Another reason for the hot sales of Ideal Auto has been found
2024-07-24
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Author | Qiu Kaijun
Editor | Zhang Lianyi
Ideal AutoThere are many controversies, but both admirers and critics will admit that Ideal Auto sells very well.In the first half of the year, Ideal Auto delivered a total of 189,000 new vehicles, not only ranking first among new forces; but also in terms of luxury brand sales, Ideal Auto also ranked third.Why is Ideal Auto selling so well?Some people say it has a large space, some say it has smart driving and smart cabin, some say it wins because of the engine, and some say it’s because Li Xiang is good at marketing…But there is another reason that is rarely mentioned in industry discussions, that is, Ideal Auto models have very little noise and vibration and are very comfortable to sit in.Sleeping comfortably in the car is one of Ideal Auto's competitive advantages
In automotive terms, NVH is done very well.N stands for Noise, V stands for Vibration, and H stands for Harshness. High-end and even luxury models will strive to improve the high-end enjoyment. For family users, good NVH performance is naturally very important.How good is the NVH of Ideal Auto?In the NVH rankings of car blogger @郑博士巴顿, the Ideal Auto family dominates the list. In the 40km/h, 80km/h and 120km/h lists,Ideal MEGAAll of them are ranked first. The models of Ideal L series are basically ranked within the top 10.The NVH level of the ideal model can be comparable to that of the high-end BBA models, such asMercedes-Benz S-Class、Audi e-tron、BMW 5 SeriesThey can all compete with each other, or even be better.Source: @Dr. Zheng Barton NVH Data Center 48th list
So, how does Ideal Auto suppress noise and vibration so well?On July 23, Ideal Auto held the "Ideal NVH Technology Day". Tang Jing, President of the First Product Line of Ideal Auto, talked about the evolution of Ideal Auto's NVH business. Ideal Auto also showed the media its technical strength in NVH through parts exhibitions and open laboratory visits.Many consumers, including me, will immediately feel that the riding experience is very comfortable after test driving Ideal Auto models.In addition to the hard indicators such as seats and space, the noise and vibration after the vehicle starts are very small. Many ideal consumers mentioned similar experiences - children or hostesses slept comfortably in the car.NVH has always been an important topic in the development and production of traditional automobiles, but ordinary consumers do not have a deep understanding of it.This is because, first of all, only luxury models can be taken seriously - economical models must first pursue more practical and urgent functions such as power and energy consumption.Secondly, it is very difficult to improve NVH. According to Ideal engineers, among the more than 10,000 parts of a car, more than 30% are related to NVH, which cannot be solved by simply plugging in sound-absorbing cotton; and NVH needs to be developed in many scenarios, including various driving dynamics, environments, temperatures, weather, etc.In particular, everyone's hearing and physical perception are different. Sensitive people will detect noises that ordinary people cannot feel. It is very subjective.After Ideal Auto started building cars, it used the methodology of Internet product development to build cars with the goal of exceeding user expectations. NVH became a high-priority R&D goal.In the product open class of Li Xiang, founder, chairman and CEO of Ideal Auto, he mentioned how to make choices when making products?Li Xiang said that when it comes to product demand, we should not distinguish whether it is mass demand or niche demand, but whether it is high-frequency demand. "As long as it is a function that users use frequently, if you work hard on it, it will be easier to bring users a perceptible experience upgrade."Li Xiang gave an example, which is related to NVH:For users who buy family SUVs, electric suction doors are not a popular demand. The so-called electric suction doors mean that when closing the door, you don’t need to swing it hard, just push it gently, and the door will automatically close. Generally speaking, this function is only equipped on luxury cars worth millions and is regarded as an important symbol of luxury cars.
However, we delegated this functionality toIdeal L9, L8, L7, become standard. We do this not to provide users with a so-called sense of luxury, but because closing the door is a very high-frequency behavior that happens many times every day. After we made this function, the user experience upgrade is very obvious. Especially for family users, the electric suction door also has a particularly good experience, that is, if the child is sleeping in the car, closing the door will not disturb the child.
NVH is an experience that you will experience almost whenever you use a car. It is undoubtedly the most frequent one. Moreover, as the capabilities of smart electric vehicles expand, the frequency is increasing - people also like to stay in the car when they are not driving.Ideal Auto has released data showing that in 2023, Ideal car owners will stay in their cars in P gear for an average of 48 minutes a day. Many people take a lunch break, watch movies, watch football games, or watch TV series in their cars...If the vehicle is not very quiet, people will not like to stay in it.Ideal Auto not only pays attention to NVH, but also pays attention to the NVH of the third row for three-row SUVs and MPVs.This also reflects a different product development concept - only by paying attention to the needs of all users and seeking solutions can we provide products that exceed user needs.Li Xiang: "I won't buy this car anyway"Everyone's hearing is different - an "unfortunate" fact for Ideal NVH engineers is that Li Xiang is a person who is very sensitive to sound.Li Xiang's hearing threshold test showed that he was more sensitive to mid- and high-frequency sounds, which means he could hear sounds that ordinary people could not hear.In particular, Li Xiang is a well-known product manager-type boss who is very picky about products and has extremely high demands.In his speech, Tang Jing introduced many NVH development requirements and goals proposed by Li Xiang.After the hot sales of its first car, Ideal ONE, Ideal Auto entered the development of the L series range extender. The power generation capacity of the new system is 20kW higher than before, which will greatly increase the difficulty of NVH development.And the NVH target of L9 isBMW X7, 85% of the NVH indicators are not inferior to the BMW X7, and the NVH team has also achieved 65% indicators that are higher than the BMW X7, and 20% indicators are on par with the X7. However, Li Xiang himself was very dissatisfied with the noise of the L9 when driving on rough asphalt roads, and insisted:"The NVH indicators of L9 must exceed those of X7 in all aspects, not just meet the 85% level."This stems from an experience he had when driving the L9 test car. He found that the road noise of the test car on the rough asphalt road near Beijing Science City was very obvious, and the sound was not as steady as that of the BMW X7.The NVH team immediately ran that section of road, but none of the NVH team members could feel the difference in sound. It was not until later, after an NVH hearing threshold sensitivity test, that they discovered that Li Xiang's personal hearing was more sensitive to high frequencies than ordinary people.Tang Jing said that for two weeks, the team conducted tests, collected data, and modified the plan almost every day on this road in the Science City. Finally, after considering factors such as vibration reduction performance, weight, reliability, cost, and time, the best solution was found, which was to add a resonant block.However, the team was still very conflicted about whether to use the resonant block in the end. Because the resonant block is installed in a conspicuous position on the upper fork arm, it is likely to be attacked by those who are interested. However, Li Xiang made the final decision. He believed that if this problem was not solved, the L9 could not be sold at all.In response to the NHV team's "resistance", Li Xiang often responded with "I won't buy this car anyway."Li Xiang discovered the high-frequency noise of the air conditioner in the L9 test car
Another example is that Li Xiang discovered a noise problem with an air conditioner.In June 2022, Li Xiang discovered that the test vehicle would have high-frequency noise after turning on the air conditioner. After the team tested it, they found that there was indeed hiss sound, but the frequency band was actually very high, ranging from 4000hz to 8000hz, and it was very slight. In fact, most colleagues in the NVH team could hardly hear this sound. In the end, the team successfully optimized the sound by optimizing the refrigerant expansion valve in the thermal management system. This optimization solution will increase the cost of each car after the Ideal L9 starts mass production by more than 140 yuan.Tang Jing said that in the NVH development process of Ideal L9, it can be said that Li Xiang has been playing the role of product manager or quality inspector.Ideal without technology?Because Ideal Auto was the first to advocate the extended-range model and has a unique technical route, it was accused by some critics of having "no technology".In fact, as far as NVH is concerned, we can see the technological accumulation of this car company which was established only 9 years ago.After the development of Ideal L9 was completed, the Ideal NVH team has formed a complete and comprehensive development system that leads the industry. Compared with its peers who only carry out NVH development at a few specific speeds and on specific road surfaces, the Ideal NVH team has not only achieved full-speed and full-condition development, but also full-temperature NVH development, especially low-temperature NVH development that is rare in the industry, as well as NVH development that covers almost all travel scenarios such as rain sounds and stone impact sounds.Ideal MEGA is the MPV with the best NVHThe development of Ideal MEGA has been completed, and its quietness ranks first in the MPV industry, surpassing the best performance of BBA, which also proves that Ideal Auto's NVH technology is already leading the industry.Let me give you a few examples.On the Ideal MEGA, due to the heat dissipation requirements of supercharging, it is equipped with a large fan with a power of 1100 watts and a diameter of 535mm.However, after Ideal received the finished product from the supplier for trial installation, it was discovered that the sound of the fan at high speed was like that of a small motorcycle, making a "thump thump thump" sound, which was unacceptable.Therefore, the Ideal NVH team went to the supplier to discuss the change plan, and did simulations and optimization plans on their own, and found a solution with nine bionic wavy blades.Fan comparison before and after optimization
finally,The fan's clattering sound disappeared. When using the 5C supercharger, users can communicate at a normal volume while sitting in the car. Although it is a 520kW 5C supercharger, the noise inside the car can reach the same level as a 250kW supercharger.Model YSame level of silence.In order to carry out long-term research and development and solve NVH-related problems, Ideal Auto, whose financial situation has improved significantly in recent years, has also invested heavily in building relevant laboratories, including sound insulation kit laboratories, modal laboratories, vehicle semi-anechoic chambers, smart listening rooms, etc.Ideal Auto Semi-anechoic ChamberTaking the smart listening room as an example, Ideal Auto has built a sound environment similar to that of a car cockpit to tune the car audio. The work here has helped the entire 2024 Ideal L series and Ideal MEGA to obtain Dolby Atmos certification.Ideal Auto's NVH experience, as well as the investment and growth of the team behind it, are a vivid reflection of Ideal Auto's "technical methodology" - for high-frequency, perceptible experiences, car companies should have control, and even develop their own, to form differentiated capabilities.As long as we are guided by surpassing user experience, dare to challenge, dare to invest, and adopt the latest technologies and methods, it is not impossible to catch up with and surpass luxury brands.After users experience an experience that exceeds their expectations, all arguments about whether or not technology exists become meaningless.
