The development of China's new energy vehicle market is in full swing, the trend of new energy has been sharp, new energy vehicles have accounted for more than 30% of new car sales, and now at least 50% of families choose a second car will choose new energy vehicles, in the new energy vehicle market, pure electric and non-pure electric models are equally divided. However, the market is constantly controversial about which technology is better for non-pure electric models.
Some consumers believe that pure electric vehicles have concerns such as range anxiety, imperfect charging pile infrastructure, and time-consuming charging, so range-extender vehicles and plug-in hybrid models with long range and fuel efficiency have been sought after by the market. Whether the technical route of the range extender is better or the plug-in hybrid is better, this topic has been fought from the mouth of the manufacturer to the consumer choosing a side.
In fact, it is best to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two technologies from the perspective of consumer interests and international development trends.
First of all, we need to understand the technical principles of range extender and plug-in hybrid, first of all, the range extender is a binary mode compatible with series and pure electric, generally speaking, it is to use a large-capacity battery, connect an engine, the engine is used as a range extender, in the urban short-distance driving, the vehicle is driven by the battery, and in the case of long-distance or power loss, the engine drives the generator to drive the motor to continue to run, so as to achieve long battery life and break the range anxiety.
On the other hand, the technical route of plug-in hybrid, although it is also a power system composed of engine, generator and battery, but in the actual driving process, the system has four modes: series, parallel, pure electric and direct drive.
Theoretically, the structure of a range-extender vehicle is simpler than that of a plug-in hybrid, and the cost is relatively low. Moreover, the extended-range car retains the texture and acceleration experience of the tram in daily driving to the greatest extent, and there is no range anxiety compared to the tram. Therefore, this has also become a condition for some consumers to recognize extended-range cars, because their simple understanding is that simple structure equals good repair, good maintenance, and relatively low maintenance costs.
However, theory is theory after all, return to reality observation, it is not difficult for us to find that reality is the opposite of theory, compared with the range of extended range cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles, it is not difficult to find that there are almost no range extender cars below the price of 140,000 yuan on the market, but there are multiple car brands and styles for plug-in hybrid cars below 100,000 yuan.
If the technology of extended-range vehicles is mature enough and the industrial chain is complete enough, then the cost of extended-range vehicles will inevitably be pushed down to a lower level, which can be completely lower than that of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
However, the current situation is enough to show that compared with the range extender, the plug-in hybrid technology is more mature, and has achieved a more complete industrial chain, lower-cost large-scale production, and with the joint efforts of many manufacturers, the technology is more sophisticated, and fuel consumption is decreasing year by year. This also cracks the bias that the maintenance cost of extended-range cars is lower.
In addition, from the perspective of energy economy, plug-in hybrid still has a relative advantage.
For plug-in hybrid vehicles and extended-range vehicles, daily driving in urban areas is basically battery-powered. The difference in energy consumption between the two is not too large, but once the range extender is used to drive the generator to generate electricity, there will be a 10% loss in energy conversion, especially in high-speed driving, with 1For example, the fuel consumption of a 5-ton range extender drive vehicle will be 5% or 10% higher than that of a plug-in hybrid, in other words, the range extender mode is not as good as the direct drive of the internal combustion engine. Moreover, in the middle and rear sections of high-speed driving, the acceleration power of the extended-range vehicle is obviously insufficient compared with the plug-in hybrid.
Previously, at this year's China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum, Ouyang Minggao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in new energy power system and transportation electrification, said that compared with the high fuel consumption of high-speed driving with extended range, the economy of plug-in hybrid is more advantageous, and plug-in hybrid can be compatible with the dual needs of vehicle performance and economy.
Of course, the biggest problem of extended-range cars is that they have not achieved "de-gasoline", especially at present, energy conservation and emission reduction has been the main theme of the world's automobile industry, and even before the need for energy conservation and emission reduction, many car manufacturers had to launch three-cylinder engine fuel vehicles, so that many consumers criticized shaking, noise problems. This is also the reason why extended-range cars are not popular in Europe, which has been focusing on environmental protection and energy saving so far.
It can be seen that from the perspective of automobile manufacturers, to meet the international call for environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction, the introduction of more energy-saving models is the general trend, to plug-in hybrid and range extender two comparison, plug-in hybrid is the best choice, in terms of the current choice of China's domestic cars, the vast majority of the choice of plug-in hybrid technology.
In particular, the BYD super hybrid DM-i technology launched by BYD in 2019 has changed the recognition and recognition of plug-in hybrid technology in one fell swoop, and also changed BYD's sales and reputation.
Since 2019, BYD's super plug-in hybrid DM-i technology has successfully achieved rapid iteration by breaking through the high cost and technical threshold of traditional plug-in hybrid solutions, combined with its strong integration capabilities, leading the rapid development of plug-in hybrid technology with better cost control. The technical route of plug-in mixing has also been recognized and developed by Geely, Great Wall, Chery and other large manufacturers.
Since 2020, a number of BYD models based on the super hybrid DM-i have achieved explosive sales results, and have also won a good reputation among consumers, forming a positive virtuous circle and continuing to promote the sales of all BYD models.
Taking the Qin PLUS DM-i 2023 Champion Edition as an example, it has maintained a leading position since its launch, and the Qin family has achieved 9 consecutive monthly sales of family sedans. The application of DM-i technology has subversively reduced the fuel consumption of vehicles to 38 liters per 100 kilometers, the vehicle has five characteristics: fast, energy-saving, silent, smooth and environmentally friendly.
According to the latest released data, as of November 2023, BYD's passenger car sales reached 301,378 units, a year-on-year increase of 311%。Cumulative sales this year have reached 2,672,000 units, and a new milestone of 3 million units is expected to be achieved for the full year.