NV, the new SUV model by Self-Driving Cars, is officially announced to be on the market
Author: Mingzhi Sun
Editor: Xianzhi Wu
On October 8th, Self-Driving Cars announced that their luxurious, medium to large-sized city exploring SUV, the NV, is now officially on the market. The vehicle has two models – pure electric version and extended-range version. The pure electric standard and long-life versions are priced at RMB 278,800 and RMB 318,800 respectively, while the extended-range version is priced at RMB 288,800. The NV will be delivered in December 2022.
In 2020, Yi-Nan Li’s car project was named NIUTRON and it has been ongoing for three years. The company’s first car model, NV, was originally scheduled to be released on March 31, 2022. However, due to the pandemic, the car’s release was delayed until October 8th, 2022.
It should be noted that before the release of the NV, the company announced its official name change to Mars Rock Technology to avoid confusion among users regarding the relationship between its English trademark “NIUTRON”, “Self-Driving Cars”, and NIUTRON New Energy. The name NIUTRON New Energy will no longer be used in any situation.
Unexpectedly, the founder of Baidu, Robin Li, criticized the company shortly after the release of the NV.
As the first vehicle model of Mars Rock Technology, the NV is positioned by the company as a luxurious SUV for exploring the city, which mainly targets the city’s light off-road vehicles for travel and exploration.
Moreover, the NV is following the same product strategy as Chang’an’s Deep Blue SL03, which is based on its own GEMINI twin power module and launched both pure electric and extended-range versions.
The pure electric version of NV is suitable for daily commuting in the city and short-distance travel, while the extended-range version is more suitable for long-distance travel and trips to suburban areas. Consumers can choose different power versions and driving ranges for different travel needs.
The NV is a vehicle model designed to target young people for travel. To some extent, it can be seen as a combination of the two car models, the XPeng G3i and the Li Xiang L7.
Although all three models are 5-seater car models, XPeng G3i is a pure electric car model that is more geared toward young users in appearance and configuration. Li Xiang L7 is mainly used for family travel and is an extended-range car model that emphasizes its own “Daddy’s car” attributes. NV combines some of the characteristics of the first two car models and is an automotive product that mainly targets young users for travel situations.The Self-Go NV is equipped with a 20-inch wheel hub and supports 7 driving modes, including sports, bounce, off-road, wet slippery roads, etc., catering to the needs of young users and highlighting the product’s own characteristics.
For young users, there is a high demand for electricity when using smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other wireless power devices while traveling. These users may also carry wireless power devices such as drones, cameras, lighting equipment, etc., so having sufficient power supply interfaces in the car becomes more important.
To this end, the Self-Go NV is equipped with two 15W wireless fast charging ports in the front row, as well as 4 Type-C and 3 12V power supply interfaces in the car, to meet the user’s power supply needs as much as possible. At the same time, the car has a 220V external discharge interface, supporting two discharge modes of normal 3.3KW and rescue 6KW. The normal mode can meet the user’s electricity demand for camping and cooking, while the rescue mode provides a certain amount of electricity supply for other new energy vehicles traveling together.
To demonstrate differentiation, the Self-Go NV uses a 15.6-inch vertical center console screen, similar to the G3i, instead of multiple screens for multiple passengers like the L7. However, in terms of interior space, the Self-Go NV is more similar to the L7, with a large internal space, to a certain extent ensuring the comfort of passengers. The “Queen Seat” is also equipped with leg support and a larger electric adjustment range.
Looking at the size data of the car body, the Self-Go NV’s car body size parameters are similar to L7, with better interior space performance than G3i. The price of this car is between G3i and L7, and there will be more consumers who can afford this price than L7.
However, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Motors, doesn’t agree with comparing this product with L7. He responded on his personal Weibo account, saying, “It’s still far from L6, why compare it with L7?”
There is no obvious shortcoming, but a lack of memory points for the Self-Go NV. The car lights are similar to the NIU electric bike, but the appearance of the whole car is not so attractive, which is the main problem of the car – having highlights, but being self-contradictory.The self-driving family NV comes standard with 120 core configurations, similar to the Changan Shenlan SL03, and the standard configuration is top-of-the-line. Consumers only need to consider power and endurance when choosing. However, as a luxury car, the self-driving family NV focuses on highlighting its cost-effectiveness in configuration.
Additionally, the self-driving family NV is equipped with an iAWD smart dual-motor four-wheel drive system. The peak total power of the dual-motors in the all-electric version is 280KW, with peak torque of 526N·m, and the extended-range version is 270KW, 452N·m peak torque. The overall acceleration of the series is 5.9 seconds per 100 kilometers. Most other vehicles in the same class require an additional fee for four-wheel drive.
However, the self-driving family NV has a relatively small battery capacity, with the two all-electric models having battery capacities of 65KWh and 86KWh, which has a certain impact on the vehicle’s endurance mileage. The long-range version of the self-driving family NV only has a range of 560km, while many other vehicles in the same class have surpassed 600km, such as the BYD Tang EV with a range of 600km, and a maximum range of 730km.
In terms of intelligent driving, the self-driving family NV is equipped with 29 super-sensing sensors, which can achieve L2 intelligent auxiliary driving at high speeds and in the city. Key functions of L2-level intelligent driving assistance need to be purchased as an additional option, and the standard intelligent driving assistance functions are not particularly advanced. In terms of intelligent driving assistance, the self-driving family NV is relatively backward compared to brands such as Weixiao Li and Tesla.
In the new energy vehicle market with a price of around RMB 300,000, the front suspension of many models is in a dual-wishbone form, such as the Voyah Free, NIO ES6, Tesla Model Y, etc. The purpose is to highlight the brand and product’s luxury characteristics, but the self-driving family NV adopts a front McPherson and rear multi-link suspension, which conflicts with the car’s own luxury attributes.
However, the self-driving family NV’s onboard system can realize the simultaneous operation and use of dual systems and dual voice platforms on a split screen, which is indeed a highlight. However, nowadays, the new energy vehicle market is severely “overheated.” Relying solely on this one highlight may not be enough to convince consumers to purchase it.
Last year, when the self-driving family unveiled its new car at a conference, Li Yinan, in response to everyone’s questions about the industry’s “overheated” topic, didn’t rush or pursue uniqueness. He seems to think that Huoxing Technology only needs to stick to its own path, which makes the self-driving family NV have no obvious weaknesses but also lacks memorable selling points.
Its performance is somewhere between the G3i and L7, which cannot ensure that Huoxing Technology will achieve better results than the two. In such an “overheated” market, the lack of distinctive features may be the biggest weakness of the self-driving family NV.
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.