“Freedom Road” by ZIYOUJIA NV.

Author: Twin Turbo Fat Boy

The battle of new forces in the automotive industry is fast-changing and unpredictable. What will the future landscape be like? No one can say for certain, just like when I saw the March sales ranking of new pure electric vehicle models today:

Today, the first product of NIUTRON, the self-driving home NV, released information about range, power, safety, and other aspects for the first time.

Let’s first take a look at some of the core information:

• The self-driving home NV is positioned as a mid to large-sized urban exploration SUV.
• It provides two power versions: pure electric and extended range.
• The pure electric vehicle model has a range of 550km under the CLTC cycle.
• The extended-range model has a range of 939km under the WLTC cycle and 1257km under the CLTC cycle.
• The entire series uses a front and rear dual-motor layout, with standard iAWD intelligent dual-motor four-wheel-drive system, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.9 seconds.
• The extended-range model is equipped with a 1.5T four-cylinder five-in-one range extender with a thermal efficiency of 41.07%.
• The overall battery compartment waterproof rating is up to IP67.
• The high-strength steel and aluminum mixed body and the usage of high-performance materials throughout the vehicle exceed 80.1%, and the proportion of ultra-high-strength materials is 35%.

So today, I plan to analyze this car thoroughly based on all the known information about the self-driving home NV.

The self-driving home must look “free”

Let’s start with the vehicle parameters. The self-driving home NV has a length of 4,915mm, a width of 1,962mm, a height of 1,755mm, and a wheelbase of 2,910mm.

Compared with other mid to large-sized new energy SUV models:

The width and height of the self-driving home NV body are roughly on par with the NIO ES8 and the Li ONE, but the body length is 107mm and 115mm shorter, and the wheelbase is 100mm and 25mm shorter.

Compared with other models such as FAW-Volkswagen ID.6 X, SAIC Volkswagen ID.6 CROZZ, FAW-Audi e-tron, SAIC Audi Q5 e-tron, and Voyah FREE, the length, width, and height of ZYEV’s NV are “slightly dominant” in all three dimensions, but the advantage is not significant, and the wheelbase is slightly shorter.

At the same time, ZYEV’s NV also has a trunk space of 788L, which can be expanded to 1,730L after the seats are folded down. Therefore, the passenger cabin space of ZYEV’s NV may not be dominant.

From the official pictures, it can be seen that ZYEV’s NV is also “quite capable of loading”, as for the passenger space and cargo space, we will share with you after experiencing it.

As for the exterior design, ZYEV’s NV can be considered as a relatively “agile” type, especially the large “dual-track ring-shaped daytime running lights”.

The exterior of ZYEV’s NV also gives me a kind of “uncanny familiarity”:

For example, the square and round appearance similar to Jeep Wrangler….

And the color scheme similar to Baojun KIWI EV.

P.S. 自游家、自由侠，名字也挺像的……

As for the exterior and interior design of each car model, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Let’s take a look at the video of GeekCar participating in the static appreciation of the NV by Ziyoujia:

Ziyoujia should have a “free pace”

This part may be the “highlight” that many people are concerned about. Let’s start by talking about the large and medium-sized pure electric SUV, let’s take a look together:

In this data, we can see that facing the CLTC working conditions that are more suitable for China than the NEDC working conditions, the pure electric version of NV by Ziyoujia has a range of 550km under the CLTC working conditions, which has a good performance in the range of large and medium-sized pure electric SUVs, comparable to most models of the same level.

Let’s take a look at the comparison between the NV by Ziyoujia with the range extender system and the large and medium-sized range extender SUV:

• The range of the LanTu FREE in the NEDC working conditions is 860km

• The range of the LiXiang ONE in the NEDC working conditions is 1080km

• The range of the NV by Ziyoujia is 939km under the WLTC working conditions and 1257km under the CLTC working conditions.

The range of the NV by Ziyoujia with the range extender is 150km under the WLTC working conditions, and the range extender system can provide a range of 789km. As one of the only three large and medium-sized SUVs with range extender that have been officially launched or released, the NV by Ziyoujia with the range extender has comparable performance with the LiXiang ONE and the LanTu FREE in comprehensive working conditions.

In terms of power performance, all models of the ZYOLO NV series are equipped with iAWD intelligent dual-motor four-wheel drive system, which supports 7 driving modes such as sports, off-road, bounce, and wet slippery road.

The maximum output power of the extended range version is 270kW, and the maximum torque is 526N·m, of which the front motor power is 130kW, and the rear motor power is 140kW. The maximum output power of the pure electric version is 280kW and the maximum torque is 452N·m.

The zero-to-one hundred acceleration performance of all models of ZYOLO NV series is 5.9 seconds, which is comparable to the 3.0T version of the Audi Q7, and the acceleration ability meets the needs of most users. At the same time, whether it is a pure electric vehicle or an extended range vehicle, the driving smoothness is incomparable to that of a fuel vehicle.

As for the range extender, when I saw “The extended range version is equipped with a 1.5T four-cylinder five-in-one range extender, and the hot efficiency of Energy Star certification is 41.07%”, I felt that the words “Energy Star” and “41.07%” were particularly familiar, and I obtained information from the official verification that the ZYOLO NV will be equipped with the same range extender as the Voyah Free.

As for other aspects, there are still some unknowns that many people are concerned about, and I am also curious about, such as:

• Quiet performance, especially noise control and the feeling when the range extender is in use;

• Comfort performance, such as seat comfort and chassis comfort during long-distance driving.

As for these unknown information, as well as the real driving and energy consumption performance, we can only rely on the subsequent actual car experience.

ZYOLO should have “free assurance”

First, let’s look at battery safety. The battery module of ZYOLO NV is completely covered by ceramic silicon rubber, and the aerosol material is filled between the battery cells to protect the battery cells from smoking when they are impacted. At the same time, the aerosol and silicone foam also provide a sealing effect for the battery compartment, and the overall battery compartment waterproof rating reaches IP67 level.

In terms of vehicle safety, the Ziyoujia NV adopts a high-strength steel-aluminum hybrid body, with over 80.1% of the vehicle’s high-performance materials using ultra-high-strength materials with tensile strength up to 1500-2000MPa accounting for 35%.

Ziyoujia has “free cockpit”

The Ziyoujia NV is equipped with a full LCD instrument (data unknown) and a vertically positioned 15.6-inch center console screen.

The center console screen is equipped with six linear micro-motion motors for RealTouch tactile feedback, which can provide vibration feedback during interaction.

In addition to the rear air conditioning outlet arranged on the side of the armrest box, the air conditioning outlets on both sides of the front row are also equipped with small screens, which can display information such as the temperature, gear, and PM2.5 value of the air conditioning.

At present, the home page of the Ziyoujia NV’s vehicle system is divided into four parts, namely the status bar at the top, map navigation, driving settings, and bottom Dock bar.

The layout of the driving settings and air conditioning adjustment is more towards the bottom, giving a feeling of a car control screen.

At the same time, in the official picture, we can see that the Ziyoujia NV is equipped with Gaode Map car version, and also supports the Apple CarPlay mobile phone mapping function.

The atmosphere light strip runs across the center console and is connected to the left and right door panels, and the rear door panels are also equipped with atmosphere lights.

As for other more cockpit information, let me summarize:

The front passenger seat is equipped with a queen design.

Equipped with a front and rear segmented glass skyroof;

The Zhongdao model is equipped with two 15W wireless charging pads;

It supports smart wearables and phone-based vehicle unlocking;

All charging ports inside the car use Type-C interfaces, with front row 2 10W ports with data transfer functions, rear row 2 ports with 18W power, and the car is also equipped with 3 12V power outlets.

As for the actual performance of this cockpit, we will borrow a test vehicle in the future and share our experience with everyone.

Finally

Nowadays, with suppliers’ continuous improvement in technology, R&D, and innovation, it’s easy to build a new energy vehicle, but it’s still difficult to build a “good car”.

As for the real experience of the Ziyoujia NV, we currently do not know, but in terms of “on-paper data”, the abilities of the Ziyoujia NV are already comparable to or even surpassing most mid-to-large-sized pure electric and range-extending SUV models.

Also on the same day, the AITO 问界 M7 single-motor version appeared on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s application list, and another mid-to-large-sized range-extending SUV will enter the market:

• Vehicle dimensions: Length 5,020mm, width 1,945mm, height 1,775mm, wheelbase 2,820mm;

• The range extender is the same as the AITO 问界 M5 single-motor version, using a 1.5L four-cylinder range extender with a maximum output of 92 kW and a maximum motor output of 200 kW.

So, how can Ziyoujia Automobile win in brand influence against those brands that have already entered the market? When facing the AITO 问界 M7, can the Ziyoujia NV win against the “Huawei + Salesis” product power?

For Zhiyoujia, it has not been an easy road. Fortunately, with only 4 products in the market of medium-to-large-sized extended-range SUVs, including the upcoming AITO Qianjie M7 and the soon-to-be-produced Zhiyoujia NV, there is still a chance to win. As for whether they can “make a name with one battle”, it depends on the strength and sincerity of their products and prices.

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.