At the beginning of the 20th century, cars were keyless.

At that time, cars still needed to be started manually, and to start the car, a crank handle was needed.

Start the engine by turning the shaker.

Today, there are still quite a few tractors and agricultural equipment in the vast rural areas that retain this primitive starting method.

This is also the earliest prototype of car keys.

However, this kind of domineering and exposed key is not used by ordinary people, especially female drivers.

Because to activate this "key", you first have to have enough arm strength.

If you're not careful, this "key" will fly up and break your front teeth.

This period was quite long, with some changes in between, and it was finally in 1980 that the convenience of car keys was further improved.

At that time, Ford used the "remote key" technology for the first time, which allowed the car to be unlocked remotely by simply pressing the button on the key, but when it was necessary to start the car, it was still necessary to insert the key into the ignition ring and twist the key.

At present, nine out of ten cars sold in China use this type of key.

Obviously, as a high-end luxury car, Xingchen Automobile naturally cannot continue to let the key stay at this stage.

The ubiquitous smart key and one-button engine start function that can be seen everywhere in later generations are the equipment that Cao Yang personally determined.

It needs to be used regardless of whether the development team can complete the development on their own or not.

Because this smart key, which can be automatically unlocked and locked, has been around since 1998, and was first adopted in Mercedes-Benz cars.

As long as the key is on the body, you can unlock the vehicle and start the vehicle without taking out the key, which is very classy and face-saving for people in this era.

Later, BMW, Audi and other luxury brand models naturally followed suit.

However, it is only used on their respective high-end models, entry-level low-end models, or traditional keys.

"Mr. Cao, according to what we have learned from our current investigation, the accumulation of Bosch, Continental and Denso in smart keys is relatively rich, and if we directly find them to develop together, the schedule is expected to catch up with the production of Xingchen 1."

"Later, we have enough time to accumulate relevant technologies, and then consider independent research and development."

Zhou Zhichao, Minister of Electronics and Electrical Appliances, is the biggest among the ministers.

As a high-end luxury model, many special equipment is related to their department.

It's like the smart key that is being discussed now, as well as the navigation system in development, the adaptive cruise system, and the headlight design that never satisfies Cao Yang.

All of these are parts that belong to the electrical and electronics department.

"Among the many trendy electronic devices in the car, the smart key system is very eye-catching."

"Keyless entry technology brings excellent convenience, and one-button start brings full technological flavor."

"And just the change from the action of twisting the key to pressing the button is enough to make many bosses pay a lot of extra money."

"This kind of technology is definitely a selling point in the future, and it can be continuously improved."

"We can't hand over such critical things to outside suppliers."

When Cao Yang said this, he couldn't help but think of the lines of the Bentley sedan "Engine Start" in the movie 2012 at a critical moment.

At that time, it is completely possible to consider implanting a hand in some movies, and even in order to improve the style of Xingchen No. 1, it is not impossible to directly invest in some movies and TV series.

With such an important function, he was not at ease about handing it over to Bosch, Continental, and Denso, which have strong competitors with the Nanshan Group.

Let's not talk about whether people will give you some faults, just in terms of price, these factories will definitely form a very good tacit understanding, pit Xingchen Automobile.

Anyway, there is absolutely no manufacturer in China that has the production capacity for smart keys.

"Mr. Cao, your analysis is very reasonable."

"The keyless entry system provides full convenience and security at the same time, and is a high-end configuration that is very popular with consumers."

"However, although the smart key seems to be a small part, it takes a lot of time to develop, and the technical threshold is not low."

"In principle, the smart key applies RFID, that is, radio frequency identification technology, and has a verification action in the process of opening the door."

"When the vehicle is locked, there is a constant signal outward."

"When the smart key appears within the signal range, there will be a response, completing the matching behavior."

"When a consumer walks up to his car and reaches out to touch the door handle, the door lock opens automatically."

"Once in the car, just make sure the key is in the car, and the driver only needs to press the brake pedal and press the start button, and the engine will start on its own, eliminating the hassle of finding the car key."

"However, in order to fully meet the requirements of function and safety, the smart key has very high requirements for chip design, and it also needs to communicate with the ECU to ensure reliable performance."

"Although we have established a semiconductor joint venture with BYD, we also have technical cooperation with Huawei, and there is even a semiconductor division in the research institute."

"But our work is just in its infancy, and there is no way to complete the chip design of the smart key in a short period of time."

"When there are a bunch of programming failures, or insensitive or even errors, it will be more than worth the loss."

Zhou Zhichao obviously does not have the confidence to develop smart keys by himself.

This thing seems to be a small thing, but it is still very technical.

Each OEM basically has its own fixed traditional key or functional key partner.

For example, Mercedes-Benz cars basically use Bosch's key system.

In the case of Toyota, Denso must have provided these parts.

In the case of Honda cars, it also has its own Honda locks to provide.

If this technology is mastered by other third parties and accidentally used to steal a car, then the matter is a big deal.

In 2004, it was not like a later generation, there were surveillance and cameras everywhere.

Car theft is still a common occurrence in this era, and vehicle theft insurance is still a separate type of insurance.

"If you can get the chip design of the smart key, can your electronics and electrical department complete the design of the smart key on time?"

Zhou Zhichao said a lot of things, and it can't be said that what he said is unreasonable.

However, Cao Yang obviously didn't want to hear it.

He stays in Xingchen Automobile Research Institute every day, isn't it just to help "solve" these bottlenecks?

"If there is no problem with the design work related to the chip and programming, then the design of the smart key is not difficult, and we can definitely do it ourselves."

Zhou Zhichao didn't think about it, and immediately said that he could do it.

As the minister of the Ministry of Electronics and Electrical, he still has this ability to judge.

"By the way, how is the small battery on this smart key going to be done at present?"

It stands to reason that this question should be asked to the purchasing department, and it should be a supply issue.

But in fact, a lot of the work done by the purchasing department has been done by researchers in advance during the development stage.

Obviously, specifying which type of battery is one of the things that needs to be technically validated during the development phase.

Otherwise, one of your smart keys will run out of power in two months, and consumers will not be allowed to scold you to death?

"The small battery is currently ready to use the battery provided by Panasonic."

"Of course, we are also communicating with BYD, and if they also produce this kind of battery in the future, there is no problem in switching to their battery."

"However, their current battery division is mainly engaged in mobile phone batteries and computer batteries, and this kind of small battery, which is like a button, is not their focus."

"We only plan to produce 10,000 units of Xingchen 1, and we don't need much battery in total."

When Zhou Zhichao said this, Cao Yang felt that he had found a good entry point.

Battery!

Nowadays, people are not fully aware of its importance.

Can Cao Yang still not be aware of it?

One of the previous cooperation projects between Nanshan Group and BYD was the research and development of batteries.

But so far, it seems that no specific products have been come out.

Just taking this opportunity, a battery factory was set aside in Nanshan Auto Parts, which was responsible for the production of button batteries.

Starting with the button battery of the smart key, it can also be sold to the outside world to provide button batteries for various remote controls.

After accumulating for a period of time, we will further consider the development of batteries for automobiles.

Whether it is FHEV batteries, PHEV batteries or BEV batteries, there are broad application prospects in the future.

Especially in the short term, the FHEV battery can be considered to be combined with Xingchen Automobile to launch a FHEV version of the model.

It doesn't need to be recharged, and it can provide enough power at the start, so that the quietness of the car is also raised to a higher level.

Toyota's Lexus has walked this road.

"Panasonic's battery can be used as an alternative, anyway, it's only 10,000, even if you buy it back and don't use it, it doesn't have much impact."

"But I will take this opportunity to let Nanshan Auto Parts start its own research and production of button batteries."

"In the future, our smart key will be equipped with Nanshan's own battery as much as possible."

Cao Yang's decision made Zhou Zhichao feel a little surprised.

Although he had already seen Cao Yang's power, he couldn't help but remind him of this matter: "Mr. Cao, although the battery on the smart key is very small, the technical content is actually not low." ”

"To maintain sufficient power, it is necessary to use lithium batteries, but lithium metal is very active, and to make the performance of lithium batteries stable enough, it is necessary to do a series of tests on the selection of positive and negative electrode materials and the selection of electrolytes and separators."

"And it is best to introduce large-scale automation equipment for production to ensure the quality and stability of the product."

"In this way, the investment is definitely not small, and the final cost may be higher than buying directly from Panasonic."

"Although it is a very correct direction to hand over the key components to the group's brother manufacturers as much as possible."

"But some parts inevitably need to be handed over to other manufacturers to produce, including batteries, there are already more mature manufacturers on the market, and we are also planning to directly adopt other mature products."

Taking this opportunity, Zhou Zhichao directly said about the battery.

After all, there are only batteries and button batteries on smart keys in cars now.

No other batteries exist.

Cao Yang attaches so much importance to the battery matter, and Zhou Zhichao is also worried that it will be too late to let the other party know about the battery, and he will have a bad impression of himself.

"The battery uses lead-acid batteries, which are already very mature and there is not much room for improvement."

"You just use the products on the market, and I don't think there's any problem at all."

"But the coin cell battery is a lithium-ion battery, which is one of the most promising classifications in the battery industry."

"It is also the technology involved in our current battery cooperation project with BYD, so even if the current amount is very small, it is worth spending time and manpower to accumulate this technology."

"Maybe in a decade, electric cars will be popular."

"We need to plan ahead."

Cao Yang replied very resolutely.

In this regard, Zhou Zhichao will naturally refute again.

He just analyzes the problem from his own position and then gives advice.

If the boss thinks there is a better plan, he will naturally follow the boss's plan.

"Mr. Cao, if this is the case, then I think we can consider what products need to be produced in addition to the production of button batteries after the investment in the battery production line continues?"

"Mobile phone batteries and notebook batteries, which BYD is now producing, are definitely not good."

"This was specifically emphasized in the previous cooperation agreement between the two parties."

"If you simply rely on providing batteries for each remote control, the market capacity is very small, because most remote controls do not use coin cell batteries now."

Zhou Zhichao can be regarded as conscientious.

He was obviously the person in charge of development, but he began to think about the market.

"Now the penetration rate of mobile phones has become higher and higher, and mobile phone batteries are a big market, although we have no plans to do it."

"But in the early stage of development, you can consider making a power bank to pull the load of the battery production line."

Cao Yang had an idea and gave an idea.

Power banks are too common in later generations.

Although the era of smart phones has not arrived, if the mobile phone battery has universal charging, it can be solved by buying a few more pieces.

But power banks are not without a market.

"Power bank?"

"That's right, it's equivalent to a mobile power bank to charge your phone."

"Mr. Cao, if you use lithium batteries to make power banks, it is estimated that the price will not be cheap, and the sales may not be very good."

Zhou Zhichao thought that he had changed a mobile phone lithium battery some time ago, and it would cost more than 100 yuan to get a piece, which was expensive.

The volume of the power bank must be much larger than the mobile phone battery, and the price will not be even more exaggerated at that time?

"Power bank is not the company's main business, and it is not even the future development direction, but it is just to provide a channel for the battery production line to digest production capacity."

"So this part of the business, as long as you don't lose money, the price is as low as possible."

Cao Yang did not expect the battery business to make money for Nanshan Group in the next ten years, as long as there were products to support the personnel and production lines of this piece.

The real explosion will definitely have to wait for the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles.

"If that's the case, you can give it a try, and I'll communicate with Mr. Dai of Nanshan Auto Parts at that time."

The boss has taken into account the sales of batteries, and Zhou Zhichao naturally has nothing to worry about.

However, the news that Nanshan is going to invest in the battery production line must come down, and BYD is a little worried.

"Mr. Wang, I just got a news that Nanshan Auto Parts is ready to invest in a new battery production line, and is already discussing cooperation with us."

As BYD's vice president in charge of battery business, Lv Faxiang is an old subordinate who is deeply trusted by Wang Fu.

Now he hurriedly came to find Wang Fu, obviously realizing that something was wrong.

"Nanshan wants to engage in batteries?"

When Wang Fu heard this, he was also stunned for a moment.

This information is indeed a bit surprising.

"Yes, the news has been confirmed."

"The battery business is our company's most important profitable business, and if Nanshan also engages in it, the impact on us will be huge."

"Do I think I need to negotiate with them so that they don't violate the cooperation agreement between the two sides?"

Lu Faxiang's first reaction was that Nanshan was going to enter the field of mobile phone batteries and computer batteries and compete with BYD for the market.

This part of the business is still relatively profitable.

It must be that after Nanshan figured out the situation, he began to be envious and jealous.

Well, it must be so.

Thinking of this, Lu Faxiang was even more anxious.

The two sides have launched a cooperation in the battery business, although it cannot be said that they have completely mastered all of BYD's battery technology, but they know something from the cooperative project team.

If some more people are poached from BYD, then it can bring a huge threat to BYD's battery business.

"That's not right."

"If Nanshan wants to compete with us, he must secretly go to the battery factory, and he won't let you know at the beginning."

"Don't you think it's strange that there is even a discussion about the cooperation business of the battery factory?"

Wang Fu has also experienced a lot of winds and waves, although he was surprised just now, but he quickly calmed down.

According to his understanding of Cao Yang, the other party is not the kind of person who grabs food with BYD.

Otherwise, the positioning of Xingchen Automobile would not be a high-end model.

"It's a little strange, but it's absolutely true and reliable news that they're going to engage in batteries."

Speaking of which, Lu Xiangyang already felt that something was wrong.

Nanshan wants to build a battery factory, and you still want BYD to help design the production line?

Is the other party stupid?

"Did they tell you what type of batteries they were going to make?"

Wang Fu thought about it for a while and felt that it was better to confirm it clearly.

lest there be any misunderstanding between the two sides after calling Cao Yang directly at the right time.

For BYD, Nanshan is now an indispensable supplier, and they can't afford to fall out with Nanshan.

"Lithium-ion batteries, as soon as they opened their mouths, they invested in the production line of lithium-ion batteries, so I was in a hurry."

Slowly realizing that he came to Wang Fu so quickly, it seemed a little inconsiderate.

Lu Faxiang's voice became slightly quieter.

"Nanshan Group's business basically revolves around the automotive industry, whether it is parts or equipment, or Xingchen Automobile, it is the automotive industry."

"I don't think they want to enter the consumer electronics battery when they invest in the battery production line."

"They have always advertised that they rely on technology to get orders, and they shouldn't fight with us for costs."

"Besides, with our technical background, even if they want to produce batteries for consumer electronics, the cost cannot be lower than ours."

"In this case, it is impossible for Mr. Cao to agree with the people below to mess around."

As soon as Wang Fu analyzed this, Lu Faxiang couldn't help but nodded.

Indeed, this is the truth.

"That ......"

"Mr. Wang, does Nanshan Group want to produce car batteries?"

Lu Faxiang knows that BYD has now begun to work on batteries for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Even BYD's semiconductor business is invested because of the demand in this area.

"I have always admired Mr. Cao's vision."

"Although it is still the era of fuel vehicles, I think electric vehicles will be a direction sooner or later in the future."

"Especially with the continuous increase in the production of automobiles in Huaxia, the dependence on imported oil will become higher and higher."

"But these oil resources are basically in the hands of other people, and we have no pricing power."

"Therefore, in order to reduce the dependence on imported oil, Huaxia will definitely support the development of new energy vehicles such as electric vehicles in the future."

"Then, there will be an explosive growth in the battery business."

"It is likely that Mr. Cao is also aware of this, so he began to lay out car batteries to prepare for the future."

The more Wang Fu said this, the more he felt that it should be like this.

"Then didn't Mr. Cao and Mr. Wang think of going together?"

Lu Faxiang now also feels that what his boss said makes sense, "Sure enough, the hero sees the same thing." ”

"But the Nanshan Group is too terrifying, right?"

"While the development of traditional gasoline vehicles is so good, we have been thinking about the future business of electric vehicles in times of peace."

Although these words are suspected of being sycophants, they are indeed Lu Faxiang's heart.

He engaged in the research and development of electric vehicle batteries by himself, which was carried out according to Wang Fu's instructions, and was not proposed by himself.

Now Nanshan Group has made a similar decision with Wang Fu.

Then the possibility that this direction is the right one is very large.

"These are just our guesses, I'll call Mr. Cao and ask later."

"The relationship between us and us can't be soured because of a battery business."

Although he is very optimistic about the future of car batteries, Wang Fu also knows that at least in three or five years, this piece will not make money.

If you break up with Nanshan Group because of this, the biggest loss will be BYD itself.

(End of chapter)