"By mounting the drive motor on the wheels, the entire chassis distribution can be redesigned, allowing for a completely new layout of the cabin!"

Geng Chunxiao proposed the method of "wheel drive" for the problem of pure electric buses, and applied the technology of high-speed rail to automobiles.

"In this case, the only thing to be solved is the miniaturization of the motor, and the location of the brake......

Years of technology accumulation have allowed Geng Chunxiao to burst out with amazing creativity, and he has preliminarily simulated the use of "wheel drive" on electric buses.

After staying up all night, he finally lived up to his mission, and he hurriedly copied his design plan with a USB flash drive, ready to take it to the company to submit.

In case someone else takes the lead, the 100,000 yuan bonus will fly away, and the decoration must be won, which is Geng Chunxiao's biggest motivation.

When his "wheel drive" plan was submitted, it really attracted the attention of experts from the research institute. Theoretically, if the "wheel drive" is installed on the rear axle of the bus, the lithium battery can also be placed at the rear of the car, so as to really lower the floor of the carriage by 20-30 cm, cancel the steps at the upper and lower doors, and also allow the rear seats to be arranged without steps, realizing the "high-speed rail" space.

"Sure enough, the new invention is the paper on the window, which is usually taken for granted, but only when it is needed, it can be seen through a little. I didn't expect that there were such talents in our company, and I was almost buried. ”

Zhao Quanfu, president of the research institute, did not expect that the problem announced by Zhang Bang would be solved so quickly, and he was inspired by the field of high-speed rail, and he couldn't help but sigh that young people are still energetic.

In fact, the application of "wheel drive" technology in the automotive field is not new, and many new energy concept cars of Japanese brands have demonstrated this technology. Japanese engineers created 6-wheel, 8-wheel "wheel drive" car like a high-speed rail possession, but on the electric bus, especially considering practicality, only two rear wheels "wheel side drive" driving, this is indeed the first attempt by the Chinese.

Not surprisingly, Geng Chunxiao received a bonus of 100,000 yuan and was transferred to the "Kunpeng" project team to be responsible for electrification, so that he could witness the growth of his inspiration fruit more closely.

According to the plan of launching one new car a year, this year Zhonghua Group has completed the launch of a new small SUV "Song". However, in order to complete the product line as soon as possible, the K1 project, an A0-class small car known as the smaller "Qin", will be able to meet the public during the National Day according to the current progress.

Judging from the mainstream level of China's current consumers, family cars below 100,000 are still the first choice for everyone to buy a car, and under the premise that "Qin" holds the price of 100,000 yuan, K1 will be used as a more entry-level small car in 5-80,000 between.

Now the price of the old second-generation "Qin" is in the range of 80,000 landing, but for long-term planning, this imitation Corolla sedan will sooner or later withdraw from the historical stage, and in the future, the main price can only be the K1 model.

Thanks to the solid foundation laid by the third-generation "Qin", the K1 small car has many common parts that can be shared by both vehicles, which greatly reduces the procurement cost. This kind of trick is the same as "Song" born from "Tang", which not only reduces costs, but also greatly speeds up product research and development.

At this time, Han Hao really experienced the benefits of independent research and development, laying a good foundation can sprout everywhere, as the saying goes, you can draw inferences from one another.

In addition to the difference in wheelbase and body size, the new K1 test drive from the outside is a reduced version of the "Qin", but in order to distinguish it from the "Qin", the concept of jade Ruyi is once again used in the taillight design, and the taillights on both sides are connected together, which is easy for people to distinguish.

This is a bold attempt by the chief designer Zhao Chunlei, who deliberately broke the routine and adopted the connection design to lead a new trend in order to distinguish the two sides of the taillights in mainstream manufacturers. This inspiration comes from the fact that when he returned to his hometown for the Chinese New Year, he saw the villagers waving the "bench dragon" paraded on the street on the night of the Lunar New Year.

"In fact, our ancestors' concept of aesthetics was first-class in the world at that time, and there are many design concepts in traditional Chinese culture that are worth excavating and carrying forward, and refining them will help us create products with our own cultural connotation. ”

When "ripples of water drops" became the main concept of Zhonghua Group, Zhao Chunlei, as its inventor, seemed to have opened up the two veins of Ren and Du, and he was even more comfortable with the design concept, especially like to get inspiration from Chinese cultural traditions.

The relaxed atmosphere of Zhonghua Group, especially Han Hao's respect for talents, has allowed many young talents like Zhao Chunlei to fully display their talents.

Another unique feature of the K1 project is that there is no bulge in the middle of the rear row, and it has become a flat design. From the beginning of the old Santana entering China, Chinese people have been accustomed to having a big bulge in the middle of the rear seat, and the middle position has become the least favorite place for passengers.

According to market research, it is common for Chinese consumers to use the back seat of a car much higher than in other countries, and it is common for the back seat to be full of 3 people or even squeezed into 4 people. After all, a car often carries the expectations of the whole family in China, and full loads often occur, which is very different from the situation abroad.

In this context, the middle bulge of the rear row has become a place of criticism for many consumers. Such a call was noticed by a designer of the K1 project, since there is a demand in the market, we will improve and meet it, which is the consistent philosophy of Zhonghua Group.

Most of the models with rear bulges on the market are left behind for the rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive designs, and for the two-wheel drive models that do not need a driveshaft in the mainstream, the propeller is retained in order to save costs. As for the protrusion to be for the strength of the body or to improve the passability, these are all words taken by the sales to explain the protrusion.

The K1 sedan is a front-wheel drive model, and only a simple layout of the exhaust pipe position can be used to improve the bulge.

Shi Xinghua is a chassis platform engineer at the research institute, and it was at his suggestion that the K1 project decided to create a flat rear space.

The original vertical exhaust pipe turns to the right in the middle of the car and passes under the right seat of the rear row, so that the most occupied position of the exhaust pipe is placed here, so as to avoid the formation of protrusions.

"What was supposed to be a simple layout change turned out to be a revolution in the entire chassis. When the position of the exhaust pipe is changed, it can be said that the whole body is reopened, the floor mold is reopened, the electrical pipeline is rearranged, all the parts of the exhaust pipe passing through other systems in the area are rearranged, and the entire chassis needs to be re-upgraded.

Although the chassis of the K1 is from the 'Qin', if you compare the design drawings of the two, the 1 chassis belongs to the 2.0 version, which has optimized the passability, NVH and rear suspension on the original basis. ”

Talking about his new work, Shi Xinghua said excitedly.

"Later, we calculated an economic account, and in order to achieve the goal of flat back rows, we invested nearly 50 million yuan before and after. If we copy the design of 'Qin', this money can be saved completely.

Here, I would like to thank the company for trusting me and my team and giving us the platform to display our talents. From the initial budget of 10 million to 46 million, and then more people were constantly mobilized, which is very difficult to happen in a joint venture. ”

Shi Xinghua is very sober about his achievements, and he knows that such an opportunity is hard to come by.

Growing businesses offer many opportunities to thrive, often giving many people the opportunity to stand out and be on their own at a young age.

Han Hao has invested so much money in the rear flat project, and this achievement will be applied to most of the models of Zhonghua Group in the future, so that the cost can be greatly diluted. Under the trend that Chinese attach great importance to the rear row, the joint venture products have begun to design extended with "L" special models, then the flat rear row will also be one of the new weapons of the independent brand of China Group.

With a "bang", in the collision laboratory of Zhonghua Group, the K1 model had its first safety collision.

In the future, Chunghwa Group's products will be global safety standard models, so after the introduction of experts in European crash standards, new models will undergo internal crash tests.

The airbag popped out normally, the A-pillar was not deformed, and the dummy was perfectly protected, and at first glance, this collision reflected the safety of the K1.

Shi Xinghua also watched the collision process from the sidelines, and when the prototype car after the collision was towed back, he hurried to check how the chassis was doing.

The sensors connected to the computer indicated that the rear of the chassis was generally intact, but he was still not at ease and was ready to raise the chassis himself to inspect it in detail.

The chassis has been improved for the flattening of the rear row, and there has been no similar experimental data before, and today's collision is a rare opportunity to test the results of the receipt-related data.

"There was no major problem with rigidity, but the chassis had deformation consequences due to the collapse of the front cabin. However, the general structure has been maintained and has not collapsed, indicating that we have achieved certain results in redesigning the strength of the whole vehicle. ”

After looking around, Shi Xinghua was relieved, and the new chassis withstood the harsh test.

When K1 underwent its first crash test, the Department of Automotive Management of the Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China held a working meeting in Beijing to prepare for the launch of China's autonomous crash standard, or C-NCAP, in response to the call of the society.

The world's major automobile producing countries have their own safety crash standards, and only cars that have passed the standard certification are allowed to be sold on the road, such as E-NCAP in Europe, J-NCAP in Japan, and IIHS in the United States.

In a country like China, where the government has strong control capabilities, the organizer of C-NCAP was handed over to the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, a state-owned research institute regulated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Regardless of the future results, at least Chinese-made cars will finally have their own crash tests, and there will be no more embarrassment from foreign executives of joint ventures asking what crash standards global models should follow when entering China.

At the preparatory meeting, some experts expressed their opinions, worried that the high standard of crash test will become a threshold to hinder the development of independent brand vehicles.

"Crash tests are imperative from the perspective of international practice, but the development of safety standards also needs to be based on national conditions. Many of our own brand car companies have just started, and many models are not even equipped with airbags, so we need to give them some time to develop.

If we blindly copy the European and American standards, we will inadvertently build a high wall, artificially raise the industry threshold, which is not conducive to the development of independent brands. Foreign brands only need to copy foreign standards, but many of China's independent auto companies do not even have collision laboratories and cannot afford this additional expense for the time being.

On the premise of having enough to feed the workers, I suggest that the country's collision standards should give due consideration to national conditions. ”

His views have been agreed by many people in the industry, compared with foreign brands that have been on the battlefield for a long time, the first time to go on the crash test site of the independent brand models belong to rookie novices, easy to become victims.

"Greenhouses don't grow strong flowers, and our automotive industry has been protecting it for nearly two decades, but it hasn't been competitive enough.

Sometimes overprotection is a kind of harm, I think for C-NCAP in the first two years can be due consideration of national conditions, but after the third year should be as soon as possible to integrate with international standards, with high standards and strict requirements to spur domestic independent brands.

At present, the best development momentum of domestic independent brands is not the three major and three small, but the new brands like Zhonghua and Chery, especially the Zhonghua Group, which is said to have built a collision laboratory last year, has long been prepared. I believe that C-NCAP should be from the perspective of consumers, not biased towards manufacturers, and should consider too many responsibilities that should not be taken on by neutral organizations. ”

Some experts have raised a certain degree of opposition, hoping to create a neutral and authoritative judging body.

Amid the controversy, the C-NCAP standard will be implemented on June 1 next year, with a three-year transition period. After June 1, 2008, all new cars sold in China must pass the C-NCAP test compulsorily, otherwise they will not be allowed to be sold on the road.

This has also become another policy with significant impact in the history of China's automobile after the mandatory implementation of emission standards.