"China Economic Weekly" reporter Lv Jiangtao
There used to be a widely circulated statement in the automobile circle - "the pure electric vehicle of the independent brand sells well because the joint venture brand does not pay enough attention to it. Once the international auto giants really exert their strength, the independent brand will be hanged and beaten."
However, Toyota, the world's number one in sales and creating an "invincible myth" in the era of fuel vehicles, has recently made a big "joke".
Its first global pure electric model and Toyota's first new car built on a truly electrified platform, the bZ4X, suddenly canceled the most important price announcement 5 hours before its launch.
A well-known car reviewer immediately broke the news: "Toyota found in a recent test that the bZ4X's battery management system will make mistakes in a severe cold environment, resulting in failure to charge." Toyota denied this in an interview with the media. It is said that the charging speed of the overseas version of this car is much lower than that of competing products under low temperature conditions, and even the fast charging cannot be enabled at minus 20 degrees Celsius, but it has been officially confirmed by Toyota.
The poor charging experience of the overseas version of Toyota bZ4X not only casts a shadow on its own electrification transformation, but may also affect Subaru, which is also a Japanese brand, because the Solterra, the first pure electric model of the Subaru brand, is exactly the same as the Toyota's bZ4X is built on the same platform.
A "priceless" press conference
On June 17, Toyota's first pure electric new car bZ4X, which was originally scheduled to be launched at 19:00 on the same day, suddenly cancelled the price announcement link, causing a lot of speculation in the outside world.
Later, Yuan Qicong, who was certified as a "senior car reviewer" on Weibo, broke the news: "Toyota found in a recent test that the bZ4X's battery management system would fail in a severe cold environment, resulting in failure to charge. The source said that this may be because The design problem of the power supply temperature control mechanism, because the heating power is not enough to meet the operating temperature requirements of the battery in a cold environment, resulting in failure. If the news is true, this is a design error and a low-level error. However, due to the battery of the Chinese version of the model The supplier and the overseas version are different, and it is not known whether this defect is a special case of the Chinese version or an overall design error. Until this defect is resolved, the Toyota China version of the bZ4X will not be available on the market.”
In this regard, a spokesman for GAC Toyota denied the news to the media, saying that the bZ4X's postponement of the announcement of the price is "considering that the entire market is affected by the supply of chips, the price fluctuation is relatively large, and the vehicle offline time cannot be accurately estimated for the time being. After comprehensive consideration, we decided to postpone the price announcement. We are discussing internally and hope to come up with a more competitive price to give back to consumers.”
However, many people in the automotive media who were waiting to watch the press conference that day believed that the so-called "supply chain" problem was a bit too strange. The launch of a new car is not a child's play, and it is even rarer in the industry for a launch conference to be stopped urgently.
To this end, a reporter from China Economic Weekly consulted the GAC Toyota customer service center as an ordinary consumer. The other party said that he did not know the reason why the price was not announced at this conference. Currently, the bZ4X can still be booked, but the specific listing time needs to be notified by the superior. .
As for the low-temperature performance of the battery, which is questioned by the outside world, the staff member said that the charging speed of this bZ4X will be slower in winter, but he does not know how much slower it will be compared with competing products.
Later, the reporter learned from a GAC Toyota insider that the cancellation of the price announcement was because the price of raw materials was unstable. GAC Toyota needed to comprehensively consider the market situation and the interests of consumers, and give the most suitable price in the fluctuating environment. .
However, it is not groundless to say that the power battery of Toyota bZ4X is "squeamish".
After the release of this global model, many foreign media have questioned that the charging time in winter is too long, and even fast charging cannot be enabled at minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the daily fast charging of the vehicle is also set not more than twice a day.
Toyota officials have also issued a statement overseas admitting that the state of DC fast charging is closely related to the environment. When the temperature is lower than 10 degrees Celsius, the charging time will increase significantly; when the temperature drops to 0 degrees Celsius, the Toyota bZ4X four-wheel drive version The charging speed will be slower than other versions of the model; and when the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees Celsius, the DC fast charging may not be available.
However, Toyota's statement is only for the four-wheel-drive version, and the front-wheel-drive version of the bZ4X is not affected, because the DC charging power of the overseas version of the bZ4X four-wheel-drive version is only up to 100 kilowatts, while the charging power of the front-wheel-drive version is up to 150 kilowatts.
As Toyota's first entry into the pure electric field, the bZ4X's performance has also attracted complaints from many overseas consumers.
It is worth noting that the bZ4X launched in the Chinese market will be equipped with a battery pack jointly developed with CATL and will be produced on Toyota's exclusive production line, while the overseas version that has been complained about, the battery pack is provided by a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic.
The low-temperature charging performance of the Chinese version of the bZ4X is still unknown, but it is also reported that another reason for the temporary suspension of the bZ4X this time is that Toyota is conducting tests on the use and times of fast charging of vehicles in extremely low temperature conditions. Reconsider and set.
In this regard, Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, told a reporter from China Economic Weekly that the international development cycle for a new car is generally more than 5 years, and Toyota may have compressed it in response to competition. development cycle, so many things may not be well debugged in mass production.
Although Toyota is one of the world's largest car companies in the field of fuel vehicles, they do not have much experience in building pure electric vehicles.
Toyota's bZ4X is very similar to Volkswagen's ID.4, and it is also the first pure electric vehicle of a traditional manufacturer. Toyota's current problems have also been encountered by Volkswagen in the past, including Tesla and Wei Xiaoli. , The mass production of the first car was very difficult, and various problems were encountered, which led to the delay of the new car's launch time again and again.
Japanese cars collectively tread the new energy track?
As one of the world's four major automotive powerhouses, Japan has many powerful car companies, and Toyota is definitely one of the best.
However, as a vested interest in the era of fuel vehicles, Toyota's ineffective electrification transformation has been criticized.
The suspension of the launch of the pure electric model bZ4X, which is highly expected by Toyota, is also regarded by many industry insiders as a disadvantage for Japanese cars to "counterattack" on the new energy vehicle track.
It is worth noting that due to the close cooperation between Toyota and Subaru, the Solterra, the first pure electric vehicle of the Subaru brand, is built on the same platform as Toyota's bZ4X. In some regions, the two cars are even produced directly on the same line.
As a brand that has always insisted on all-wheel drive, all Subaru Solterra models are all-wheel drive models, and Toyota bZ4X is the most "afraid of cold" is the four-wheel drive model.
Regarding the poor low-temperature charging experience of the overseas version of Toyota bZ4X, some overseas media interviewed the relevant person in charge of Subaru. The other party said that the battery charging status will be affected by the outside temperature, and whether Solterra will have the same problem, a spokesperson for Subaru There was no positive answer.
Regarding the low temperature charging performance, Zhang Xiang told reporters that the slow charging speed of pure electric vehicles at low temperature is a common problem of lithium batteries. Under low temperature conditions, lithium ions are not active.
The low-temperature performance of traditional lithium iron phosphate batteries is even worse than that of ternary lithium batteries. Before the new technical solution comes out, neither lithium iron phosphate batteries nor ternary lithium batteries can fundamentally solve this problem. It is solved by the temperature control system of the power battery.
In terms of temperature control technology, traditional car companies do not have much technology accumulation.
It is worth noting that, in addition to the longer charging time at low temperature, compared with the same level produced by traditional Chinese OEMs or new car-making forces, Toyota's bZ4X is more and more important in terms of battery life, power, space performance and current people. They are at a clear disadvantage in terms of intelligence, and they are not competitive in terms of price.
Therefore, many car reviewers assert that even if the bZ4X does not "bounce", the sales in the Chinese market will not be very good, and the audience is only some consumers who have faith in Toyota's bullhead car in the era of fuel vehicles.
Similar to the Toyota bZ4X, Honda and Toyota, the top three in Japan, have also launched pure electric models in the Chinese market this year.
Among them, the e:NS1 produced by Dongfeng Honda and the e:NP1 of GAC Honda have both been listed for sale recently, with prices ranging from 175,800 to 218,000 yuan.
The size of these two cars is similar to that of the 150,000-yuan fuel car Honda XRV, and the electric performance is not eye-catching. The maximum power of a single motor is 150kW (about 204 horsepower), the maximum torque is 310N m, and the battery capacity is Both are around 70kWh.
In contrast, domestic models with similar electric performance such as BYD Song PLUS EV and Xiaopeng G3i are not only lower in price, higher in configuration, larger in size, and far ahead in terms of intelligence.
The Nissan ARIYA, which made its domestic debut at the 2020 Beijing Auto Show, has also officially opened reservations in China recently and is positioned as a compact SUV.
Compared with the above Honda models, the Nissan ARIYA has stronger paper data, with a maximum motor power of 178kW, a peak torque of 300N·m, and a combined torque of 600N·m of front and rear dual motors.
In terms of battery life, the long-range version of the Nissan ARIYA has a battery capacity of 90kWh and a CLTC cruising range of 623 kilometers.
However, the price of this car will also be more expensive, which is expected to be 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.
At the same price, you can not only buy domestic cars with longer battery life, higher configuration, larger appearance size and higher level of intelligence, but also face direct competition from Tesla.
Therefore, the industry generally predicts that from the perspective of the products currently launched, the traditional Japanese top three have changed from leaders to pursuers in the pure electric era, and they have no technical advantages.
If they can't put down their stature, lower their prices, and at the same time develop more advanced and smarter models, it will be difficult for them to compete with high-flying local brands in the Chinese market.
In the tide of global electrification transformation, why are Japanese automakers collectively late?
In this regard, Zhang Xiang believes that the main reason is that Japanese cars are "biased" in the technical route and choose to stick to HEV hybrid. Although this technical route can also save fuel, the battery capacity is small and cannot be charged.
However, Chinese car companies have taken the technical route of PHEV more thoroughly in terms of hybrid vehicles. Our policy has state subsidies for plug-in hybrid vehicles, but Japanese cars have collectively missed the subsidy window period.
On the pure electric technology route, the accumulation of Japanese cars is insufficient, and the previous attention was not enough, so more efforts are needed to catch up.