Ti Gong
The SAIC Motor New Energy Technology conference.
SAIC officially announced its new generation of base technologies yesterday, including solid-state batteries, intelligent chassis, and other breakthrough innovations.
SAIC’s “seven technology bases” gather global R&D resources to create three vehicle platforms, pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen, as well as full-stack solutions for batteries, electric drives, super hybrid systems, and intelligent vehicles.
As one of China’s four largest automakers, SAIC owns several passenger car joint ventures, including SAIC Maxus and SAIC Volkswagen. Its business also includes vehicle R&D and production, commercialization of Internet vehicles, and research on intelligent driving technology.
“A vital brand must have its DNA. And a real auto OEM (original equipment manufacturer) must master the core technology, and obtaining our patents is a prerequisite for us to go global,” said Zu Xijie, vice president of SAIC.
The highlight of the technology released by SAIC includes solid-state battery, energy closed loop, powertrain (power generator of a vehicle), intelligent chassis, and full-stack solution.
Among them, the all-solid-state battery with SAIC Qingtao is a three-step plan.
According to the plan, the all-solid-state battery will be mass-produced around 2026, with higher energy density, more safety, and lower material costs.
In October this year, IM L6 equipped with the first-generation Lightyear solid-state batteries will be formally delivered to users, with a battery range of more than 1,000 kilometers.
Ti Gong
The solid battery is one of the core research results of SAIC, which is expected to realize mass production soon.
Shen Mengdan / SHINE
The newly released IM L6 is equipped with several research results of SAIC, including the digital intelligent car base.
In 2022, SAIC launched the first full-stack technology solution for intelligent vehicles in the automotive industry, which has been upgraded to version 3.0. It supports the mass production of L3-level (conditional autopilot) autonomous driving, and turns smart terminals such as cell phones into an organic part of intelligent vehicles.
Li Jun, CEO of Z-One Technology, believes automotive function and user experience are two different things.
“We will continue to innovate technology for a better user experience,” Li said. “And maybe in the future, we might work on a big model that changes from a car encountering an accident passively protecting the safety of its passengers to a car actively avoiding danger, and that’s something I think is worth exploring.”
The mass production application of the first-generation “seven technology bases” in 2022 was the technological foundation for SAIC to compete in the new energy market and helped its business grow.
The second generation of the seven technology bases being released divides the whole car systematically into perception, cloud super brain, large and small brain, and line control actuators, following the structure of the intelligent human-like system, and combining AI big model, making a car an intelligent robot.
“I think the car in the future should be able to continue to evolve themselves,” said Zu. “A car will be more like a human, it has a brain, a body, but also a soul.”
On May 20, Audi signed a cooperation agreement with SAIC Group and SAIC Volkswagen to strengthen local cooperation, with the joint development of a new platform focusing on the Chinese market, the “Advanced Digitized Platform”.
The first joint-developed intelligent electric model is expected to be launched next year.
In 2023, China’s auto sales exceeded 30 million units, 25.53 million of which were passenger cars, up 10.2 percent year on year. The market share of Chinese brands also reached 52 percent, surpassing joint venture brands for the first time, according to official data.