Ideal Auto brings its L7, L8, and L9 models to the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition and announces its “Dual-energy Strategy” of comprehensive efforts in “Intelligence” and “Electricity”.
On the “Intelligence” front, Ideal announces that the AD Max 3.0’s City NOA navigation-assisted driving will start pushing in the second quarter and complete ground promotion in 100 cities before the end of the year.
On the “Electricity” front, Ideal Auto launches an 800V supercharge pure electric solution, officially entering a new stage of “extended-range electric” and “high-voltage pure electric” driving. By 2025, Ideal Auto will have a product layout of “1 flagship model + 5 extended-range electric models + 5 high-voltage pure electric models,” targeting the market of over 200,000 and fully meeting the needs of home users.
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At the same time, at the press conference, Lixiang Auto signed a “comprehensive strategic agreement” with CATL. The first pure electric car of Lixiang Auto will become the world’s first model equipped with 4C Kirin battery.
Dr. Lang Xianpeng, Vice President of Smart Driving at Lixiang Auto, said:
“Smart driving of Lixiang Auto has officially entered the 3.0 era. Its release will completely free the Lixiang Auto Max model from the dependence on high-precision maps, enabling real-time perception, decision-making, and planning similar to human drivers, thereby achieving independent passage in complex urban environments and bringing users a truly usable intelligent driving system. Lixiang AD Max is an asset to users, not a cost.”
Ma Donghui, President and Chief Engineer of Lixiang Auto, said:
“Lixiang Auto has released an 800V supercharging pure electric solution, combining high-voltage electric drive system based on the third generation of power semiconductors, batteries with 4C charging capability, wide-temperature range thermal management system, and 4C supercharging network, achieving a charging experience of ’10 minutes charging, 400 kilometers endurance’, bringing charging efficiency from the 2G to the 5G era. In the future, range-extended electric vehicles and high-voltage pure electric vehicles will jointly bring users energy supplement experience comparable to fuel vehicles and ultimately achieve the goal of large-scale replacement of fuel vehicles.”
Liu Jie, Vice President of Business at Lixiang Auto, said:
“In the first quarter of just past, Lixiang Auto delivered a total of 52,584 new cars, an increase of 65.8% compared to the first quarter of 2022, ranking first with sales over 300,000 yuan among new energy brands, and also ranking first in the sales of 300,000-500,000 yuan SUV, including fuel vehicles. As of now, Lixiang Auto’s cumulative delivery has exceeded 320,000 vehicles. Creating a mobile home, creating a happy home, is the mission of Lixiang Auto. Here, we are grateful for the support and trust of 320,000 families in Lixiang Auto.”
## Smart Strategy: Ideal Intelligent Driving Enters the 3.0 Era
Ideal intelligent driving has entered the 3.0 era, from highway scenarios to city scenarios.
**Prediction and Planning: Real-time output of future action trajectories of traffic participants, providing accurate information for decision-making and planning.**
In the upcoming city NOA navigation assisted driving algorithm, Ideal Motors uses three neural network large-scale models: static BEV network algorithm, dynamic BEV network algorithm, and Occupancy network algorithm for reduction, and uses NeRF technology to enhance the Occupancy network algorithm to achieve higher accuracy and details.
Static BEV can supplement the road structure even when part of the camera is blocked and lane lines are blurry, solving the problem of real-time high-precision map data; The dynamic BEV neural network has a certain "mind-reading" ability and is highly similar to the way humans think. For example, when vehicles appear in the field of view of multiple cameras at the same time, the dynamic BEV can stably track and perceive the distance and speed of the object; The Occupancy network algorithm can Data modeling of the physical world, and can restore the real scene of the physical world through pure vision, such as "universal obstacles" such as trash cans and temporary construction signs on the road. Based on the perception results of the above three neural network large-scale models, the system will output real-time trajectory prediction results of all surrounding traffic participants, which can provide accurate information for decision-making and planning of Ideal Motors' intelligent driving system in complex urban scenarios.```
**Training and Perception: Having the Largest Autonomous Driving Training Mileage in China**
Through the continuous accumulation of the past five years, Ideal has owned the most intelligent driving training mileage in China. The training mileage exceeds 400 million kilometers, with a total duration of more than 10.74 million hours, equivalent to a car driving non-stop for 1226 years. And these data are still increasing exponentially. It is expected that Ideal's training mileage will double again next year.
**The City NOA Navigation Assisted Driving System of Ideal AD Max 3.0 Will Start to Be Pushed to Internal Test Users in the Second Quarter of This Year**
**The City NOA navigation assisted driving system of Ideal AD Max 3.0 will begin to be pushed to internal test users from the second quarter of this year. By the end of 2023, the pushed domestic cities will exceed 100**, using one set of technology to fully connect the city and high speed. Part of the intelligent driving capabilities based on large-scale model training will also be released to users who adopt the Ideal AD Pro hardware model. At the same time, Ideal AD Max 3.0 will be perfectly integrated with Ideal 4C Super Charging Station, making it more convenient to go to the super charging station than to go to the gas station.
**Ideal insists on equipping intelligent driving, and the software and services of the NOA navigation assisted driving system of Ideal AD Max 3.0 are provided free of charge for lifetime**. Intelligent driving will become the real high-value asset of users, rather than a long-term cost burden, and such assets will also be fully reflected in the second-hand car trading.
## Power Strategy: A New Stage of Range Extender and Pure Electric Driving Together
On the pure electric platform, Ideal hopes to enable the family's travel range not only limited to the city, and the complement experience of pure electric users will be the same as refueling.
**800V Super Charging Pure Electric Solution: Make Users Say Goodbye to Range Anxiety and Have a Refueling-Like Replenishment Experience**
In response to the range anxiety problem of new energy vehicle users, Ideal has deeply cultivated core technology and proposed an 800V Super Charging Pure Electric Solution. This set of solutions includes an 800V high-voltage electric drive system based on third-generation power semiconductor silicon carbide technology, batteries with 4C charging capacity, and a self-developed full-stack thermal management system. It increases the charging speed while improving energy efficiency, allowing users to achieve higher charging efficiency and a longer range in various environments.
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Self-developed high-voltage electric drive system assists in improving vehicle energy efficiency in all scenarios.
Ideal automobile’s next-generation self-developed electric drive system will adopt the 800V silicon carbide power module with overall optimized design and advanced resource integration, achieving breakthrough efficiency indicators. The application of the third-generation power semiconductor SiC technology is the key to improving efficiency, and the ability of SiC chips also determines the upper limit of drive performance.
Ideal automobile will adopt a combination of self-developed outsourcing and external procurement strategy, which not only guarantees the supply better but also makes the ideal automobile’s silicon carbide power chips 6\% current ability improvement compared to industry-leading products in the same area by autonomous system-level design optimization, providing stronger power.
At the same time, Ideal automobile’s self-developed 800V silicon carbide power module can support up to 480A of current output, and the module area can be reduced by 50\% compared to mainstream products of the industry with comparable performance at the same current ability. The volume advantage of self-developed power module combined with the integrated design of the motor controller compresses the motor controller to within 4L, and the power density is as high as 62kW/L, thereby reducing the volume and weight of the electric drive system, further optimizing the space and energy consumption of the vehicle.
In addition, in order to solve the problem of charging high-voltage electric vehicles on low-voltage charging piles, Ideal automobile innovatively provides a deeply integrated boost charging solution. By using the inductance characteristics of the motor winding, the electric drive system can be transformed into a boost power supply, allowing users to obtain a fast charging experience of up to 150kW on charging piles with voltages of 750V and below, and the highest charging efficiency can reach 98\%.
Ideal automobile’s self-developed high-voltage electric drive system adopts the third-generation silicon carbide power module and deeply integrated boost charging function, which not only improves the energy efficiency but also covers the fast-charging and energy supplement functions of all scenarios, allowing users to obtain longer range and more convenient fast charging experience in various environments.
Partnering with CATL for dual safety protection in fast charging.
“`To achieve the best fast charging experience for all temperature ranges, Ideal Automotive has collaborated closely with CATL to create the leading fast charging capabilities of the 4C Kirin battery by starting from the design of cell overcharge and battery heat exchange performance.
As for the cell design, the 4C Kirin battery adopts advanced technologies such as high-capacity graphite anode, the cathode with low impedance surface coating, high-conductivity electrolyte, and high-current density top cover design, which enabling the cell to achieve 4C fast charging, and even up to a maximum of 5C. Meanwhile, Ideal Automotive defines the cell design requirements through building a high-precision, multi-field electric-thermal-power model, achieving an ultra-low internal resistance design of 0.3mΩ from multiple dimensions, and significantly reducing the heat generated during the cell overcharge process.
To address the cell heating and cooling issue, the 4C Kirin battery utilizes a dual-side large-area cooling technology which can increase the cell heat exchange area by 5 times compared to the traditional liquid cool base, reduce the thermal resistance by 75\%, and achieve a maximum heat transfer power of 16kW under high-temperature refrigeration. While under low-temperature heating, it can also achieve a 1.6°C increase in cell temperature within one minute. With advantages in various leading technologies, the 4C Kirin battery can achieve an industry-leading and improved charging path at all temperature ranges, with a maximum charging power of 480kW at room temperature and 220kW at low temperatures.
Moreover, with the innovative battery pack integrated design, the number of components in the 4C Kirin battery is reduced by 40\%, and the space utilization is increased by 15\%, maximally providing space for family members in a car.
Ideal Automotive employs a self-developed battery safety cloud early warning system and machine learning battery feature model to fully cover the potential failure modes of the battery, guarding the users’ car safety throughout their entire life cycle. Meanwhile, the Kirin battery’s structure has excellent safety performance. Even in extreme experimental conditions where the battery temperature is heated to 50℃ and the liquid cooling system is turned off, causing a thermal runaway of the cell, the battery has not yet had thermal propagation, and there is no visible fire. This performance is far higher than the industry standard, escorting the safety of every Ideal Automotive user.
The self-developed full-stack thermal management system by Ideal Automotive safeguards broad-temperature-range fast charging. The super heat pump system with ultra-strong cooling and heating capabilities can achieve a balanced wide-temperature range and energy efficiency. In the summer, the system can provide more than 12kW of battery cooling capacity. Facing a cold environment of 0°C in winter, the heating efficiency can still reach over COP3.5. By efficiently utilizing the excess heat of the vehicle, even under the ultra-low temperature driving scene of -25°C, the COP of the heating pump can still be over 1.6, reducing winter heating energy consumption by 35\% compared to PTC scheme.“`markdown
同时，理想汽车热管理超级模块集成了阀体、泵、气分和换热器等 16 个主要功能部件，让系统零部件大幅减少，并实现物理零部件与电控分离。
全面完善的智能充电网络布局：实现 「充电 10 分钟，续航 400 公里」。
为降低纯电车型用户因充电 「不自由」和 「不确定性」 带来的 「不安全感」，理想汽车正式推出 「理想 4C 超级充电站」 及超充网络。不同于以单一充电桩为产品的传统思路，「理想 4C 超级充电站」 以整个场站为产品运营的最小模块，通过布署四颗摄像头和一枚算力 128TOPS 的智能感知芯片，实现了智能交互、智能运营和智能安防。未来，理想 4C 超充站还将实现场站信息与车机和手机 App 实时同步，全面优化充电体验，解决充电慢、排队时间长、充电桩无法正常使用等问题，进一步提升充电的 「确定性」，为用户带来媲美 「加油」 般的补能体验。
同时，理想汽车 4C 超充桩可达到 480 千瓦的最大输出功率，配合理想 4C 车型可实现充电 10 分钟增加 400 公里续航的快速补能，结合场站的功率柔性分配功能，可以基于充电桩的使用率灵活分配各充电桩的输出功率，让每一位用户都能获得更好的充电体验。不仅如此，得益于高效的液冷技术，4C 超充枪线线径控制在 24mm，且重量相比传统超充枪线减少 50\%，可以轻松单手持握，同时充电桩满载工作时，车内噪声控制在 53 分贝以下，带来更静谧的充电体验。结合 47 项安全设计和 8 项主动防护策略，超充系统还为用户实现了更全面的安全防护。
为了让更多理想汽车用户都能享受更便捷的补能体验，5 月底前，首批 25 个理想 4C 超充站将陆续开启试运营。理想 4C 超充站将对所有新能源车型开放，超充网络也将在未来 3 年内快速得到完善，为广大车主提供更可靠的高速出行补能体验。到 2023 年底，理想汽车目标建设完成超过 300 座高速超充站，覆盖京津冀、长三角、大湾区和成渝地区四大经济带 70\% 的高速里程，国家高速覆盖率预计可达 40\%。到 2025 年，目标建成充电场站 3000 座以上，将覆盖全国 90\% 的国家高速里程以及一二三线主要城市。
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Vehicle Line Planning: 1 Super Flagship Model + 5 Extended-Range Electric Models + 5 High-Voltage Pure Electric Models
With the release of pure electric solutions, next Ideal vehicles will also enter a new phase of extended-range and pure electric. By 2025, Ideal vehicles will form a product lineup of “1 super flagship model + 5 extended-range electric models + 5 high-voltage pure electric models” targeting the market above 200,000 and meeting the needs of household users.
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.