China: Extended-range electric vehicle has huge potential

As the new energy policies getting mature, the industrialization of new energy vehicles is speeding up in China. However, limited range and high expenses on batteries have always been the main barriers of the popularization of electric vehicles. On this background, extended-range electric vehicles have great market potentials with their advantages of extended range and lower expenses on batteries.

On August 31, GM China announced that the world's first mass-production extended-range electric vehicle, Chevrolet Volt, will be on sale in Chinese market the next year. Chery also announced on the other day that two types of extended-range electric vehicles will also be put on market the next year. As the only Chinese auto enterprise that has mastered the technologies of extended-range electric vehicle, Chery has taken a new step towards core technology of new energy vehicles.

Extended-range electric vehicle means that when the battery is enervated to the floor threshold, the extended-range device will automatically start to provide electricity power further and extend the range up to an additional hundreds of kilometers. In this way, the "range anxiety" of the electric vehicle drivers can be effectively relieved and the costs are significantly lowered because the battery capacity of extended-range electric vehicle can be reduced to around 40 percent of that in pure electric vehicles. Obviously, extended-range electric vehicle has advantages over other new energy vehicles in several aspects, such as energy efficiency, price, and convenience.

Chevrolet Volt has an all-electric range of 64 kilometers on express ways or urban highways, and the range can be extended up to 480 kilometers powered by the extended-range device. Besides, the fuel economy rating for Chevrolet Volt on city road is 1.2 L/100km.

As the first Chinese auto enterprise that has mastered the core technology of extended-range electric vehicle, Chery also has excellent performance in electric vehicles. The other day, reporters knew from Chery's new energy companies that Chery has developed the core technology of extended-range electric vehicle and two types of extended-range electric vehicle will be on the market the next year. It's reported that the newly marketed extended-range electric vehicles will apply S18 platform (Ruilin M1) and A21 (Chery A5) platform, and the inner drive system is equipped with extended-range drive system currently developed by Chery.

It is introduced that this electric vehicle is equipped with a special extended-range generators, which has litter shakes, lower noises and is fuel economic. Within 100 kilometers, the electric vehicle can be driven only by the battery. After the battery is limit protected, the extended-range device will automatically start, also the device can also be started manually as the wish of the driver to power the electric driven system of the vehicle continuously.

Yuan Tao, vice general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd and general manager of Chery new energy company, said to the reporters that Chery's drive system is preferable to small-size and light cars compared with Chevrolet Volt. "The engines of Chevrolet are bigger, and the vehicles are larger, while ours is for small-size and light cars with an extended-range device. At present, we have fully mastered the core technology of the extended-range devices."

The extended-range device requires gasoline engine to meet special performance, such as lower noises, less shakes and higher efficiency, so it's difficult to develop. Chery has made breakthroughs at home with years of technical accumulation. It is reported that Chery has started the R&D and promotion of new energy vehicles since 2001 and has applied for almost 500 patents in new energy vehicles area till now.

Experts believe that as the batteries have lower energy density and higher costs at present, extended-range device as a key solution will greatly accelerate the industrialization of new energy technologies. Authoritative surveys reveal that over 90 percent of consumers drive a daily distance of less than 60 kilometers in China at present, so the range of 100 kilometers can completely meet the requirements of most commuters. Designing like this, the cost of electric vehicle can be equal to the same-level gasoline vehicles; and in order to make a few long distance drives, consumers can choose to buy an extended-range device. So Chery will have more initiatives in the industrialization of new energy technologies in China with the extended-range technology.

At present, Chery has processed several new energy vehicles, say, low-voltage electric vehicle QQ3EV powered by silicate battery and S18 electric vehicle. "We have various types of new energy vehicles, including hybrid power vehicles, low-voltage electric vehicle, high-voltage electric vehicle and fuel-cell vehicles, etc." Yuan Tao told the reporters that Chery will bring out many kinds of electric vehicles with various ranges to meet different requirements of consumers.

Besides, Chery is very active in upper-stream cooperation and distribution channel building and makes much strategic cooperation to develop the infrastructure and charging technology. It has already started building the sales and service network of relative new energy vehicles.