■ Who is the leader in electric vehicles in Germany?
1900 is the last year of the 19th century. At this juncture of the 20th century, many great events have taken place in the world: German striking miners began to return to their jobs, Eight-Nation Alliance’s war of aggression against China broke out, and Empress Dowager Cixi of Qing Dynasty did not have a car … … . Are you in a hurry?
At that time, the automobile industry also experienced great changes. gottlieb daimler, one of the founders of Mercedes-Benz, passed away, and the world is still lamenting that this great German engineer and inventor has a short life as a hero. Lohner Porsche, the first electric car invented by Ferdinand Porsche, was exhibited in Paris. In the following 20 years, the electric and hybrid technologies created by him suppressed the development of fuel vehicles with overwhelming advantages.
Yes, the hero of today’s story is known to all in the automobile industry — — Mr Ferdinand Porschel, and the Lohner Porsche electric car he invented.
▲ Mr. Fernandi Porschel, founder of Porsche Motor Company.
Mr Ferdinand Porschel showed his extraordinary design ability when he was only 22 years old in, which made him highly praised in the automobile industry, which is still in the early stage of development. When he reached the age of 25, he subverted the entire German automobile industry, because he invented the first electric vehicle powered by lead-acid batteries, the first hybrid electric system and the first four-wheel drive vehicle equipped with the hybrid electric system.
■ Why did Ferdinand Porschel build the first German electric car?
At the end of 19th century, the vast majority of royal cars in Europe were mainly horse-drawn carriages, which originated from the underdeveloped internal combustion engine technology at that time. Many reasons, such as insufficient engine capacity, many faults, difficult maintenance, short cruising range and complicated starting (according to unofficial history, it took an hour to warm up the engine at that time), made the royal family still rely on the carriage as a means of daily travel. At that time, the internal combustion engine car was unreliable and could not be trusted by the royal family. After all, it would be embarrassing for the royal family car to break down halfway.
There was another reason why the German automobile industry was not favored by the royal family at that time, because the United Kingdom next door introduced pure electric vehicles as early as 1838 and 1873, and electric vehicles became an important product in the British transportation field in the late 19th century. This also indicates that the German industry that we are exploding now is a backward player in the global automobile industry at that time.
▲ An electric car made by Scotsman robert anderson in 1838.
▲ An electric car made by Robert Davidson, an Englishman, in 1873.
The German car companies that we are familiar with now were not established in those years, some sold airplanes, and some were building internal combustion engines. Volkswagen has not yet been established; BMW Motor Company has not been established; And the founder is still selling planes; And Daimler-Benz is still developing a "parsifal" car with an opposed water-cooled engine and a transmission shaft.
▲ Aircraft engine produced by Gustav Otto, one of the founders of BMW.
▲ "parsifal" internal combustion engine car model developed by Daimler-Benz in the early days.
In 1897, Mr Ferdinand Porschel, who was still trying to promote the development of German automobile industry, met Ludwig Lohner, who was engaged in carriage business with the royal family at that time. After getting to know each other, they both thought that cars equipped with electric technology would eliminate carriages and gain the favor of royal cars, and become the mainstream travel tools at that time. Therefore, in 1898, Mr Ferdinand Porschel joined Ludwig Lorna’s Lohner-Werke, and the two of them worked together on electric vehicles while continuously producing horse-drawn carriages. At the same time, at the end of 1898, the prototype Lohner Porsche, which was jointly built by Ferdinand Porschel and Ludwig Lorna, was born. Adolf Hitler was only 9 years old and still an ignorant boy. Remember this man, he dominated the fate of German car companies.
▲ Lohner Porsche prototype powered by front wheel hub motor and lead-acid battery.
■ Will the birth of Lohner Porsche become a mainstream means of transportation?
After the prototype of Lohner Porsche was born, it not only received market response, but also attracted many enterprises to join in the research and development of this new technology. This car is designed for the predecessor and can only take two people. It still looks like a carriage. The vehicle is driven by installing a hub motor on each of the two front wheels, and it is equipped with a low-friction direct transmission system between the motor and the vehicle and a lead-acid battery pack to supply power to the motor. This driving method is much better than the internal combustion engine car at that time in efficiency.
Through continuous improvement of the prototype, the finished product of Lohner Porsche finally appeared for the first time in December 1900. The power of each front-wheel motor can reach 1.9 ~ 2.6 kW, and at the same time, it can output 5.2 kW of instantaneous power when running, and the maximum speed can reach 14 km/h (which was already fast in that year). The data of this finished model shocked four people in the automobile industry at that time. In addition, the news of the birth of the finished Lohner Porsche model also caused a sensation in many European countries, so Ferdinand Porschel also received a purchase order from an architect at the first time.
At the suggestion of the architect, Ferdinand Porschel and Ludwig Lorna further improved the car. The original two-seat model was changed into a four-seat model, and two hub motors were added to the rear wheels to provide stronger power, which also realized the four-wheel drive of the vehicle. At the same time, under the condition that two generators directly supply power to the hub motor, the lead-acid battery pack is reduced from 74 to 44, which is also the earliest hybrid electric system in human history and the four-wheel drive vehicle equipped with the hybrid electric system.
However, at this time, the four-wheel drive version of Lohner Porsche is not perfect, the weight of the whole vehicle exceeds 4 t, and the cost is high. Therefore, the royal family did not buy this four-seat four-wheel drive model, and they preferred two two-seat two-wheel drive models of Lohner Porsche.
Ferdinand Porschel and Ludwig Lorna reduced the weight of the vehicle’s battery and hub motor in order to make the four-seat four-wheel drive version of Lohner Porsche more convincing, and participated in the endurance race at that time. Although they finally retired due to tire failure, the good result of driving 54 km overwhelmed other competitors (other vehicles using electric technology only ran 11.2 km at the highest), so through this endurance race, the four-seat four-wheel drive version of Lohner Porsche proved its strong technical ability, which was popular among the royal family and the industry.
After the endurance race, the two discovered the potential of hybrid technology and the business opportunities brought by the four-seat four-wheel drive version of Lohner Porsche. In 1901, the two men optimized the vehicle again and introduced the Mixte version. At this time, the vehicle was equipped with a 5.5 L four-cylinder engine to provide enough power for the vehicle. With the improvement of engine performance, the volume of lead-acid battery pack was further reduced. At this time, the appearance has also changed a lot. With the front of the engine and the backward movement of the control mechanism and seat, the vehicle has basically left the shape of the carriage and began to evolve into a real "car", and the weight of the whole vehicle is also controlled within 1.2 t at this time.
▲ Mixte version introduced by Lohner Porsche later.
With the outstanding advantages of Mixte version in space, appearance and power, all versions of Lohner Porsche have been continuously recognized by the market, and their performance and endurance performance have been continuously improved in iterative updating. Compared with internal combustion engine cars at that time, electric and hybrid technologies have more advantages in endurance, performance, ride comfort and stability, which also led the royal families in Germany and many European countries to choose Lohner Porsche as a travel vehicle, thus completely eliminating the carriage. Because of the subversive changes in the automobile industry brought by the Lohner Porsche model at that time, Fernandi Porschel won the Austrian highest automotive engineer award.
From 1901 to 1906, the mature hybrid technology of Lohner Porsche was applied to social vehicles such as double-decker buses, trains and fire engines. By 1906, more than 300 orders had been received for various versions of Lohner Porsche.
■ Why did the electric/hybrid technology with great development come to an abrupt end?
The good times didn’t last long. When Fernandi Porschel was highly praised by the industry for Lohner Porsche and hybrid electric technology, he was also favored by many business tycoons, who threw olive branches at him one after another. Finally, at the end of 1906, Fernandi Porschel left Ludwig Lorna’s car body factory and joined the then famous Austrian Daimler-Benz Company as the chief designer. In the following years, Fernandi Porschel focused more on the research and development of engines, thus suspending the research and development of electrification technology.
For Fernandi Porschel, the car Lohner Porsche and the hybrid technology of oil and electricity may only be the product of social development at that time. If the automobile industry wants to grow and develop, it still needs internal combustion engine to prove it, so the research and development of the car Lohner Porsche has been put on hold. However, in the following 30 years, Lohner Porsche still suppressed the development of internal combustion engine technology. Until 1930, the maturity of six-cylinder and eight-cylinder engine technology made Lohner Porsche and that mature hybrid technology come to an end and slowly withdrew from the market.
Off-topic: According to the unofficial history we found, the competitor who finally pulled Lohner Porsche out of the market was the British brand with mature six-cylinder technology at that time — — Rolls royce. Its Sliver Ghost model quickly seized the royal car market in many European countries. Since it was first put on the market in 1907, it had sold 6,173 vehicles by 1924.
▲ 1907 Rolls-Royce Sliver Ghost model.
In addition, another reason for Lohner Porsche is that even after many optimizations, the price of Lohner Porsche models is still relatively expensive. According to the information found, an Englishman, Mr. E.W.Hart, bought this car from 1900 to 1901. At that time, the price of the standard two-wheel drive version was 7,950 Austrian kroner, while the four-wheel drive version required at least 15,000 Austrian kroner. At that price, two ordinary cars with internal combustion engines could be bought at that time. Therefore, the car cannot be popularized among the working masses, and only the royal family or wealthy businessmen can afford it.
Finally, Adolf Hitler, the German head of state who came to power in 1933, launched World War II in 1939. During the Nazi period, the development of the automobile industry almost stagnated, and all automobile production companies were forced to produce all kinds of weapons for the Nazis (Ferdinand Porschel was designing the famous "Tiger Tank" and several modified models).
▲ Adolf Hitler
■ When did the electrification technology that has been sleeping for many years begin to "wake up"?
1. The research and development of internal combustion engines and oil exploitation are interdependent, and car companies quickly recovered from the "trauma" after the war.
World War II was a disaster for the whole world, and Germany, as a defeated country, was punished accordingly. For example, Daimler-Benz Automobile Company in Stuttgart at that time, 80% of the productivity of the largest factory was destroyed in 1945. Volkswagen’s largest factory in Wolfsburg was almost completely destroyed, which was a heavy blow to the previously developed electric vehicle development in Germany and even the entire automobile industry.
▲ The ruins of a factory in Germany after being bombed in World War II.
In 1945, BMW’s Eisenach factory began to resume production of BMW’s pre-war motorcycle R35. In the same year, automobile production was also resumed. The BMW 321 sedan was first produced, and then more models such as the BMW 326 sedan were produced.
▲ BMW 321 sedan in 1945.
In 1948, Volkswagen, which was rebuilt on the ruins, resumed production with the help of Beetle drawings designed before the war. Twenty thousand Beetle cars just entered the market from the assembly line and sold out immediately.
Off-topic: I think everyone knows the origin of Volkswagen Beetle. When Mr. Ferdinand porsche was working for Daimler-Benz, he had already had the idea of building a low-priced civilian car. However, the senior management of Daimler-Benz at that time rejected his idea, so he launched Daimler-Benz in 1910.
▲ On Hitler’s birthday on April 20th, 1938, Mr. porsche demonstrated the model of "national car".
In the following 20 years, Mr. Fernandi porsche worked in Mercedes-Benz and founded his own company — — Porsche automobile design institute. On January 17th, 1934, he published an article about civilian cars, aiming to build cars with low prices and affordable prices, which received positive response from people. And Hitler’s heart has long had such an idea, and the two hit it off. Mr Ferdinand porsche was entrusted with the important task by Adolf Hitler, and he was lucky enough to realize the plan of the national automobile (that is, the Volkswagen Beetle model to be produced in the future).
▲ After the war, Volkswagen Beetle model production line.
At the same time, the assembly line and factory of Daimler Benz Automobile Company quickly resumed operation after the war. Because of the rich experience in building cars before the war, a new type of car was developed in 1952 after the resumption of production — — "Mercedes-Benz 300 SL", this car soon became a landmark symbol of reconstruction and revival at that time.
▲ The convertible version and gull-wing door version of Mercedes-Benz 300 SL sold for $10,000 that year.
The reason why German car companies can quickly recover from the "trauma" after the war is that they have followed the model drawings that have been developed before the war. It also comes from the discovery that oil is one of the main raw materials for the operation of internal combustion engines after large-scale research and development of internal combustion engines in the 1920s, so countries all over the world began to exploit oil on a large scale, which led to the decline of crude oil prices. According to data, as of September, 1960, the price of oil remained within the range of about $2/barrel. At that time, electric vehicles had no advantages compared with fuel vehicles, which also led to the almost complete disappearance of electric vehicles and the strong rise of fuel vehicles.
2. The first oil crisis was the "life-saving straw" for electric vehicles.
After the strong development of fuel vehicles for 50 years, due to the first oil crisis in 1973, the price of crude oil soared from $2/barrel to $11.5/barrel. This roller coaster-like price increase made the people unable to add fuel, so the major German car companies almost stopped the research and development and production of fuel vehicles. The oil crisis has reduced Europe’s GDP by 2.5%, industrial production by 8%, steel production by 14.5%, automobile production by 18.6%, and the number of unemployed people reached a new high after World War II. The oil embargo has also cut off the economic lifeline of countries such as the Netherlands and Japan that need to import oil.
In order to cope with the losses caused by the oil crisis, German car companies, such as Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, are all turning to develop electric vehicles, a long-standing business. Among them, Volkswagen and BMW are relatively prescient car companies, which launched the layout of electrification strategy in 1972 respectively.
■ In the late 20th century, German departments began to electrify, but the output was "short-lived".
1. BMW: activist, many models involved in "electricity"
In the year before the oil crisis (1972), BMW introduced its first pure electric vehicle BMW 1602 Electric. Because there is no exhaust gas during driving, BMW 1602 Electric became the guiding car for the long-distance race of Munich Summer Games.
BMW 1602 Electric was built on the 2-series platform at that time, which is different from the storage space in the front cabin cover of today’s electric vehicles. The front cabin cover of BMW 1602 Electric is filled with lead-acid batteries and has a motor with a maximum output of 32 kw.
Although the cruising range of BMW 1602 Electric was 60 km at that time, it was actually a non-rechargeable electric vehicle. After the battery was exhausted, it could only be replaced with a new battery. But as far as the technical conditions were concerned, it was already a very good electric car. In particular, this car has the regenerative braking function, which is the "braking energy recovery system" that our electric car has now.
With a cruising range of 60 kilometers, the weight of the battery has reached 349 kg. It can be seen that the battery technology at that time had not reached the stage of developing electric vehicles. Although the performance of real vehicles was not satisfactory, BMW’s forward-looking awareness was worthy of awe.
Although the technology of BMW 1602 Electric can’t realize the commercial value, the BMW 1602 Electric model has laid a good foundation for BMW’s electrification technology. In the following 30 years, BMW has introduced a variety of electric models (including LS Electric in 1975, 325iX in 1987, E1 in 1991, 325 Series Electric in 1992-1997, etc.), and has never given up research and development.
▲ The BMW LS Electric model produced in 1975 added the charging function on the basis of the 1602 E.
▲ BMW 325iX Electric model produced in 1987.
Most of the electric vehicles launched by BMW in the early days were based on the improvement of fuel vehicles, which is what we now commonly call "oil to electricity" models. However, the BMW E1 model produced in 1991 was the first BMW model to be electric. Did you seem to see the shadow of today’s i3 when you first saw E1?
BMW tasted the sweetness from the first use of sodium-sulfur battery on BMW 325iX Electric in 1987, so this time, nickel chloride battery was used on BMW E1, so that this BMW E1, which appeared at Frankfurt Motor Show, could travel 200 km in the city with a top speed of 120 km/h.
The lightweight design and simple cockpit of BMW E1 are still the development trend of automobile design, even after more than 20 years. Unfortunately, the concept model BMW E1 has not been developed and mass-produced by BMW, but it has laid a milestone for the future development of electrification.
2. Volkswagen: an advanced molecule, focusing on the electrification research and development of golf models.
Another German car company that took the lead in developing electrification is Volkswagen. Also in 1972, Volkswagen, Bosch, valta and Rheinland jointly developed the first pure electric version of the T2 Transporter. This car uses lead-acid batteries, and the output power of DC drive motor is 16 kW. The production time of T2 pure electric Transporter lasted for several years, but only 120 vehicles were produced.
▲ T2 pure electric Transporte model produced in 1972.
In 1976, the first e-Golf was launched;
In 1981, CitySTROMer；, based on the production of golf pure electric version, was launched;
In 1985, the second generation CitySTROMer； based on the second generation golf was launched;
In 1993, in the process of transition to the third generation golf, the third generation CitySTROMer was launched.
▲ The first e-Golf model produced in 1976.
▲ Volkswagen’s first-generation CitySTROMer pure electric vehicle model produced in 1981, and the electric quantity and voltage meter in the car.
▲ CitySTROMer pure electric vehicle produced in 1986.
In the following nearly 20 years, Volkswagen has been developing electric vehicles, and launched a number of models equipped with lead-acid batteries, but the overall output does not exceed 1,000.
3. Audi: a hard worker, giving up pure electricity and starting a hybrid electric vehicle.
As early as 1919, Dr. Rudolf Slaby, a German, designed a very compact electric car for daily transportation in his spare time. Unexpectedly, this ingenious design attracted many people’s interest. Clever Dr. Slaby soon joined hands with Hermann Beringer to set up a company to produce this electric car named Slaby-Beringer. As soon as the news came out, Slaby-Beringer was attracted by Mr. Rasmussen, the founder of DKW (one of the predecessors of Audi today). Rasmussen invested in the production of a large number of Slaby-Beringer electric vehicles and sold them all over the world.
With the development of internal combustion engine technology, electric vehicles are also restricted by battery and motor technology, and their development has also stagnated. Slaby-Beringer, an electric car, did not escape bad luck. In 1923, it was fitted with a motorcycle engine by DKW and ended its identity as an electric car.
However, after 50 years of stagnation in battery and motor technology, Audi launched the first generation of duo concept car in 1989 and showed it at the 1990 Geneva Motor Show. This concept car is a "dual drive" hybrid electric vehicle based on the combination of internal combustion engine drive and motor drive. The reason why hybrid electric vehicles are introduced is that Audi believes that pure electric vehicles can’t replace internal combustion engines in the development of automobile industry in a short time.
Interestingly, in order to prove that pure trams are not suitable for this era, Audi has calculated a set of data to prove that pure electric vehicles with two advantages of zero emissions and low noise have disadvantages far greater than their own two advantages. (The data found are as follows)
1. The energy of 80 L fuel is about 800 kW. Assuming the efficiency of internal combustion engine is 25%, the energy that can directly drive the vehicle is 200 kWh.
2. If it is replaced by a power battery based on sodium-sulfur battery or nickel-cadmium battery, its energy density is about 52 kWh/kg or 80 Wh/L at that time. To store 200 kWh of electricity, you need a battery of about 4 t or 2 500 L space.
The first generation Audi duo: A 5-cylinder gasoline engine drives the front axle and an electric motor drives the rear axle. In pure electric driving, the maximum speed is 52 km/h, and if driving at an economical speed (60 km/h), the electric cruising range can reach 40 km, which basically meets the needs of speed-limiting sections in most European cities and realizes "zero emission" driving.
Second generation Audi duo: In 1991, Audi introduced the second generation Audi Duo model, equipped with a 2.0 L four-cylinder engine, and Audi’s proud quattro system directly drives four wheels. The motor can independently drive the Audi duo to 65 km/h, and the pure electric cruising range is as high as 80 km.
Third generation Audi duo: In 1997, Audi introduced the third generation Duo model based on Audi A4. It is equipped with a 1.9 L TDI diesel engine+motor-driven vehicle, with a maximum speed of 80 km/h and a cruising range of 50 km in pure electric mode. In the same year, the third generation Audi duo model began to be sold in Europe, but due to the high cost, the market could not accept it. In the end, the model only sold less than 100 vehicles.
4. Daimler-Benz: a laggard, launching a small number of commercial electric vehicles.
In this era, Daimler-Benz has started the research and development and experiment of electric vehicles. According to the historical data we found, in March 1972, Daimler-Benz participated in the seminar on electric vehicles organized by the International Federation of Electric Energy Producers and Distributors, at which Daimler-Benz released the LE 306 pure electric van. A few months later, several prototypes of LE 306 were put into use in the 20th Olympic Games in 1972, and their bodies also had the slogan "Mercedes-Benz-electric drive makes the environment more friendly".
The prototype of Daimler-Benz LE 306 is the L 206/207 van with internal combustion engine. LE 306 is developed by Daimler-Benz in cooperation with Kiepe and battery supplier Varta, and is equipped with a DC split-excitation motor with an output power of 35 ~ 56 kW. The battery pack it carries has an energy of 22 kWh, an output voltage of 144 V and a self-weight of 860 kg.
LE 306 can carry 1 t of goods and travel 50 ~ 100 km at 80 km/h, and like the current new energy vehicles, it can recover kinetic energy when braking.
In 1980s, Daimler-Benz also developed two successor models of LE 306, namely, 307 E postal van (cruising range 70 km) born in 1980 and 308 E municipal vehicle born in 1988.
▲ Daimler-Benz 307 E postal truck produced in 1980.
▲ Daimler-Benz 308 E municipal vehicle produced in 1988.
Off-topic: Compared with German car companies, at this time, the United States is being swept by the Impact and EV1 electric vehicles derived from the ZEV Act. The performance of these two cars was not to be underestimated at that time.
▲ EV1 pure electric vehicle produced by American General Motors Company in 1990s.
■ From history to today, are German car companies focusing on electrification research and development or coping with policies?
After talking about the history of electrification development of so many German car companies, we can see that they didn’t love the development of electric vehicles in the early stage of development, just because the first oil crisis in 1973 forced them to "bow down" to electrification in order to protect themselves. As time has evolved to the present, I think it should be divided into two "levels" to see the development of German departments in the electrification business.
1. The first "level": in response to the policy, the development speed is quite slow.
During the period from 2000 to 2010, traditional car companies also tried to develop electric vehicles, but in essence, most of these electric vehicles were developed for the sake of development, which could not improve the experience of use. If it were not for policy pressure and subsidies, few consumers would buy electric vehicles. Therefore, car companies are naturally reluctant to produce electric vehicles. After all, the production of electric vehicles has to go through a series of links such as research and development and testing, and the cost will be greatly improved.
In July 2007, Daimler released the electric version of smart. Although it later cooperated with Tesla and used the electric drive bus and battery package provided by Tesla on the Smart For Two version, this product in response to the policy was not favored by consumers. At that time, the US market contracted 25% of the global sales of the electric Smart, and in 2014, it sold 2,594 units, 1,387 units in 2015 and only 657 units in 2016. Even among the 85 Smart dealers in the United States, 58 plan to give up selling electric Smart models and only provide after-sales service, while the remaining 27 stores are basically distributed in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and new york, where zero emission laws are implemented, and they have to sell because of policy pressure.
In 2009, after Daimler-Benz announced that it had purchased a 9.1% stake in Tesla for US$ 50 million, Daimler also decided to apply Tesla’s electric drive assembly, battery pack and charger to Mercedes-Benz Class B electric version from 2012. I thought Daimler-Benz was going to develop with electrification, but who ever thought it was still a model to deal with emission policies.
Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz A E-Cell with Tesla battery pack and powertrain and the Mercedes-Benz B-class electric version just mentioned are both electric vehicles launched in response to the "double integral" policy of the US and EU versions. In terms of sales volume, Mercedes-Benz E-Cell is not sold, and there is not much information to check. The latter’s Mercedes-Benz B-class electric version has sold a total of 3,651 vehicles in the United States and Europe, which is not even "mass production" compared with the sales of its own fuel car brothers.
▲ 2011 Mercedes-Benz A E-Cell
▲2014 Mercedes-Benz Class B Electric Drive
In the second half of 2019, Volkswagen successively launched three electric vehicles based on MQB platform in China, namely LaVida pure electric version, Golf pure electric version and Bora pure electric version. All three vehicles are equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a power of 100 kW and power batteries with capacities of 37.2 kWh and 38.1 kWh (LaVida pure electric version). The comprehensive cruising range is 270 km and 278 km (LaVida pure electric version).
As far as the pure electric vehicles developed based on MQB are concerned, their low integration, low efficiency and weak performance are the main shortcomings, so these three pure electric vehicles are mainly to meet the requirements of double points. After all, the domestic consumers’ love for Volkswagen has made the fuel vehicles of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen show large-scale sales, and there is a great demand for the existing quantity and demand of NEV points.
The same thing happened to BMW. In 2008, BMW launched Project i, an electric vehicle project, and launched the first pure electric vehicle MINI E of the project. In June 2009, MINI E began to lease services including charging and insurance to private users in American cities such as Los Angeles and new york, with a monthly rent of $850. Although we didn’t find conclusive evidence to prove that MINI E was launched in response to the emission policies of various countries at that time, in the automobile circle environment at that time, the launch of the travel version of the model could not be separated from this suspicion.
However, the launch of BMW MINI E is also to confirm the first generation of electric drive assembly technology developed by BMW at that time. Although the cruising range of this car is only 100 miles, BMW has produced as many as 600 test cars for the smooth launch of this car. The test of MIMI E was carried out until March 2011, which confirms BMW’s serious attitude towards the development of electrification.
Although German car companies like Daimler-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW "restart" the electrification business and launch "policy cars" in response to the emission policies introduced by various countries or the EU version of the double-point policy. However, from a macro perspective, the policy can also be regarded as an unreliable "measure" to promote the electrification development of German car companies.
2. The second "level": the rise of the electric vehicle market in China, "forcing" German car companies to accelerate their development.
If it weren’t for the rise of China’s new energy market, these German car companies are still pushing their own electric vehicles, even "policy electric vehicles", at a slow pace of development. However, from March 2009, the State Council issued the "Automobile Industry Adjustment and Revitalization Plan" document, which first mentioned the development goal of new energy, and the central government arranged funds to give subsidies. By March, 2010, new energy vehicles, as an emerging industry, were put forward at the National People’s Congress for the first time. By 2011 Shanghai International Auto Show, only China’s own brands exhibited 66 new energy vehicles, covering the mainstream new energy technology routes such as hybrid, plug-in hybrid, extended range and pure electric, which indicated that China would become the global new energy vehicle industry center in the future.
BMW: Take the initiative to seize the market.
In 2013, BMW took the lead in listing i3, which was BMW’s first truly mass-produced pure electric vehicle, and BMW invested a total of $2.65 billion in this car. According to the data, on the first anniversary of its listing, the global sales volume of i3 was 16,052 in 2014, and it rose to 24,057 in 2015. By 2019, BMW i3 had sold a total of 150,000 vehicles. With overwhelming sales, it completely defeated the Mercedes-Benz B-class electric version competing on the same stage.
Although it has won many awards, BMW Group has not slowed down the pace of development in the field of new energy, and has successively launched a number of pure electric and plug-in hybrid models (including BMW i8, BMW X1 PHEV, BMW 530Le, etc.). By 2023, BMW plans to provide 25 electric vehicles to the market.
Mercedes-Benz: Strive to shorten the gap between the electrification development of competitors.
Although the opportunity of electrification development was seized by BMW, Daimler was not idle. It started with the power battery, and in 2010, it established a joint venture company DeutscheAccumotive with Evonik. In 2014, it successfully acquired all the shares of Li-Tek Battery Company and Deutsche Accumotive Company held by Evonik.
Subsequently, Daimler announced in 2016 that it would invest US$ 540 million in a new battery PACK factory in Kamenz, Germany. The batteries produced by this factory will be used by Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands. This move also makes Daimler the first car company with battery manufacturing capability in the traditional car company camp in Europe and America.
At the Paris Motor Show in September of that year, Daimler showed a pure electric SUV concept car called "Mercedes-Benz EQ", and this was just the beginning, because EQ was not a car, but a series. In November 2019, a truly pure electric model of Daimler, Mercedes-Benz EQC, was officially launched, which was six years behind BMW i3, but it was a milestone for Daimler. Mercedes-Benz EQC is the same as BMW iX3 and Audi e-tron in that they are all pure electric vehicles, but EQC is not developed based on pure electric platform, but on the platform of fuel vehicle Mercedes-Benz GLC.
▲ Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC Generation 1886 Limited Edition
▲ BMW iX3
Judging from the speed of Daimler’s electrification development, although he has been emphasizing that "we are the inventors of automobiles", the electrification development at the time of the first oil crisis was "late". However, judging from the construction steps of Daimler’s series of battery factories, it is shortening the development gap with its competitors from another field.
Volkswagen: Later, I caught up and warmed up in a family way.
After 18 years of research on the electrification of golf models, Volkswagen demonstrated the sixth generation of golf blue-e-motion in Germany in 2010, and launched the first electric vehicle LaVida blue-e-motion developed in China at the Beijing Auto Show in 2010. These two pure electric vehicles are modern versions of electric vehicles.
In 2019, the latest Bora pure electric version, LaVida pure electric version and golf pure electric version were unveiled. These three pure electric vehicles are too conservative in performance and limited in competitiveness. I believe the public naturally knows this. Therefore, in the same year, Volkswagen quickly launched its brand-new electric ID family, which included a number of highly competitive concept cars, such as ID., ID. CROZZ, ID. BUZZ, ID.VIZZION, ID. BUGGY and ID.ROOMZZ.
▲ Volkswagen ID family series models
The ID.3, which evolved from the concept car ID.3, has been officially put into production in Zwickau, Germany, and was first delivered in the European market in the spring of 2020. In 2019, Guangzhou Auto Show unveiled an ID. The concept car evolved from ID. It will be made in Foshan factory this year for the first time, and it is also the earliest ID. model made in China by Volkswagen Group.
▲ Volkswagen ID.3 Pure electric vehicle type
In addition, Volkswagen also said that 33 electric vehicles, including cars, SUVs and hatchbacks, will be released by 2025, when the global annual output will be 1 million electric vehicles, two thirds of which will come from China. This series of actions, presumably the public is also sending a signal to the outside world, ID series is the real strength, and the three pure electric vehicles launched before are only a transitional stage in the public electric route planning.
▲ Volkswagen ID. First seen domestic pure electric vehicles
Audi: The technology is continuously updated iteratively.
Compared with other German car companies, Audi’s R&D efforts in the development of electrification have never stopped since the 1990s. In 2009, the first Audi e-tron concept car was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. This four-wheel drive sports car, which is very similar in appearance to the Audi R8, is equipped with a 42.4 kWh lithium battery and a 230 kW motor, with a maximum mileage of 248 km.
In 2010, Audi released the second e-tron concept car, which is a rear-drive version of the electric car with a maximum output of 150 kW and a maximum mileage of 250km. In the same year, Audi launched an electric vehicle development plan, saying that it would launch a limited edition model of the Audi R8 e-tron. However, after 10 Audi R8 e-tron prototype cars were manufactured in 2013, Audi suspended the development plan of electric vehicles with Audi R8 e-tron as the main line on the grounds that battery technology was limited and cruising range could not meet expectations.
In March 2014, after being stimulated by the fact that Tesla Model S sold 17,600 vehicles in the United States at that time, Audi launched the electric vehicle development plan again. Audi said that the reason for the start-up is that the battery technology has been improved, and the cruising range can be improved from 215 km to 450 km.
In the following years, Audi officially launched concept cars such as A3e-tron and A6L e-tron, and production models such as Q7e-tron and A6L e-tron. However, these models are all plug-in hybrid models, and there is no pure electric vehicle as planned in the previous electrification development plan.
Until September 17, 2018, Audi developed the first pure electric production model for ten years — — Audi e-tron was officially unveiled and launched in November of the following year. At the same time, by 2025, Audi plans to launch more than 30 electric models, which will account for 40% of Audi’s total sales.
Audi, the flagship pure electric vehicle that everyone has been waiting for for a long time, has a slow development. However, judging from Audi’s uninterrupted electrification research and development for more than ten years, Audi’s e-tron is not late, but Audi is building a "perfect" electric car with a serious attitude.
Porsche: the originator of electric cars, from electric cars to electric cars.
It has been 118 years since Mr Ferdinand Porschel introduced the first electric car Lohner Porsche in 1900, and the first mass-produced electric sports car Taycan was released in 2018. Among them, since Ferdinand Porschel founded Porsche Automobile Company in 1948, Porsche’s 70-year journey in the automobile industry has been ups and downs, and it can make a TV series in the automobile industry.
▲ Porsche pure electric sports car concept car Mission E
With the development in recent years, Porsche has gradually incorporated hybrid technology and plug-in technology into 918 Spyder (discontinued), panamera (Paramera) and cayenne (Cayenne). And this Porsche pure electric four-door sports car named Taycan has no trace of its "predecessor", but what it has in common with Lohner Porsche is that both of them have shown better performance than contemporary gasoline cars in different years.
In the future, Porsche will rely on the two major focuses of "electric travel" and "future car structure" for development. By 2025, one out of every four Porsche sports cars will be equipped with a new energy power system.
▲ Porsche’s first mass-produced pure electric sports car Taycan
Although Porsche has been silent for decades in the process of electrification development, its starting point for pure electric vehicles is much higher than other competitors, so we can’t help but sigh: "Your uncle is still your uncle!"
■ State Review
Although the development of German electric vehicles has lagged behind the United States next door for nearly 60 years, it can be said that Mr. Ferdinand Porschel and the car Lohner Porsche invented by him are indelible glorious history in the development of automobile electrification. After 120 years of development in the automobile industry, German car companies have really brought electric technology to us, but can these electric cars they launched hold irreplaceable value as they did a hundred years ago? The answer to this question is what we hope to get. We hope that these electrification technologies can bring us higher practicality and innovation, not to "cope" with the policy "policy car".
In the next issue, we will take a look at the history of electric cars with American humor in the United States, so stay tuned!