Can an extended-range electric car come back to life?

On July 4th, the “Regulations on Investment Management of Automobile Industry (Draft for Comment)” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (abbreviation: “Regulations”) brought shocks to the automobile industry.

The "Regulations" clarify the scope of investment in automobiles, and in many regulations, the definition of investing in new energy vehicles has become a key point that cannot be ignored.

The “Regulations” clearly define that fuel vehicle investment projects refer to automobile investment projects that provide driving power by engines, including traditional fuel vehicles (including alternative fuel vehicles), ordinary hybrid vehicles, and plug-in hybrid vehicles; Pure electric vehicle investment projects refer to automobile investment projects that provide driving power by electric motors, including pure electric vehicles, extended-range electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, and other investment projects. The smart car investment project is managed according to the fuel vehicle or pure electric vehicle investment project according to the driving power.

This means that, from an investment perspective, plug-in hybrids will fall within the fuel vehicle investment range, while extended-range electric vehicles are pure electric vehicle investment projects.

It is worth noting that in the definition of new energy vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles still belong to new energy vehicles. However, extended-range electric vehicles are relatively special. According to the investment point of view, they are separated from the camp of the plug-in hybrid models.

Special new energy technology route

This subtle difference makes us notice that the extended-range electric car seems to have been left unattended.

Although there are BMW i3, Buick VELITE, and Chevrolet Volt test waters, the market share of extended-range electric vehicles is relatively small compared to pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid models.

The Chevrolet Volt concept car is a great example of an extended-range electric vehicle that was unveiled at the North American Auto Show in Detroit in August 2007. Through the original Voltec electric drive technology, the purely electric mode can drive 80km, and when the battery is low, the 1.4L engine will start, driving the generator to generate electric energy. In this way, the volume of the tank of about 35L can send the Volt out of the mileage of about 490km. The fuel consumption per 100 kilometers under urban road conditions is 1.2 liters.

The working principle of the extended-range electric vehicle is that a pure electric vehicle can be combined with a range extender. When the battery capacity is insufficient, certain external energy can be input to the vehicle through the range extender, so that the generator continues to supply power to the battery. Let the vehicle continue to drive.

This design has the advantages of low noise, low technical difficulty, and more fuel economy. Not only helps to get rid of the mileage anxiety of pure electric vehicles, but also ease fuel consumption.

However, the development of this type of vehicle also has its drawbacks. Chengliang Yin, deputy dean of the Automotive Engineering Research Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University, believes that the disadvantages of the extended-range electric vehicles in terms of business model, technology, cost, and market are obvious. From a market perspective, there is no market prospect.

Car company test

From 2007 to 2013, this period of time can be regarded as the golden age of the development of extended-range electric vehicles, and once became the best choice for the transition stage of new energy vehicles. This boom has also led to the independent research and development of independent brands.

Chery S18D-REEV, the first extended-range pure electric vehicle in China, debuted in 2010, achieving a long range of 300 kilometers.

Subsequently, Geely Automobile launched the Geely GPECS-EC7 based on the Emgrand EC series, using lithium iron phosphate battery and 1.0-liter engine. It was expected to achieve mass production within 2-3 years, and finally, it will sink into the sea.

In 2014, GAC released the GA5 extended-range electric vehicle, which was priced at 99,300-21,300 Yuan. The cruising range in purely electric mode is 80 kilometers. When the battery capacity is insufficient, the 1.0L engine of this model will supply power to the battery through the generator. The new car has a maximum cruising range of more than 600 kilometers. The sales of this model have not been announced yet.

New forces in the car also favor this type of car. Earlier, the car and home revealed that the upcoming medium and large SUVs will use the extended-range electric system, the maximum cruising range will exceed 1000 kilometers, and the NEDC cruising range will exceed 700 kilometers.

Not only that, Taurus Tengfeng announced the creation of an extended program super run, and even the new energy vehicle "birth certificate" Wanxiang car has also said to build an extended-range electric car.

Car companies have new momentum, but the extended-range electric vehicles have not become mainstream models in the market, and no one even cares.

Ning Yu, the managing partner of Weilai Capital and a member of the investment committee, believes that the key reason is that there is no efficient range extender. In the case of relatively imperfect technology, the advantages of extended-range electric vehicles are difficult to reflect. On the other hand, under the state subsidy policy, the support for the extended-range electric vehicles is relatively small, prompting enterprises to prefer pure electric vehicles.

Chengliang Yin believes that the extended-range electric vehicle does not have market value. He bluntly said that there are very few electric vehicles in the real sense of the market. "The Chevrolet Volt is selling well in the US. Although GM claims that their engines will not be involved in the four-wheel drive process, there has been a lot of controversies. BMW's incremental program i3 is probably the only one."

Not fare well?

In practical applications, the extended-range electric vehicle is more conducive to the commercial vehicle field. Due to the relatively stable road conditions, it can alleviate mileage problems and fuel consumption problems.

At the end of June this year, Wan Gang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said at the forum to build an "electric hybrid electric vehicle" with Chinese characteristics. Regarding this statement, the industry interprets it as an extended-range electric vehicle using a fuel cell. It contains hydrogen fuel or other clean energy sources. This combination reduces the use of petroleum energy.

Dongshu Cui, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said that if clean energy is used as a driving source, it will be beneficial to the development of extended-range electric vehicles. Ning Yu also believes that clean energy will be a breakthrough in the development of extended-range electric vehicles.

However, Chengliang Yin holds different views. He believes that hydrogen energy, for example, can create hydrogen fuel cells or better subsidies. Conversely, adding a range extender to a vehicle is redundant.

"I am not optimistic about the development of extended-range electric vehicles." Chengliang Yin said, "Even if we develop an extended-range electric vehicle, we must be alert to driving under different road conditions, once the engine is required to replenish the motor or cause the engine to work at full capacity." He believes that this will lead to the phenomenon of "small horse-drawn carts", which will eventually lead to problems such as large vibration, high fuel consumption, and serious exhaust emissions.

In terms of current technology and market performance, it is difficult to become a mainstream market for extended-range electric vehicles. "The reason why the extended-range electric vehicle is attributed to the pure electric vehicle investment project does not rule out that the state intends to provide opportunities for the new power-making enterprises to get involved in the internal combustion engine." Chengliang Yin said.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.