideal and a group of fuel-powered luxury cars. On the West Coast far away, a certain old horse has had a quiet life for two years.

However, Tesla’s good days are over. The question realm’s first pure electric vehicle model M5 EV was launched with a price range of 288,600 to 319,800 RMB, Tesla’s Model Y was repeatedly humiliated (in the PPT of the press conference) in various aspects, being called useless and escaping in panic…

Sixteen languages combined into one sentence, “far ahead, far ahead, far ahead”.

Magic Seasoning at Songshan Lake

Yu Chengdong’s famous name is not for nothing. However, let’s put aside the ridicule of the “Yu-style comparison method” for the time being and return to the M5 EV product itself. Compared with the extended-range version of M5, the sincerity of the question realm this time actually exceeds the literal meaning of “replacing the power”, rather than just taking out the internal combustion engine and ending the matter.

For example, the M5 EV comes with a standard HUD (head-up display), but the question realm combines the driver’s eye-tracking sensor (which is no longer a rare device) with it, creating an intelligent HUD that can automatically keep the displayed information at the best viewing angle.

If you have ever driven a car with a Head-Up Display (HUD), you can probably recall the frustration of searching for the HUD adjustment option buried deep in the N-level menu. It’s especially aggravating when you’ve already started driving and realize that the HUD height isn’t quite right and finding the option is like finding a needle in a haystack.

It’s not exactly rocket science to use eye tracking, a technology that is commonly used to detect driver fatigue, to obtain driver height information. Huawei, however, came up with a new feature by connecting two wires, which is not exactly high-tech either.

Another example is the fully panoramic sunroof without a sunshade that has become a public enemy this summer. Even our company driver, Mr. Car-card, was eventually defeated by the sun. According to “Panoramic Sunroof Looks Pretty, but…,” the sunroof can block 99.9% of ultraviolet rays, but whether it can block heat or not is another matter.

Ultraviolet rays only account for 10% of sunlight, while infrared and visible light are the major contributors to heat. Different manufacturers have rushed to label their products as “99.9% ultraviolet-resistant,” purely to lure customers into forgetting their middle school physics knowledge and falling into the cognitive trap of “Ultraviolet rays determine the heat or not,” or being “bamboozled.”

That’s why the M5 EV goes a step further and uses “industry-leading aerospace-grade double-layer silver-plated insulation technology.” Despite its name that you probably won’t remember after reading it, which is reminiscent of the thick stench of “Dual-Turbocharged Liquid-Cooled Passive and Active Integrated Mid-Engine Heat Dissipation System” found in the mobile phone market (I’m not making this up), the metal coating does indeed follow the same insulation principle as Low-E glass.

According to the manufacturer, the surface temperature of the insulated sunroof of the M5 EV during hot and sunny weather can be 20 degrees Celsius lower than that of a competing product that starts with “T” and ends with “A.” We cannot verify the accuracy of this data, as there is no actual testing or personal experience, but the fact is that the M5 EV sunroof is equipped with low-emissivity glass that has cooling effects.

Yu Chengdong also stated that the M5 EV comes with a detachable insulation board, so if the heat becomes unbearable and even the insulated glass cannot handle it, there is a solution.

“What about Tesla? What about Model Y? Quick, bring them up and embarrass them.”As for the car interior charging configuration, which has always been a point of pride for the industry, the dream combination of 2 40W wireless fast charging, 3 66W wired fast charging, and 1 18W wired fast charging that the M5 EV boasts of, cannot be easily matched even if you add up all the models from the various BBA carmakers. Here, “industry’s strongest” is a well-deserved title.

The sun visor makeup mirror has been upgraded once again, with the team using the spirit of craftsmanship in the style of Luo Yonghao to carefully design these small items that are usually far from the spotlight. The M5 EV now features an amazing 9-speed adjustable Super Queen Mirror, with 3 levels of brightness and even 3 levels of color temperature adjustment. The next step is probably to install lights for in-car live streaming without additional equipment.

When SF MOTORS, Jin Guo, and Cygnus, obscure supporting actors who were almost unknown, were transformed overnight into bestselling newcomers with sales exceeding ten thousand a month, it was certainly thanks to Huawei and its store support, but upon closer reflection, Huawei also made objective contributions in terms of user needs and innovative functionality.

Just like what was said in “The Million-Dollar Luxury Car in the Huawei Store” when the M7 was launched, people are often attracted by Yu Chengdong’s amazing quotes, but they ignore the value and reflection that are hidden within the product itself. Yu Chengdong’s “million dollar luxury car” comment prompted He XPeng to want to throw his shoes at him, but the product itself should be viewed with a level head.

The differentiated innovation that the team has achieved is usually not in new features or cutting-edge technology. Whether it’s the zero-gravity seat of the M7 or the HUD of the M5 EV intelligently adjusting height, there are no new technologies that are difficult to understand, nor are they things that other car manufacturers cannot do absolutely, but the team, with the help of Huawei, is able to conceive of and execute them brilliantly.

The reason why independent automakers are often stuck in low-priced cars is not because they cannot afford to have luxurious configurations, but instead it is due to their lack of ability to control the efficiency-to-cost ratio when it comes to “how to pile materials”. This is precisely an advantage for consumer electronics manufacturers like Huawei. It is like a magical seasoning brought from Songshan Lake that turns a previously unsuccessful Cygnus into a treasure.

The current situation of steady and successful pure electric cars.Entering the pure electric market is only a matter of time for WM Motor, as range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) are the closest form of hybridization to pure electric vehicles. The new energy identity of WM Motor certainly needs pure electric to strengthen itself. In fact, for the REEV M5, some users who know nothing about cars simply use it as a pure electric vehicle and only realize how to use the range-extended system inadvertently.

The M5 EV has only two versions, differentiated by their power. The Standard version and the Performance version are equipped with a 200kW single motor rear-wheel drive and a front 165kW/rear 200kW dual motor four-wheel drive, respectively. Their 0-100 km/h acceleration times are 7.1s and 4.5s, respectively.

Based on the range-extended version but abandoning the combustion engine, the M5 EV battery pack has been enlarged to 80kWh with lithium iron phosphate batteries. Due to the same battery but different motors, the CLTC range of the Standard version is 620km, while that of the Performance version is 552km.

For the 80kWh battery capacity, 620km for the CLTC range is relatively high among its peers, while the rear-wheel drive Model Y with a 78kWh battery capacity can only reach 545km. However, it should be noted that this is CLTC range, and Yu Chengdong also said that WM Motor has made special optimizations for CLTC, which may cause some doubts about the solidness of this 620km range… Sometimes the rhetoric of press conferences can backfire.

After becoming a pure electric vehicle, M5 EV also uses a heat pump air conditioner, which is good news for winter range preservation.

Regarding charging, there was not much talk in the press conference. In accordance with the universal principle of “what’s not mentioned is not important,” checking WM Motor’s official website, the fastest charging time given is 30%-80% in half an hour, corresponding to a maximum power of about 80kW. Considering that WM Motor really has no time to make changes to the entire vehicle voltage architecture, the charging speed of M5 EV can only barely meet current standards.

With both range-extended and pure electric versions, and almost simultaneous release dates, it is evident that the M5 EV does not belong solely to the pure electric platform. However, as demonstrated by BYD and BMW, whether a vehicle is based on a pure electric platform cannot be the only standard. The data on the M5 EV’s range and electricity consumption also illustrates this point.

After electrification, the M5 EV still leaves an 80L front trunk in the front compartment, which to some extent proves the integration of its electric drive system.As Huawei’s killer technology, the M5 EV is launching the Huawei Dynamic Adaptive Torque System (HUAWEI DATS) for the first time. It’s a system that utilizes motor torque output adjustment to improve the ride comfort of vehicles on bumpy roads. Huawei has great confidence in the NVH and chassis performance of the M5 EV, thus leading to the competitive edge mentioned earlier in the article.

Under the existing framework of the automobile industry and with the M5’s technical conditions, the M5 EV has achieved excellent performance comparable to a pure electric vehicle, with some unexpected highlights. For instance, good ride comfort and endurance which exceed the specifications, a front trunk that is not yet widespread today, and a series of innovative and clever design features.

What Huawei can’t improve with this model is charging performance, which is not very advanced at this stage. Despite the successive leading edge embodied by this model as pointed out by Yu Chengdong, the M5 EV is ultimately a product limited by the shackles of M5. It is used by the industry to “emulate reality” and is therefore a pure electric model that needs to compete with the M5.

The significance of the M5 EV is that it’s the industry’s first entry into the world of pure electric cars and the first embrace of true zero emissions. After just proving their capabilities in the extended range game, the industry now needs to abandon range boosting and compete fiercely in the pure electric arena. By winning the first battle, the industry will then be able to determine the direction of the next step: whether it will take place in the “ideal” or whether it will aim directly at “Tesla”.

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.