Interface News Reporter |Liu Zeran.NIO is about to launch its flagship ET9 model at NIO Day on December 23, and a number of executives have recently spoken out for this new model on social media, spoiling some technical details in advance.Interface News Editor |
Among them, Bi Lu, senior vice president of NIO, said on social ** that ET9 will be equipped with a 900V high-voltage fast charging system, which is further improved compared with the current mainstream high-voltage fast charging.
It is understood that the 900V high-voltage architecture that the ET9 will adopt is based on NIO's upgraded electric drive platform. NIO has further reduced the weight and volume of the motor to achieve higher power density. The new car is expected to be able to diagnose the health of the 900V electric drive system in real time**, and work with the upgraded high-voltage wiring harness to achieve faster charging speeds.
This architecture goes beyond the 230 to 450V (400V system category) voltage range typically used in mainstream electric vehicles today. In a 400V system, increasing the vehicle's charging power means requiring a higher charging current, resulting in thicker, heavier cables and more heat generation.
On the other hand, the industry is gradually moving from a 400V platform to an 800V high-voltage system with a voltage range of 550 to 900V (which also means that NIO's claimed 900V fast charging is still based on the 800V system category). The system was initially used in high-end vehicles such as the Porsche Taycan, but over time, the expanded 800V high-voltage fast charging has been adopted by more and more EV manufacturers.
In fact, compared with 900V fast charging, Xiao Bohong, the person in charge of vehicle application software, broke the news that the wire-controlled chassis technology may become the real hole card of the new car. This technology eliminates the traditional mechanical steering column structure and converts the steering wheel rotation angle into an electronic signal, which can be controlled by a computer to achieve steering, thereby significantly improving NVH performance.
In addition, the drive-by-wire chassis integrates the vehicle's key systems such as drive, braking, and steering, and is uniformly controlled by a computer, providing a solid foundation for autonomous driving technology.
NIO's drive-by-wire chassis concept began with the first model ES8, in which the air suspension and braking system were controlled by wire, and by ET9, NIO has basically completed the industry's popular domain control three-in-one (cockpit domain + intelligent driving domain + ** domain control gateway, etc.).
The industry generally believes that the drive-by-wire chassis is an important technical integration point in the field of unmanned driving and new energy vehicles, and is of key significance for the realization of autonomous driving technology. The launch of the ET9, especially its drive-by-wire chassis, marks the development of automotive technology to a higher level of automation.
On November 17, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued a notice on carrying out the pilot work of intelligent networked vehicle access and road access. The notice aims to promote the development of autonomous driving technology, especially autonomous driving functions at Level 3 and Level 4. All localities need to complete the declaration by the end of December this year, indicating that high-level autonomous vehicles will be piloted across the country, paving the way for mass production.
Judging from the release time of ET9, it is obvious that NIO hopes to cater to the policy layout with the new flagship. For practitioners, the question of whether the ET9 will have L3 autonomous driving capabilities when it is launched, or whether it will complete L3 evolution through future OTA upgrades, will become the focus of observation.