Author: Liudahou
From the release of the brand to the announcement of the first model, from the announcement of BYD’s 2022 sales a few days ago to today’s official launch of the Yinlong brand, every node is seamlessly connected like gears.
If the sales volume of 1.8685 million vehicles is the best answer that BYD has given to the market and itself in 2022, then the release of the Yinlong brand and its products today is a question that BYD has set for itself.
“Easy Four Directions” allows the Yinlong U8 to move horizontally
Although today is not the unveiling ceremony of the new car, even though the stage of the unveiling ceremony is far from the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas where the car should be driven, the appearance of the Yinlong U8 is eye-catching with the horizontal movement and 180-degree rotation in place.
The U8 is the first mass-produced model of the Yinlong brand and is positioned as a million-level new energy-powered off-road vehicle with a length of over 5 meters and a width of over 2 meters. The family-style “Gate of Time and Space” design incorporates a sense of futurism and technology into the entire vehicle. Although detailed exterior dimensions have not been released, it is not difficult to see that this is a behemoth by observing the presenter standing next to the car.
The underlying system that allows this behemoth to move horizontally and rotate 180 degrees in place is the power system called “Easy Four Directions” by BYD. Unlike what I expected, or possibly because of the U8 model itself, BYD did not rush to showcase the power parameters, acceleration per 100 kilometers, braking distance per 100 kilometers, and intelligence that we have come to expect from the system at each unveiling ceremony. Instead, a significant part of the presentation was spent on the topic of “safety.”
However, when it comes to “safety,” as someone who is interested in electrification, I am still accustomed to waiting for the buzzwords prepared before writing such as chip solutions, computing power, LiDAR, and number of sensors. BYD, on the other hand, presented the traditional understanding of “safety” by a traditional automaker.
This system is a power system with four independent electric motors as its core. In terms of technical principles, each motor in BYD’s self-developed system can independently control a wheel, and can control the front and rear rotation of the wheels separately. For the rugged off-road vehicle, the Eyas U8, the system can make the vehicle move like a tank without relying on steering or braking mechanisms. The negative torque of the motors makes the four wheels rotate at different speeds, enabling lateral movement and turning in place, giving the Eyas U8 more comprehensive turning ability, which can be achieved on cement, asphalt roads, and parking lots.
In addition, under the mechanism of the “Eyas” four independent electric motor control, the four-wheel independent vector control function not only allows the vehicle to demonstrate its extrication skills in complex land environments, but also gives the vehicle the emergency floating function. With the core system’s protection capability up to IP68 level, the sealing of the body and cabin has been enhanced. In some emergencies in the wilderness, the vehicle can achieve water-crossing and extrication. Based on the video released today, the Eyas U8 has been able to drive, turn, and turn around in water.
These are some of the technical safeguards for safety in extreme environments provided by “Eyas”.
In terms of everyday driving safety, “Eyas” relies on the integration of the vehicle’s central controller, sensors, and chassis to enable the vehicle to identify road friction and other road conditions in milliseconds and respond in milliseconds to the corresponding road. According to BYD’s official introduction, “Eyas” has a “rescue speed” of up to 120 kilometers per hour on highways.
Moreover, with the independent positive and negative torque output capability of the four electric motors, the “Eyas” platform can achieve a braking distance of less than 40 meters per 100 kilometers even in extreme situations where the steering or braking devices are not working, allowing the huge Eyas U8 to come to a stable stop.
In the event of an emergency situation such as single tire blowout, “Yi Sifang” can adjust the torque of the remaining three wheels at a frequency of 1000 times per second, and promptly compensate and intervene the vehicle posture through the drive wheels to help the driver stop the vehicle stably and controllably with maximum avoidance of secondary accidents from the root cause of power.
Obviously, BYD wants to shape the Yingwang brand into a high-end brand that can bring a sense of security to people from the bottom-up technology. But with high-end, there is always another word that cannot be bypassed, which is price.
High-end is not a matter of affordability
While watching the press conference today, I also took a look at the discussions on Weibo about the Yingwang brand and the million-dollar U8. The general opinion is questioning BYD, a company that has always shown itself as down-to-earth, with comments like “disruptive,” “the pricing is so high,” “who will buy it,” and so on.
I also think this car is too expensive. Who will buy it? How can it ensure sales? However, after the words “this is my problem” popped into my mind, I think that the issue might not be “whether they can afford to buy it,” but “whether they can produce it.”
Just the other day, BYD announced its sales for 2022. Sales of 1.8685 million vehicles for the year can be said to be a phase of success for BYD, which is also beyond the reach of many new forces, including Tesla.
BYD’s luxury brand, Tang, also announced its sales in December. The total sales in December 2022 amounted to 6,002 vehicles, an increase of 73.9% from the previous month. Among these 6,002 vehicles were sales of the large-scale luxury MPV Tang D9, released in August of this year. Tang’s cumulative sales for the whole of last year were only 9,803 vehicles.
The BYD brand has stabilized its position as a basic model, and luxury brand DENZA is gradually making progress in the sub-market, but there is still a blank space on the high-end map.
In 2022, heading upward is a path that almost all domestic brands are exploring, and an independent luxury brand is the final way out. Of course, there are still two levels of impact on the high-end market: brand power and profit.
In terms of brand power, although both BYD and DENZA have models that aim for the high-end price range, such as the BYD Han EV and the DENZA D9, the former can basically stabilize the range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, and the latter can also find a foothold in the luxury MPV market of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.
However, the ultimate high-end, is still not something that BYD or DENZA can support. To give a perhaps inappropriate example, most Chinese people still have a soft spot for Volkswagen, and low-priced domestic models have already been deeply rooted in people’s hearts, while the Touareg priced at around 800,000 yuan is almost unsalable, and people cannot accept such a high price for a car of this brand.
Therefore, an independent high-end brand is imperative.
In terms of profits, even if BYD gave a seemingly perfect answer in 2022, when we look closer, BYD’s single car profit is still inferior to Tesla’s. According to the single car profit data for the third quarter of this year, Tesla’s single car profit reached $9,711, while BYD’s was $1,466, and high-end models are the key to increasing profits.
The material cost of million-dollar luxury cars accounts for a limited proportion of the total car price, and the premium is very high, which is one of the reasons why brands are constantly exploring the high-end market. Of course, although the profit of million-dollar luxury cars is high, the investment is not low. In addition to the seemingly low material cost, more R&D costs are needed to support the high-end image with other configurations, like the “Yifang” brand, which provides advanced technological support to its vehicles.Just now, my question wasn’t “can it be made” because the “Yongtai” has already been made, and not just one of them. The new question is whether we need time to observe how BYD can truly establish this highly anticipated luxury brand.
Regarding the question we mentioned at the beginning, I think the title of the question should be “Can BYD also walk horizontally with Yongtai”.
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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.