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Mercedes-Benz EQA, the Pure Electric SUV, Had its Global Cloud Launch
On the evening of January 20th, the Mercedes-Benz EQA, a pure electric SUV, had its global premiere. The WLTP range of EQA 250 is 420 km, with a maximum power output of 140 kW and a maximum torque of 375 N·m. Mercedes-Benz said that a 4WD version of EQA with a WLTP range of 500 km and 200 kW will be available later.
EQA will be launched in the European market on February 4th. Some new models in the Mercedes-Benz EQ series will also be unveiled at this year’s IAA auto show.
Comment:
According to Mercedes-Benz’s previously announced plans, before the end of 2022, Mercedes-Benz will launch six new electric vehicle models, namely EQA, EQB, EQS, EQE, EQS SUV, and EQE SUV. Under the guidance of the “Electric First” strategy, from the electrification of existing models to the development of pure electric models, Mercedes-Benz is gradually moving towards its “Vision 2039” and achieving carbon neutrality in its car lineup and production.
Volkswagen Group Develops its Pure Electric Flagship Model Trinity
On January 21st, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess announced on Twitter that the Volkswagen pure electric flagship model Trinity project will further promote the group’s electrification transformation, especially bringing considerable challenges to the upgrading of Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg factory.“`
Volkswagen has launched the ID. pure electric vehicle series on the MEB platform. With the new Trinity project, Volkswagen is committed to achieving new automobile architectures, more advanced autonomous driving functions, and brand-new automated production.
Quick take:
Diess did not reveal details about the Trinity project, and his comments on Trinity were made in a report on the Audi Artemis project. Although the timeline of the project is currently unknown, Trinity may combine the advantages of ID. series and MEB platform, similar to the positioning of Audi Artemis, to help Volkswagen create high-end electric vehicles with smarter autonomous driving functions.
Beijing will implement the new version of the “Operation and Management Specifications for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations”
On January 18th, the Beijing local standard “Operation and Management Specifications for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations” was announced on the website of the Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration and will be officially implemented on April 1, 2021. According to the new regulations, electric vehicle charging stations should guide fuel vehicles not to occupy dedicated charging parking spaces.
In electric vehicle charging stations where manual assistance is available, the staff should manage the parking environment inside the charging station; in “unmanned” self-service electric vehicle charging stations, new technologies such as intelligence and charging-parking integration should be used to solve problems. At the same time, the charging station must be staffed with personnel for inspection.
Quick take:
For a long time, the problem of occupying electric vehicle charging parking spaces has been a pain point for many car owners. The local regulations issued by Beijing are aimed at this problem, and they will improve the experience of new energy vehicles.
Nowadays, the development of new energy vehicles is rapidly increasing, and policies also provide great support. Beijing takes the lead in responding with management policies, and it is likely that other cities will follow suit and implement similar local standard rules.
Geely and Tencent will cooperate to develop intelligent cabins and autonomous driving technology
On January 19, Tencent and Geely announced that they had upgraded their cooperation and signed an agreement on the joint development of intelligent cabins and autonomous driving.
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Tencent announced that the areas of deep cooperation with Geely will include intelligent cockpit, autonomous driving, digital marketing, digital base, digital new business, and low-carbon development. They have also launched carbon-neutral planning and actively responded to China’s carbon-neutral goals.
Quick comment:
Previously, Baidu announced the establishment of a smart electric vehicle company with Geely, the product will be developed based on Geely’s pure electric SEA architecture, and Baidu will provide its technical support in AI, the Internet, and Apollo autonomous driving capabilities. Alibaba also partnered with SAIC to establish IM Auto and has released two models.
Under the wave of new car-making, technology giants are cross-border cooperation, investing in electric smart vehicle start-ups, or entering the car-making field. For such cross-border competitors, complete vehicle manufacturing is undoubtedly a great challenge, so choosing mature car companies as partners has become a more mainstream choice.
The new Audi FAW New Energy Joint Venture Project settled in Changchun
On January 18, FAW Group, Audi, and the Changchun Municipal Government jointly signed an agreement to announce the establishment of the Audi FAW New Energy Joint Venture Project in Changchun.
The project plans to introduce the PPE platform, with the first factory planned to invest over CNY 30 billion, and the first model set to be produced in Changchun in 2024. Future PPE products will be sold by FAW-Volkswagen’s wholly-owned subsidiary, FAW-Audi.
Quick comment:
The FAW-Audi new energy joint venture project settling in Changchun can be seen as another move in Volkswagen Group’s electrification layout. PPE platform is a high-end pure electric vehicle platform developed jointly by Audi and Porsche, which has similarities with Porsche Taycan’s J1 platform but has optimized and integrated Volkswagen’s original electric technology. Therefore, Audi FAW new energy may bring more high-end domestic pure electric models.
Evergrande Auto introduces CNY 26 billion in strategic investments
On January 24, Evergrande Auto announced that it had entered into subscription agreements with six investors, issuing 952,383,000 shares of new stocks at HKD 27.3 per share, and raised a total of HKD 26 billion for the company. The new stocks account for 9.75% of the company’s enlarged total number of shares.
Evergrande has stated that the proceeds from the subscription will be used for technology research and development, production investment, debt repayment, and general corporate purposes in the new energy vehicle industry.
Quick comment:
Evergrande Auto has stated that it aims to achieve an annual production and sales volume of over one million vehicles by 2025 and over five million by 2035, striving to become the world’s largest and strongest new energy vehicle group.
Introduction of investment is essential to achieve this goal. Evergrande Auto’s stock price and market value may also reach new heights as a result. However, in the end, it is still the company’s products that will truly demonstrate its capabilities.
Kia may be responsible for the whole vehicle production process of Apple’s car
On January 20th, according to Reuters, the whole vehicle production of Apple’s car project may be outsourced to Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, in South Korea. Korean media Edaily reported on Tuesday night that Hyundai Motor Group, Kia’s parent company, has delegated the whole vehicle manufacturing business of Apple to Kia.
Earlier, Kia changed its corporate brand from “Kia Motors” to “Kia” and proposed a new strategy of “beyond the automotive manufacturing sector, creating sustainable mobility solutions”.
Quick comment:
There is new news about Apple’s car-making. Previously, Reuters reported that Apple may cooperate with Hyundai, now the task of cooperation has been passed to Kia, and some sources suggest that this change may be due to Hyundai’s reluctance to take on the role of OEM. Perhaps due to Apple’s strict confidentiality requirements for the development process, Apple has not responded to various versions of car-making cooperation news in the past month, and Cook himself has refused to comment on related matters in media inquiries. After the news came out, Hyundai Motor Group’s stock rose by about 20%.
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.