For Landtour, 2022 is a milestone in the brand’s development history.
In June of this year, Landtour FREE officially entered Europe and the first overseas Landtour space opened in Norway. In November, Landtour received nearly 5 billion yuan in Series A financing, becoming the largest first-round financing in the Chinese new energy vehicle industry to date. Also in November, Landtour released the ESSA+SOA intelligent electric bionic architecture.
This also marks Landtour’s software architecture at the forefront of domestic new energy vehicles, and the recently released Zhui Guang is the first model equipped with Landtour’s SOA centralized electronic and electrical architecture.
Zhui Guang also officially announced the presale price:
Based on the battery leasing scheme, the price of the 82kWh version can be reduced by 130,000 yuan and the monthly battery rental fee is 1,680 yuan/month; the price of the 109kWh version can be reduced by 180,000 yuan and the monthly battery rental fee is 2,250 yuan/month:
- The presale price of the 82kWh standard version is 322,900 yuan, and the price after renting the battery is 192,900 yuan;
- The presale price of the 82kWh flagship version is 352,900 yuan, and the price after renting the battery is 222,900 yuan;
- The presale price of the 109kWh long-endurance flagship version is 432,900 yuan, and the price after renting the battery is 252,900 yuan.
From the pricing and battery leasing scheme, it can be clearly seen that Zhui Guang is expected to have a high sales volume.
From Landtour FREE’s entry into Europe to the well-performing Landtour Dreammaker, the market launch of Zhui Guang also marks the initial maturity of Landtour’s product system.
Honestly, for a model that hopes to gain a foothold in the luxury mid-to-large-sized pure electric sedan market, Landtour Zhui Guang faces great pressure. In the price range of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan, there is the IM L7, which focuses on handling and sportiness; and in the price range above 400,000 yuan, there is the NIO ET7, which is known for its luxurious design.So, in this fiercely competitive market, can the upcoming Lucid Air be accommodated?
Driving experience, inheriting advantages
From the Lucid Air FREE with a maximum power of 510 kW and a 0-100 km/h acceleration of 4.3 seconds, to the MPV Lucid Air Dream Edition that provides driving pleasure, impressive driving performance and chassis quality are the most prominent features of Lucid’s products.
I have been fortunate enough to have had deep experiences with both the Lucid Air FREE and Dream Edition. Responsible statements must be made that Lucid’s products are indeed outstanding and mature in terms of driving aspects.
So, in pursuing the quality of the Lucid Air, it is necessary to continue to develop and inherit this excellent tradition. Compared to the asynchronous motor of the first-generation Lucid Air FREE, the Lucid Air has upgraded to a front and rear permanent magnet synchronous motor that balances energy consumption control and power output. Two electric motors can produce a maximum power of 375 kW and a peak torque of 730 N·m:
The standard four-wheel drive for the entire series is worth applauding. Although the Lucid Air is not very competitive compared to the ET7 and L7 in terms of maximum power, the official claimed 0-100 km/h acceleration is still 3.8 seconds.
In the future, we will also look for opportunities to test and verify on the actual vehicle. If this data is true, the most likely possibility is that the Lucid Air’s motor output power curve achieves a later decline. Achieving the same acceleration capability by optimizing the output time of the maximum power is also a more efficient method.
The line-control brake is also currently the mainstream hardware upgrade direction for intelligent electric vehicles. It can not only brake each wheel independently, significantly improving the braking stability but also modify the software to adjust the pedal characteristics and braking effect according to the driver’s needs.
The Lucid Air also uses the One Box line-control braking system, improving the response speed by 25%. Reflected in the data, the stopping distance of the Lucid Air when it reaches 100 km/h is 33.8 m. The official statement claims it can continuously accelerate and decelerate ten times with no decrease in power and braking performance.
However, the two real testing scenarios that truly test the chassis are “bends” and “bumps”.
Firstly, the hardware foundation determines the upper limit of the tuning. The pursuit of lightness of the chassis adopts a front double-wishbone + rear five-link independent suspension structure, with aluminum alloy accounting for over 90%. At the same time, through hollow casting, forging, high-pressure casting and other processes, the quality of the spring is further reduced.
Secondly, the torque distribution capability of the four-wheel drive system is the icing on the cake for handling. Voyah independently developed an IGBT power module, which is also the first IGBT module in China with completely independent intellectual property rights. For electric vehicles, IGBT is one of the core technologies, and its quality directly affects the speed of power release of electric vehicles. This also enables the Pursuit of Light to achieve intelligent distribution of front and rear torque of 0-100%, further expanding the limit of handling.
As the newest and most mature product under Voyah, a mid-to-large-sized sedan car must not only focus on chassis and handling but also cannot give up on comfort. Therefore, the “magic carpet suspension” that was once seen on the Dreamer is also mounted on the Pursuit of Light.
Similar to the magic body of the Mercedes-Maybach, the front-view camera of the Pursuit of Light scans the ground at a speed of 30 frames per second, and at the same time, the acceleration sensor of the vehicle monitors the “lateral and longitudinal acceleration” and “steering angle” of the vehicle at a speed of 500 times/second, and adjusts the damping of the CDC suspension at a speed of 100 times/second during the driving process.
On the Dreamer, this system gave an excellent driving experience to an MPV. On the higher-limit Pursuit of Light, my expectations for it have also become higher.
Range of 730 km, Energy Management Enters the Top Tier?
In terms of battery pack configuration, the Pursuit of Light has two choices of 82 kWh and 109 kWh. At the press conference, the moment that surprised me the most was when the Pursuit of Light announced the range.
Based on the full four-wheel drive system, the 82 kWh version of the Pursuit of Light can provide a range of 580 km under CLTC working conditions, while the 109 kWh version can go straight to 730 km.
Horizontally speaking, this battery pack configuration is very smart. For most consumers, there are two types of demand for pure electric vehicle models: one is to satisfy the urban use with sufficient cruising range, and the battery capacity should be as balanced as possible; the other is to use the electric car as a gasoline car with as long cruising range as possible.
The battery pack configuration of Voyah CHASING LIGHT meets the requirements of both types of consumers mentioned above. For the first type of consumers, the matching of 75 kWh and CLTC 530 km on NIO ET7 may be somewhat cramped, while the configuration of 82 kWh and CLTC 580 km on CHASING LIGHT is a better compromise.
For the second type of consumer, the 109 kWh capacity and 730 km cruising range of CHASING LIGHT are the longest among the currently mass-produced four-wheel-drive pure electric sedans, and it can fully meet the needs of long-distance travel.
Regarding the problem of poor lithium battery activity in winter, Voyah said that CHASING LIGHT can still ensure the release of 90% of battery performance in an environment of minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that the 82 kWh battery pack carried by CHASING LIGHT is the world’s first mass-produced semi-solid-state battery pack.
The improvement in cruising range is due to Voyah’s significantly improved energy management level. I remember driving the dual-motor Voyah FREE last year, with the same front and rear AC asynchronous motors as the first-generation NIO ES8, which approached 27 kWh in smooth driving energy consumption. Now, the official power consumption of CHASING LIGHT equipped with permanent magnet synchronous motors is only 15.6 kWh/100 km, which is even more impressive than the performance of NIO ET7 (16 kWh/100 km).
On the other hand, ZHIJI L7, restricted by the 90 kWh battery pack, still has 55 km less cruising range than the CHASING LIGHT 109 kWh version even after removing one motor. This also indirectly reflects that Voyah has indeed made a lot of efforts in energy management in recent years.
In terms of charging speed, CHASING LIGHT has a peak charging power of 230 kW and can achieve a cruising range increase of 230 km in 10 minutes at the fastest. Among opponents on the 400 V platform today, this performance is indeed commendable.
I’m really curious about the dynamic performance of Chasing Light (the car model name). After we get the actual car, we will bring you the real test data on various dimensions of Chasing Light as soon as possible.
Oriental Aesthetics Understood by Voyah
After reading the above content, you should know that Chasing Light is not a mid-to-large-sized car that only goes for a steady route. From a certain perspective, Voyah is a car company that understands the Eastern philosophy.
Oriental aesthetics emphasizes “hiding its edge and not going to extremes” in order to prevent any particular aspect from becoming paranoid and extreme. This is also the basic logic behind the exterior-to-interior design of Chasing Light.
In terms of exterior size, Chasing Light is at the same level as NIO ET7 and ZhiJi L7:
The length of over five meters and the wheelbase of three meters provide a foundation for interior space. The short rear overhang design provides 1,940mm of interior seating space. For reference, the EQS provides 1,938mm.
Design-wise, in contrast to the sports style of ET7 and L7, the visual impression of Chasing Light is obviously more stable. Based on the exterior design of the Voyah i-Land concept car, the continuous headlights are preserved, and the large intake grille on the FREE and Dreamer trims is reduced in size, with a fang-like design on both sides of the front face.
The aerodynamic design of the car body has been optimized, with a drag coefficient of 0.22, and the semi-closed low-rolling-resistance wheels contribute to the power. However, the wheel covers of the same color as the body are too visually disruptive on a mid-to-large sized car, and switching to a metal-colored wheel would greatly improve the visual effect.
The continuous taillights have a strong familial style, and the arrow-like structure within the left and right lamp groups is also relatively sharp. The electrically operated tail wing is rather interesting as it is not simply decorative; the LanTu team indicates that the tail wing can provide a maximum downforce of 40 kg, increasing stability during high-speed driving.
The appearance is a subjective evaluation dimension. On the FREE and Dreamer models, the design of the LanTu has received good reviews. For the Taillight model, the LanTu retains a stable tone and adds some color through the electric spoilers and sporty front bumper.
For LanTu’s target audience, such a compromise appearance may be more suitable, neither too flamboyant nor too dull.
Smart, taking it to the next level
Cabin, high playability
First, let’s take a look at the interior design of the LanTu Taillight.
The large screen composed of three screens on the LanTu FREE adopts the design of inlaying on the instrument panel, while the Taillight adopts a suspended design. Through ToF lenses, the Taillight supports three dynamic gestures: left and right waving, up and down waving, and front and back pushing.
In addition to dynamic gestures, the Taillight also supports five static gestures, covering common functions such as “confirm,” “selfie,” “answer/reject phone calls,” and “play/pause.”
The four-audio-zone voice system equipped on the Taillight also supports natural language usage, as well as recognition functions such as inheriting and synchronizing context information, multiple semantics, and mutually exclusive semantics.
On the Taillight, physical buttons have almost been eliminated. The gear lever on the FREE and Dreamer has been replaced with a knob, which looks more concise overall. Under the center console, a new control center has been added to operate functions such as air conditioning.
In terms of defining features, we can see more mature thinking about the Voyah image from Chasing Light. For example, in the “VIP movie viewing mode”, the front seats can be easily folded down to form a comfortable sofa with the rear seats. In addition, the car is equipped with Tencent Video, Bilibili, built-in KTV music library, with the Dynaudio sound system and wireless microphone, providing excellent in-cabin entertainment.
Based on the central centralized SOA electronic and electrical architecture, Chasing Light has made great progress in the soft and hard decoupling, and we can also see more gameplay.
As an example, in the “World Cup” mode, when the user enters the cabin, it will automatically open the settings. The car seats will automatically switch to VIP movie viewing mode, and aroma will be turned on synchronously. The air conditioning will also be adjusted to the appropriate temperature.
According to the settings, the ambient lights can also be automatically turned on, becoming the color of the owner’s supported team. The music will also synchronize with the World Cup’s theme song.
In the future, Voyah will also launch a developer platform. Software developers and users can independently develop intelligent applications that meet their own needs and improve the driving experience, and provide sharing and downloading to create an application ecosystem.
Intelligence is an icing on the cake. Comfort, especially rear comfort, is obviously the basic skill of mid- to large-sized cars.
Chasing Light’s four seats have heating, ventilation, and massage functions, and the backrest angle of the rear seats is adjustable from 27° to 35° with 7° pitch adjustment. The 7-inch touch screen controller on the rear center armrest can control audio, heating, ventilation, ambient lights and other functions. Compared to the touch screen placed on the central armrest, this position is more convenient to operate.
The rear seats of the Chasing Light may be the first tier of pure electric mid-size cars. Whether it is the adjustability of the rear seat backrest angle or the only rear leg support in the same class, Chasing Light has not forgotten the basic functions of a mid-size sedan while pursuing perfect driving experience.
More Functions for Advanced Driving Assistance
Voyah Chasing Light is equipped with 31 sensors, including 12 cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 2 high-precision positioning units.
Although they did not choose the radical LiDAR route, Chasing Light’s functional level in ADAS has been improved after the accumulation of the first two products.
On Voyah FREE, the assisted driving based on Bosch’s solutions is relatively basic. In addition to the basic functions such as ACC and LKA, Chasing Light also added NOA autonomous navigation driving with functions such as parallel avoidance, road edge avoidance, and optimal lane selection.
Another highlight of the Chasing Light is the intelligent parking function. The “remote parking” function can achieve a self-selected parking space of up to 30 meters in straight-line cruising. In daily life, when someone contacts you to move the car, the “remote parking” function of Chasing Light can be operated at home through network connection.
With the “memory parking” function, Chasing Light can automatically park and recall itself after learning once. For fixed parking spaces at home or office, this function can indeed reduce the pressure on the driver in the fixed scene of “parking”.
With the preparation for the launch conference, I am looking forward to experiencing the Chasing Light in person. I am also curious whether Chasing Light can become the most mature product in the assisted driving under Voyah.
Final Words
Going back to the beginning of the question: Can a Voyah Chasing Light compete in this fiercely competitive market?
We cannot ignore the competitiveness regardless of the price. We can see that the 82 kW·h version of Chasing Light is priced at RMB 322,900 to 352,900, which is highly coincident with the price of NIO ET5. But don’t forget, this is a mid-size sedan that is comparable to ET7 in size.
The price of the Chasing Light has been further lowered to 192,900-222,900 yuan by battery installment payments. For a pure electric medium to large-sized sedan with front and rear dual motors as standard, accelerating 3.8 seconds, and fully equipped with comfort configurations, this price is competitive.
And don’t forget, this car is likely to launch a hybrid version at a starting price of less than 300,000 yuan in the near future. On the product definition and pricing strategy of the Chasing Light, Voyah’s capabilities are clearly more mature than its previous products.
According to the previous plan, Voyah will strategically layout more models of SUVs, MPVs, and sedans, releasing one new model per year. As the first Chasing Light equipped with the SOA central electronic and electrical architecture, it has set a good precedent for future products.
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.