Author: Su Qin
In the rising new energy automobile industry, NETA Auto has been performing exceptionally well in the past two years, with continuous achievements.
According to data, in the first half of this year, NETA Auto’s sales volume ranked second behind XPeng Motors, leading ahead of Ideal Motors and Nio Motors, with a cumulative sales volume of 63,131 vehicles. It has become the second highest-selling new energy automobile enterprise, with an astonishing growth rate of 199%. NETA Auto has achieved a year-on-year growth for 24 consecutive months and has maintained an extraordinary momentum.
Currently, in the fierce market competition, survival of new energy automobile enterprises focuses on creating a popular product. However, how to develop and sustain a popular product has become the biggest headache for many enterprises. It requires unique competitiveness that differentiates itself from other competing products.
Obiously, NETA Auto has something different.
NETA S Heavy-Duty Launch with Exemplary Performance
From NETA V to NETA U, NETA’s hot-selling cars are attributed to three words: cost-effectiveness.
On July 31st, NETA S was officially launched, with a guided price range of 1.998-3.388 million yuan. As a medium-to-large-sized coupe model, the new car not only has an extreme sporty appearance and a concise technological interior but also brings NETA S Star Edition’s “Top Ten Highlights” of intelligent new experience.
Despite rising to the highest price of 3.388 million yuan, the cost-effectiveness of NETA S is still prominent.
In terms of appearance, NETA S has a simple and fashionable overall design. The front face adopts a closed design with a stylish split headlight. The sporty design is evident with the sleek body, hidden door handles, 19-inch dual-color multi-spoke wheels, and rounded full tail. The combination of taillights with flowing water design adds to its charm.
In terms of size, the length, width, and height of the new car are 4980 mm * 1980 mm * 1450 mm, respectively, with a wheelbase of 2980 mm, reaching the level of a B + grade sedan. The classic coupe body proportions and a width-to-height ratio of 1.36, coupled with a chassis height of 470mm and a front-to-rear axle load ratio of 50:50, reveal a pure coupe posture.
On the side, NETA S adopts borderless sports doors, and a 1.9 square meter panoramic heat-insulating sunroof on the roof, which can effectively isolate 85% of heat and 99.9% of ultraviolet rays. In terms of lighting design, NETA S is equipped with the “sharp” lighting language system composed of 236 LED beads, which can meet various scene requirements. It is also equipped with a 15mm-5mm gradient thick-walled daytime running light, which further reduces the visual center of gravity of the front of the new car.
The interior of NETA S integrates technology and simplicity. Despite its simplicity, it is not simple. It is equipped with a 17.6-inch ultra-thin 2.5k central control screen, an AR-HUD augmented reality head-up display system, a 12.3-inch co-driver decoration audio screen, a 13.3-inch hidden instrument panel, and a four-screen interaction function. All control buttons are also gathered on the screen, and the four car windows, rear air outlets, and other functions can be operated through human-computer interaction. Even the adjustment of the rear air outlet is designed with touch control.
In terms of configuration, NETA S is equipped with a 21-speaker “Haoyu” sound system, which can output up to 1216W, forming a 720-degree surround sound effect, and has a good immersive audio experience. The floating multifunctional steering wheel adopts a trackball and two touch-controlled custom buttons, which can achieve multifunctional definition. The front seats also have the necessary ventilation, heating, massage and other functions, and all rear seats in the entire series are equipped with 8-way electric adjustment, providing the highest level of comfort for the entire vehicle.On the basis of not affecting the basic interior equipment, NETA S has added a lot of “black technology” to realize more efficient assisted driving. For example, in the selection of intelligent driving, NETA S provides two choices: NETA PILOT 4.0 and NETA PILOT 3.0. Among them, NETA PILOT 4.0 intelligent driving system is equipped with Huawei MDC computing platform with 200TOPS computing power, including 2 solid-state lidars, 11 auxiliary driving cameras, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, high-precision positioning unit, 200TOPS computing power, and high-precision maps and other perception units, which are leading the industry at the same level, can achieve navigation assisted driving on expressways and urban roads, and realize automatic driving assistance in scenarios such as parking and remote summoning.
Among them, the NETA PILOT 3.0 intelligent driving system equipped on the NETA S YaoShi version is relatively basic compared to NETA PILOT 4.0, with 5 millimeter-wave radars and 11 cameras, which can realize multiple intelligent driving assistance functions such as NNP intelligent navigation assistance and memory parking.
In other words, the difference between 4.0 and 3.0 in terms of functions is that in addition to the NCP urban navigation assistance that 3.0 does not have, features such as NNP high-speed navigation assistance, NMS Magic Summon, and NTP Memory Parking are standard for both systems.
Whether it is the equipment of high-end assisted driving applications or “standard”, in the competition of intelligent configuration, NETA has finally caught up with WEY XIAOli.
NETA S, a true sports car that can be on the track!
Recently, NETA S showed its quality on the Zhejiang Circuit, proving it has the attributes of a sports car. Whether a new car has the attributes of a sedan or not, the circuit is undoubtedly the best test of it.
NETA S provides two power choices: extended range version and pure electric version. The extended-range version has a pure electric range of up to 310 kilometers. Among the extended-range models, it ranks first in pure electric endurance and has a comprehensive endurance of up to 1160 kilometers. The pure electric version has a maximum NEDC range of 715 kilometers, and there are also two versions of 650 kilometers and 520 kilometers to choose from. Among them, the dual-drive single-motor version has a maximum power of 170kW, and the four-wheel-drive version has a maximum power of 340km and a peak torque of 620N·m, with a 0-100km/h acceleration of 3.9 seconds.
NETA’s grasp of its products has evolved from household cars to performance cars, and its car-making skills have been significantly improved.During the racing experience, NETA S gives a smooth feeling with a power output curve that feels like a straight line. When passing through a combination of high-speed corners and straightaways, the NETA S 4WD version achieved a speed of over 180km/h in the state of sufficient electric power, even though the multiple electric motors were limited, giving it a higher top speed.
Such excellent handling capabilities depend on the front double wishbone and rear five-link suspension combination, as well as the self-developed intelligent safety car platform – “Shanhai Platform.” Based on the pure electric platform, the “Shanhai Platform” highly integrated the power system, suspension system, control system, braking system, and intelligent ecological system through modular design, forming the most advanced pure electric chassis architecture.
On this basis, the NETA S is also equipped with a self-developed “Tiangong Battery” that can achieve a super low drag coefficient of 0.216Cd, as well as the independent research and development of the HOZON EPT4.0 battery constant temperature management system, achieving a 95% constant temperature ratio, greatly improving the vehicle’s acceleration performance, handling, and safety.
Facing the XPeng P7, in terms of the concept of car-making, NETA once proposed the idea of “saturation investment.” Zhang Yong also once said, “To plan a team of 1,000 people, we need to invest 10 billion yuan to fight this battle.” This is reflected in the NETA S.
In terms of outstanding intelligence and high-end design, the NETA S is aimed at the XPeng P7 as a challenger, and NETA S is well-prepared.
For example, in the comparison between the NETA S Yao Shi version and the XPeng P7 Pengyi version, the 338,000 yuan NETA S Yao Shi version has a 95-degree electric/650km range, 340 kW total drive power, and 3.9s 0-100km/h acceleration, and scissors doors. The 349,900 yuan XPeng P7 performance version only has 80.9-degree electric/562km range, 318 kW drive power, and 4.3s 0-100km/h acceleration, without scissors doors. As for the P7 Pengyi version equipped with scissors doors that cost 387,900 yuan, it has an 83.1-degree electric/670km range, 196 kW drive power, and 6.7s 0-100km/h acceleration.Other than that, NETA S YSY Edition is more generous in terms of configuration than XPeng P7 Pengyi Edition. NETA S has multiple standard configurations such as electric trunk, HUD head-up display, built-in driving recorder, seat massage, 12.3-inch entertainment screen for the copilot, gesture control, and rear privacy glass, whereas the latter needs to be selected as an option.
Yes, not only does NETA S YSY Edition have better performance than XPeng P7 Performance Edition, but it is also equipped with scissors doors, which is even more powerful than P7 Scissors Door Edition. In addition, it is also 50,000 yuan cheaper. NETA S YSY Edition has set a good benchmark with outstanding performance-price ratio.
Intelligence is an essential topic for electric vehicles. XPeng P7 is equipped with NGP system, which, with the help of Nvidia chips and dozens of sensors, can achieve advanced automatic driving on highways and urban roads. It is very practical. NETA S’s automatic driving system, NETA PILOT, is equipped with Huawei MDC610 chip. The hardware is supported by Huawei and the software is independently developed by NETA. It is certainly not inferior to XPeng P7.
In addition, NETA S’s biggest advantage over XPeng P7 in terms of power is that it has an extended-range model. One may ask why NETA S needs an extended-range model when it has a pure electric range of 310km. According to data analysis, 90% of users drive about 60km per day. The extended-range version of NETA S has a pure electric range of 310km, which can ensure users’ commuting for five working days a week with one charge, completely solving the problem of pure electric range for users.
Finally
After the launch conference, NETA S immediately opened pre-orders, but it was said that the server crashed, and orders could not be placed.
In response to this, NETA Automobile immediately responded, “Due to the hot pre-orders for NETA S, the server is currently being urgently repaired. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we will inform everyone ‘Iron NETA’ as soon as the server is repaired. Thank you for your understanding.” Afterwards, netizens urged, “Hurry up and fix it, haven’t ordered it yet,” “Hurry up and fix it, it’s too hot”…
NETA S’s successful launch this time not only made it the flagship model of NETA, but also a weapon for NETA to challenge XPeng P7. In recent years, XPeng has become a benchmark for new forces due to the successful activation of market demand and advanced product competitiveness. Now NETA is catching up in terms of sales, and beginning to make efforts in the middle and high-end products field, with the hope of challenging XPeng’s dominance.
At the launch conference, NETA co-founder and CEO Zhang Yong said, “Our goal for the next stage is to become the leader among the new forces.”
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.