Hosted by the China EV100, and co-organized by Tsinghua University, China Society of Automotive Engineers, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China Automotive Technology & Research Center, and China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, the China EV100 Forum (2023) opened in Beijing.
The forum invited government agencies and representatives from the automotive, energy, transportation, urban, and communication sectors, to discuss global automotive industry trends, high-quality development paths for new energy vehicles, China’s intelligent network-connected vehicle strategy, power battery supply chain trends, new generation automotive consumer trends, automotive and energy collaboration strategies, new transportation energy security systems, commercial vehicle transformation direction, automotive aftermarket innovation paths, and automotive digitalization and intelligent manufacturing models.
In the “International Forum” held this morning, Jinlong Hou, President of Huawei Digital Energy Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a speech. The following are key points of the speech:
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The world is accelerating toward green, low-carbon sustainable development. By 2050, renewable energy generation will increase from the current 25% to 90%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will grow from 2.5% to 70%. Achieving this goal requires breakthroughs in energy structure adjustments, technological innovations, and policy support to increase the proportion of clean energy in total energy consumption.
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The “4T” technologies (Bit, Watt, Heat, Battery) are key drivers of the automotive industry’s electrification and intelligence. The integration of these four technology fields will promote the development of the automotive industry towards low-carbon, environmentally friendly, intelligent, and servitization, providing technical support for transportation electrification.
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To address charging infrastructure, range anxiety, and automotive cost-performance, Huawei released a super-integrated multi-in-one electric drive system, adopting the industry’s highest-efficiency high-voltage electric drive system, with a CLTC efficiency of 92%. Under the same battery configuration, the overall vehicle range can be increased by 4.5%, helping to improve the competitiveness and consumer acceptance of electric vehicles.
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Huawei plans to release its second-generation high-voltage platform power domain solution this year, supporting ultra-fast charging with high voltage, aiming to achieve 200 kilometers of range replenishment in 5 minutes, and unveiling a completely new platform.
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The high-quality development of the charging prospects will be promoted by building high-speed charging infrastructure and collaborating on constructing future charging facilities. Accelerating the popularization and upgrading of electric vehicle charging facilities to support the charging needs of various vehicles, addressing issues such as inadequate charging infrastructure and uneven distribution while promoting the promotion of electric vehicles in the public travel market.6. Huawei will create a “Supercharging Capital” in Guangzhou, establishing over 1,000 ultra-fast supercharging stations in the city. Additionally, Huawei is participating in urban cooperation projects in Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Zhengzhou, collaborating with local governments on projects such as integrated grid, energy storage, and VPP implementation to enhance public charging services and electric mobility experiences, thus promoting the innovation and development of China’s new energy industry.
Below is the original text of the speech:
Respected leaders, distinguished guests, good morning! The topic I am sharing today is “Fusing digital technology and power electronics to drive the integrated development of green energy and transportation electrification.”
We have just heard from various speakers, and today I will mainly share our views from a technical and engineering perspective.
Carbon neutrality should be a common mission and urgent need for all humanity, while digital technology is ushering society into the era of digital civilization. We believe that there are two certain trends for the 21st century: digitalization and decarbonization. Transport industry emissions account for 23% worldwide, exceeding one-fifth, thus the electrification of transportation forms a crucial part of global carbon neutrality.
As we approach the era of carbon neutrality, the world is accelerating its green, low-carbon, and sustainable development. On the electricity generation side, clean energy dominates the energy structure, and the global share of renewable energy generation will increase from the current 25% to 90% by 2050. On the energy usage side, the transportation industry will accelerate its electrification transformation. As we can see, the global penetration rate of new energy will grow from 2.5% now to 70% by 2050, leading to an earlier low-carbon realization in this industry.
We believe that through “4T” technology, which is the recent consensus within our company: first, digital technology (Bit); second, power electronics technology (Watt); third, thermal management technology (Heat); and fourth, energy storage management technology (Battery). The fusion of these four technologies is key to driving the automotive industry’s electrification and intelligentization. Integrative innovation and development require the combination of battery technology, power electronics technology, and digital control technology. Intelligentization is realized through the application of sensing, networking, AI, and other digital technologies to create a seamless, orderly charging experience, autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity, vehicle-road collaboration, and ultimately transforming the user experience.We can see that new energy technologies represented by wind, solar, and storage have rapidly developed in recent years, and can even be described as growing at an accelerated pace. The substitution of clean energy is becoming possible and is accelerating. With the in-depth application of digital technologies such as 5G, AI, and cloud, the automotive industry is swiftly evolving from traditional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, ushering in a new, low-carbon era of smart connected electric driving.
In response to the goals and opportunities of the “dual carbon” era, Huawei integrated its energy business in 2021, bringing together relevant technologies to establish the Digital Energy Technology Company, increasing strategic investment, and promoting industry development through our technology in the low-carbon era. Our company is mainly dedicated to combining digital technology and power electronic technology, focusing on clean power generation, solar + storage, wind + storage, electrification of transportation, and ICT energy infrastructure. We know that there are currently 7.5 million communication sites worldwide, and making these sites green and low-carbon is one of our goals. In addition, we are working on how to make a large amount of data centers intelligent and low-carbon, in order to drive the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy industry.
In the field of transportation electrification, Huawei Digital Energy offers powertrain solutions as well as comprehensive charging network solutions, enhancing user experience and accelerating the electrification process through the high-quality, collaborative development of intelligent electric driving and charging networks. We position ourselves as a provider of powertrain solution components, committed to helping automakers build better vehicles and bring the best driving experience to end-users.
We can see that despite the widespread construction of charging stations, charging is still inconvenient in some scenarios, and concerns about range and cost-effectiveness remain major factors affecting users’ choice of new energy vehicles. I personally experienced this issue as an early adopter of electric vehicles, not daring to drive too far, mostly confined to urban areas.
First, we believe that the layout of charging infrastructure is currently unbalanced, with many short-lived facilities, and a majority of charging stations being unusable or inconvenient. The user experience is subpar, with charging stations that may not support future vehicles, rendering them ineffective. Secondly, charging vehicles face difficulties in ensuring long-distance endurance, especially in low-temperature winter scenarios on highways, with high vehicle energy consumption exacerbating range anxiety. Moreover, as electric vehicle adoption becomes more widespread, particularly in the economy class, consumer expectations include lower prices, more features, and better performance. Consequently, the development of new energy vehicles remains a complex challenge for automakers, with issues such as high costs and lengthy development cycles.Thus, in the field of smart electric vehicles, to accelerate electrification and enhance the cost-effectiveness and competitiveness of A-class electric vehicles, we launched the first super-fusion multi-in-one electric drive system in 2022, which is compact and lightweight, offering users the price of an A-class vehicle, the space and driving experience of a B-class vehicle, while saving development costs and shortening development cycles. We believe that there is still much work to be done in the popularization of electric vehicles in the A-class segment in the future. This year, during the Shanghai Auto Show in April, we will launch the latest super-fusion product, targeting vehicles in this segment.
Moreover, to address concerns about range, we have built the industry’s highest efficiency high-voltage electric drive system in mass production, covering three levels from device to system to vehicle, with a CLTC efficiency of 92%. Compared to existing industry solutions, we can improve efficiency by 3 percentage points, increasing the vehicle’s range by 4.5% under the same battery configuration. This year, we will release the second-generation high-voltage platform power domain solution, supporting high-grade ultra-fast charging. We aim to achieve a range extension of 20 kilometers in just 5 minutes and will launch an entirely new platform.
To achieve convenient electric travel, we will join hands with customers and partners to promote the upgrade of charging facilities. We advocate that charging facilities become a new social infrastructure, balancing social benefits and economic benefits, and implementing unified planning, standards, construction, and operation. We believe that where there are roads, there should be charging facilities, which are still lacking in many places, including less traveled roads. Priority should be given to the development of ultra-fast charging in scenarios such as highways, service areas, the charging stations mentioned by PetroChina, gas stations, and public electric vehicle expressways in cities. At the same time, infrastructure needs to evolve towards higher quality, safety, and upgradability, achieving efficient replenishment, intelligent operation and maintenance, and enhancing user experience and efficiency to reach a sustainable business virtuous cycle. Many of our infrastructure projects may only last 7 to 8 years, or even 10 years, but most are broken within 3 to 5 years or shorter, with very high operation and maintenance costs. I believe most charging facilities do not meet our planned return on investment, and we should balance social and economic benefits. Therefore, high-quality development of charging facilities is a significant challenge we currently face.
To tackle the challenges and demands mentioned above, we will launch the world’s first fully liquid-cooled, photovoltaic-storage-integrated charging architecture this year, achieving a complete upgrade of the charging infrastructure architecture. We support the evolution of photovoltaic-storage-integrated charging, enabling electric vehicles to use renewable energy, while also supporting ultra-fast integrated charging and compatibility with various voltage levels of vehicles, which is crucial as vehicle lifecycles are relatively long. How we can support different voltage levels of vehicles in the same location and with the same charging facilities is also a critical issue.The host module and terminal adopt a fully liquid-cooled architecture. Our main goal is to extend its lifespan, expecting a basic lifespan of 10-15 years for this generation of charging facilities while being compatible and upgradable across all formats to support high-quality infrastructure development and demands for high-power charging in high-voltage fast-charging models. This year, we will achieve high-voltage charging capable of 200 kilometers in 5 minutes, and we have already built a few demonstration stations in Shenzhen and other cities that meet these requirements.
We are now also cooperating with many cities, hoping to build fast-charging infrastructure that accommodates current needs and supports future development, creating an interconnected charging network: urban and highway networks. This year, we will create the world’s first “Supercharging Capital” in Guangzhou, establishing more than 1,000 ultra-fast supercharging stations in the city. We will advance the “charging, energy storage, and discharge” network, VPP implementation, and participate in the entire power grid collaboration and peak regulation. In Chongqing, we cooperate in building an integrated charging, energy storage, and parking network, aiming to unify the construction and management of all parking spaces in the city. We are also cooperating with Zhengzhou in smart charging along with highway services, as a pilot project for integrated parking and charging. These cities continuously improve public charging services, enhance electric travel experiences, and promote national new energy industry innovation and development. We hope that through cooperation with these cities, we can explore a path for the construction of future charging facilities and truly achieve a balance between social and economic benefits.
We are well aware that individual efforts alone are not enough. Huawei Digital Energy will join hands with industry colleagues, customers, and partners in the future, together creating an open and collaborative industrial ecosystem. We aim to contribute to transportation electrification and carbon neutrality goals and build a green and beautiful future.
Congratulations on the successful conclusion of this conference. Thank you all!
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.