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in august, the lobby of changan automobile global r&d center in chongqing liangjiang new district was bustling with activity. uniquely shaped intelligent networked new energy vehicles were neatly arranged, and scientific and technological achievements such as the force super electric drive, zero-fire lithium-ion power battery pack, and high-computing central computing platform were quietly displayed on the exhibition stand, welcoming countless spotlights...

since the end of 2023, chongqing changan automobile co., ltd. has released a series of new achievements and technologies, including the "golden bell" brand power battery and the new blue whale power system. in the past few years, the continuous innovation and iteration of core technologies have made this automaker gain global attention.

the disclosure of key technical indicators has attracted the attention of the industry. while people applauded, they can't help but ask: how far can changan automobile go on the road of technological innovation? can this series of technological innovation achievements become a new driving force for chongqing to build a world-class intelligent networked new energy vehicle industry cluster?

dreaming of a “new blue whale”

——create a full-domain, full-scenario power solution to solve multiple pain points

on may 29, in the chongqing changan automobile new power plant, accompanied by the sound of equipment running one after another, new blue whale engines and new blue whale electric drives rolled off the production line in an orderly manner.

at present, the new energy vehicle industry is in a period of vigorous development. during this period, the industry is growing rapidly, and major automobile manufacturers are racking their brains to seek technological innovation and market breakthroughs, showing a situation of a hundred schools of thought. just in terms of new energy power technology routes, there are pure electric, plug-in hybrid, extended range, etc. the diversification of technology routes often means that the difficulty of comprehensive supply chain matching is increased, and companies often waste r&d costs for "climbing the wrong technology tree".

in 2019, changan automobile's r&d team came up with an idea so bold that it was "out of this world": to create a full-domain, full-scenario power solution to simultaneously solve all user pain points in terms of charging, fuel consumption, mileage and functionality.

"we pursue the best technical solution to achieve the integration of the entire supply chain." deng wei, general manager of changan automobile's new power development department and director of the new blue whale power project, summed up the core value of this technology in one sentence, "the new blue whale power platform is not a simple fuel engine, hybrid technology or control technology, but a platform product with a modular concept that covers the engine platform, electric drive/range extension platform, and high-level intelligent control system."

there is no precedent for such an attempt, and it is unrealistic to create something out of thin air. what changan automobile needs to do is to stand on the shoulders of giants and create higher achievements. the so-called "shoulders of giants" refers to changan automobile's more than 30 years of r&d technology accumulation and perfect r&d system. since the localization development of changan automobile's first generation of engines in the 1990s, the company has been on the road of innovation. the third-generation power product blue whale engine launched by changan automobile in 2019 is one of the results of innovation.

"'blue whale power' is like a cornerstone. changan automobile's 30 years of technological accumulation and innovative breakthroughs have made this cornerstone more and more solid." deng wei said. in the end, the r&d team decided to "build a new building" on the original foundation and named the new technology "new blue whale power".

in october 2021, changan automobile officially launched the r&d plan, with changan automobile's new power development department and the uk r&d center jointly acting as the "creative brain", and key core component suppliers participating in the feasibility study of engine manufacturing. multiple parties joined hands to jointly participate in the design of the plan.

chongqing and london have an 8-hour time difference. during the r&d period, china and the uk sent r&d personnel to each other, and team members often communicated and collaborated across half the world through online conferences. "it can be said that we have achieved 24-hour uninterrupted r&d." deng wei said.

"the ignition energy must reach 150 megajoules!" "what if the spark plug melts?" "so the materials and structure must also be optimized."... conversations like this happen every day, with conjectures, questions, debates, innovations, improvements... the sparks of inspiration that burst out under tremendous pressure are often more dazzling.

general layout plan, systematic plan, component-level detailed plan... every day, the plan is refined and updated; every month, the direction of the plan is gradually converging. after 6 months, more than 10 sets of combustion system plans were formed. through physical assembly and combustion development, the best plan was selected, and a dual-cycle combustion system model was built based on it. after another 6 months, the second phase of the detailed design plan was formed.

"changan has another 'family heirloom', which is that the entire process of technological research and development and innovation is also the entire process of mass production and manufacturing. they are not sequential, but integrated with each other." deng wei introduced, "this solution takes into account the process and manufacturing requirements in the design stage, thus fundamentally eliminating the possibility of 'decoupling' between design and manufacturing."

in addition to the challenges of hardware and technology, there is also the challenge of balancing hardware and software.

"previous extended-range electric vehicle engines can only supply power to the battery but not provide power, which is suitable for urban and short-distance driving. however, the engines of plug-in hybrid models can both generate electricity and directly drive the vehicle, which is suitable for scenarios where charging conditions are available and long-distance driving is required. the scenarios for the two are different." li xian, chief designer of changan automobile's new blue whale extended-range platform, introduced, "the new blue whale power combines these two power solutions to achieve coordinated operation on the same vehicle, and users can switch them at will according to the usage scenario."

the engine thermal efficiency exceeds 44%, the pure electric drive motor has a maximum efficiency of 98.1%, and 1 liter of oil generates 3.63 kwh of electricity... all key indicators of the new blue whale engine have reached the world's advanced level. this also means that the models equipped with this engine have higher engine combustion efficiency, lower energy consumption, and easier maintenance.

practice the "golden bell cover"

——complete safety tests beyond the scope of the program and build a solid "ballast stone" for battery safety

after china's new energy vehicle industry has experienced a "running all the way", the competition among major automakers in battery life is extremely fierce and evenly matched. as a result, battery safety has become a new arena of competition.

on november 17, 2023, changan automobile launched its self-developed battery brand - changan "golden bell cover". speaking of the origin of this technology, zhang youqun, senior manager of battery safety development at deep blue automotive technology co., ltd., a subsidiary of changan automobile, knows it all.

"since the advent of new energy vehicles, the controversy over battery performance, endurance and safety has never stopped. among the many indicators, battery safety is like a 'ballast stone'." zhang youqun introduced that in fact, as early as 2019, changan automobile launched a battery technology called "ibc digital battery butler", which uses a number of core technologies such as digital pre-control management and digital temperature control management to ensure battery safety in all aspects.

now, the new self-developed battery brand is named after the classic martial arts move "golden bell cover", which further demonstrates changan automobile's emphasis on battery safety, the "ballast stone".

conducting battery safety tests is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive work for zhang youqun and his colleagues in a year. in 2023 alone, zhang youqun personally led the team to complete more than 150 tests. just as a martial artist has to go through many tests to be the best in the martial arts world, in order to ensure that the "golden bell cover" battery is not afraid of fire or water, the test team conducted extremely rigorous tests on its safety performance.

on may 12, 2020, one of the first mandatory national standards for electric vehicles, "safety requirements for power batteries for electric vehicles" (gb 38031-2020), was released, covering 21 safety tests for 6 major single cells and 15 battery packs or systems.

one of the thermal stability tests is used for battery heat diffusion occupant protection analysis and verification. a 5 mm diameter steel needle or extreme heating method is used to puncture or abuse one of the test object's batteries to trigger battery thermal runaway, thereby simulating the unexpected situation of a car battery short circuit. the battery is observed to see if it smokes, catches fire, or explodes. the test is considered to have passed if no fire or explosion occurs within 5 minutes after the battery maintains a thermal event fault signal.

"we not only passed the test, but also completed it 'beyond the scope'." zhang youqun explained that after the battery thermal runaway occurs, high-temperature toxic smoke will be released irregularly, which may cause great harm to the human body and vehicle parts. "we control the direction of smoke release by designing flow channels in the battery pack and adding a deflector outside the battery pack, so as to minimize its impact on people and vehicles."

in addition, the test team will disassemble the battery after the test to analyze its internal damage and further understand the performance degradation mechanism of the battery under different usage conditions and driving environments. in the hot summer in chongqing, the test personnel wear protective clothing and gas masks under the scorching sun and hold tools to disassemble the battery. it is common for them to come into contact with toxic electrolytes and particulate matter.

"we have tested thermal runaway of battery cells in different positions in almost every type of battery, and their safety performance exceeds the national mandatory standards. our batteries are not satisfied with 'full marks'." zhang youqun introduced that the "golden bell" battery can provide auxiliary computing technology for the on-board battery management system through real-time calculation of cloud big data, protecting battery safety in all directions and achieving millisecond-level safety risk perception.

developing “new power”

——fulfill the original intention with innovation and protect "chang'an" with the original intention

faced with increasingly fierce market competition and the endless stream of new concepts, new technologies and new products, changan automobile's "heart" remains firm.

what is "chang'an heart"? a detail that li xian accidentally mentioned is enough to give us a glimpse of the whole.

"there is a group of parts called spark plugs on the car engine. each spark plug has a metal electrode, and its orientation is usually not fixed. different orientations do not actually have a particularly big impact on the car." li xian said, "the orientation of the spark plug electrodes of almost all cars on the market is random, and the country has no requirements for this. but we have found through experiments that when the electrodes of the four spark plugs are all pointed to a specific position, the engine's combustion stability is better, and it also has certain optimization effects on reducing fuel consumption and exhaust. since then, this design detail has become our own design and manufacturing standard, and it is still used today."

years of hard work have laid a solid foundation for changan automobile to break into the new energy market. both the "new blue whale" and the "golden bell cover" reflect changan automobile's ambition in competing in the new energy track and its outstanding strength in r&d and manufacturing.

"changan automobile's advantage lies in its ability to continuously iterate and upgrade its products through sustained and stable technological innovation," deng wei analyzed. "this industry is innovating very quickly, but we maintain a relatively prudent attitude in launching new technologies. after in-depth analysis of the market situation, we will gradually release new technology products and take further actions."

find gaps horizontally and look at development vertically. in recent years, changan automobile has accelerated its transformation and upgrading from a traditional automobile manufacturer to an intelligent low-carbon travel technology company, striving to take the lead in the transformation of new and old kinetic energy and take the lead in the transformation of new and old kinetic energy.

seeking the path of change with a pioneering spirit. deng wei has deep feelings about this: "in july 1998, when i first started working at changan automobile, the department i worked in was called the engine research institute. in 2012, it was renamed the power research institute, and in 2022 it was changed to the new power research institute, which means that changan automobile's strength in the field of power systems is growing. just recently, we have a new name, called the 'new power development department', which further integrates the company's power research and development resources."

from "engine" to "new power", it reflects the clear context of the replacement of automobile power from internal combustion engines to electric motors, and also reflects changan automobile's forward-looking layout and open attitude in the face of the wave of changes in the automobile industry.

to seek development, we must not only work hard on internal strength, but also make use of external forces. chongqing has given changan automobile the confidence to move forward on the road of reform.

deng wei gave an example. previously, changan automobile had long relied on importing engine cylinder block and cylinder head molds from japan, italy and other countries, and the procurement cost of each mold exceeded 4 million yuan. in the past 10 years, as the comprehensive strength of chongqing's manufacturing industry has continued to improve, the supply capacity of chongqing's auto parts companies has been significantly enhanced.

"we found that a company in chongqing hi-tech zone can also produce the same mold, and the quality is exactly the same as the imported mold. not only is the procurement cost reduced by half, but it also saves us the communication costs during the overseas inspection and development process." deng wei said that the phenomenon of "from dependence on imports to self-production and sales" is reshaping the entire automotive industry.

in the first half of this year, changan automobile's total sales and sales of its own-brand new energy vehicles both achieved year-on-year growth. among them, changan automobile's sales exceeded 1.33 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9.74%; the sales of its own-brand new energy vehicles were nearly 300,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 69.87%.

changan automobile's "stride forward" is a vivid epitome of the transformation and upgrading of chongqing's automobile industry, and a "changan heart" has also injected continuous impetus into chongqing's cultivation and development of new-quality productivity and creation of a world-class intelligent, networked, and new energy vehicle industry cluster.