From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 200: Starry Sky L7 Prototype Rolls Off the Production Line
The last week of May.

After handling matters at the Luzhou factory, Xu Yi began working on the initial construction plan for the second 4.0 car manufacturing factory.

The details of the preliminary contract agreement and the location of the reserved industrial land have been roughly selected. The technical assessment, industrial assessment and enterprise due diligence are just going through the motions.

The next 4.0 factory of Xingchen will be located on Susong Road in Luzhou Economic Development Zone, where a large power battery factory will also be located.

The surrounding area has complete supporting facilities, and logistics can quickly cover the whole country.

With the support of Luzhou Industrial Investment and local government, Xu Yi met with several suppliers. Although Xingchen Motors' core electric vehicle components are all self-developed, it still needs to purchase vehicle parts and raw materials. The upstream and downstream supply chains involved in high-end vehicle parts are even more extensive.

With the "seven connections and one leveling" infrastructure, plus the land transfer fees returned for this key industrial project, Xingchen's second large-scale car manufacturing plant will be much better than its first in terms of both cost and efficiency.

After meeting with the leaders of Luzhou, they generally gave clear verbal promises that they would strive to expedite the approval and implementation of key projects.

After Xu Yi returned to the company, Shandong Xingchen Technology Group submitted the "Project Research Report" and related materials.

In just two days.

Meanwhile, Luzhou organized an expert team to review the project, clarified the details of the "Project Access Certificate," and approved it.

These include installment refunds of land transfer fees, as well as R&D subsidies and various preferential conditions, which at first glance seem to be top-tier benefits, with some places even offering additional exceptions.

This is definitely something to celebrate internally.

However, there is another thing to celebrate.

Inside the conference room.

Xu Yi is having a meeting with several suppliers.

Xingchen and Baosteel signed a "Strategic Cooperation Agreement". Baosteel customized a "high-strength steel solution" for Xingchen L7 and confirmed the production capacity for mass supply in the second half of the year.

"Mr. Xu, our latest verified hot-formed steel formula uses a ratio of boron, manganese, chromium, and molybdenum. Compared to ThyssenKrupp's DP1500 from Germany, its strength is very close, fully reaching the 1500MPa level, and also meeting your safety standards for high-end vehicles."

Baosteel Chairman Xu Luojiang spoke with a smile.

The Starry Sky L7 adopts a steel-aluminum hybrid body design, while the A-pillar/B-pillar, front and rear longitudinal beams, and passenger compartment floor use the latest "hot-formed steel".

These "hot-formed steels" are the core load-bearing skeleton of the car body, forming the entire car body together with quenched and ductile steel.

"Mr. Chen, you're too kind. We certainly trust Baosteel's quality and have actually tested it. This time, we mainly want to confirm the production capacity and supply, and adjust the thickness of the test samples." Xu Yi maintained his usual smile.

Currently.

The initial prototype of the Starry Night L7's "body-in-white" has officially rolled off the production line.

The so-called "body-in-white" refers to the body that has been welded but not yet painted. It can be understood as the skeleton of the body, and the shape and structural strength of the entire body are completely determined by the strength of the "body-in-white".

This also includes things that are well-known to the public, such as front and rear anti-collision beams and A and B pillars.

before.

Xingchen has also conducted separate comparisons of "hot-formed steel" with domestic and international products.

Even though they are both in the 1500MPa class, there may be slight differences in toughness, but the price difference can be enormous.

It can only be said that China's steel industry is quite impressive.

"We tested the first version of the body-in-white for crash and strength simulations, and optimized the use of high-strength steel in some parts of the body. The amount of steel used in these marked parts will be increased, and the thickness on the supply side has also been adjusted..."

Xu Yi handed over a white body PPT. The red area on it detailed the high-strength steel parts of the Xingchen L7 white body, and the original thickness had been adjusted to a certain extent.

The safety of a car is not just about the hardness of the materials; structural strength is often crucial.

After the first version of the white body rolled off the production line, we used strength crash simulation to identify many weak points and areas that could be strengthened.

As per Xu Yi's request, the natural course of action was to improve those weak points within the limits of cost and capability, and to strengthen the structure of important parts.

"Okay, I'll take a look."

Xu Luojiang was quite able to understand Xingchen's needs.

Currently, the cost of mass-produced high-end hot-formed steel in China has not yet come down. Most other car companies are still using materials with a strength of around 1200MPa, while 1500-1700MPa is definitely considered a high-end material.

When Xingchen holds its press conference, it will not only be able to use 1500MPa hot-formed steel for promotion, but also...

It can also save some unnecessary materials through structural optimization.

After all, heap safety has a diminishing marginal effect.

As long as a vehicle passes a few authoritative tests and is touted by the media, it can be presented as having a very safe "external performance," but consumers don't perceive much of this in reality.

He looked carefully.

To my surprise, I discovered that I had completely misjudged the situation.

“A柱热成型钢加厚到2.5mm、B柱热成型钢从2.0mm增至2.2mm、门槛梁从 2.0mm增至 2.2mm……”

--hiss.

He looked at it carefully, still not believing it.

Safety structure of other parts.

The front bumper beam of the Starry Sky L7 has a cross-section with a "目" (eye) shape, and according to the detailed markings on the body-in-white drawings, the thickest part of the bumper beam is 4mm.

"Mr. Xu, the ingredients you've used are really a bit..."

Xu Luojiang was trying to find a suitable adjective.

Let's say that.

The thickness of automotive anti-collision beams is generally only 2 millimeters.

Japanese cars, known for their fuel efficiency and durability, often have anti-collision beams that are only 1.02mm thick.

The anti-collision beam is 4mm thick.

This product. They only have two words to describe it.

—Car monster!
……

As can be seen from the mature energy-absorbing box design mentioned earlier, this machine is not just a random pile of materials with a focus on thickness without considering the structure.

The ingenuity of the design is also immediately apparent.

They put in a lot of effort.

The level of importance that Xingchen places on security is surprising.

"The materials used are a bit over the top."

Xu Luojiang's evaluation.

Based on his experience, German luxury cars priced around 500,000 yuan are not that great in terms of safety.

Moreover, Xingchen has also thickened the hot-formed steel area separately.

For such a large SUV, the added cost and weight from thickening the frame also come at a separate price.

“We are very sincere in building cars.” Xu Yi observed the other party’s expression and laughed. “Our engineering test vehicle will also undergo its first assembly later. If you are interested, Mr. Xu, let’s inspect it together.”

The front cabin alone has undergone hundreds of rounds of CAE simulation analysis for its multi-dimensional ring-shaped anti-collision structure design, striving to achieve the best performance in both frontal and offset collisions.

In terms of materials, no expense was spared in the design of the white car body.

Even on such a large vehicle, the overall casting cost of the body materials is very significant.

But in Xu Yi's view, it was of no concern whatsoever.

What is the biggest advantage of range-extended vehicles?
Compared to the massive battery packs of other pure electric vehicles in the same class, this can save more than half of the battery cost.

The cost of a single 1.5t engine, which is independently developed, will not exceed 8,000 yuan. Excluding the initial research and development, the cost of the 1.5t engine that Dong'an Power is responsible for manufacturing for Xingchen is less than half of that.

There is ample profit margin.

Prioritizing safety is the most basic requirement and a way to invest in long-term brand reputation.

“Okay, I’m also very interested in your heavy-duty SUVs.”

Xu Luojiang smiled.

Featuring a thickened hot-formed steel design and integrated lithium iron phosphate battery...

If this isn't heavy-duty, then what is?

Judging solely from the weight of traditional vehicles in the same class, the Starry Sky's weight far exceeds the tonnage limit.

To exaggerate a bit—if a Japanese car, which is usually light and nimble, were to hit this one, it would probably feel like hitting a tank.

Xu Luojiang was initially surprised when he learned that Xingchen Motors' next vehicle would be a range extender.

Rumors circulate that range extenders are a useless technology, not only a waste of effort but also a way of cutting corners.

But looking at the car body design now, who would dare say that it cut corners?

"Mr. Xu has always had very high standards for car manufacturing, but I just hope the suspension won't break down later."

Guo Chuan, sitting on the other side, gave a faint, bitter smile.

He looked like he was under a lot of pressure.

The development of air suspension is in its later stages.

To match the development of the complete vehicle with the assembly of the prototype, Kong Hui's team simply set up a joint laboratory at Xingchen's complete vehicle R&D center.

The first generation of domestically produced air suspension for passenger vehicles was completed quietly and in such a fast-paced manner.

This batch that has just come off the production line is just samples.

Only preliminary performance testing has been conducted; durability and detailed extreme temperature testing have not yet been carried out.

With safety features enhanced, vehicle weight must also be increased.

The load-bearing pressure naturally falls on the chassis and air suspension.

The group arrived at the vehicle R&D center.

A brand-new engineering prototype, five meters long, with its chassis and overall assembly largely complete, appeared before our eyes.

The exterior is entirely silver-gray, with only a layer of electrophoretic primer applied to the body. The interior, powertrain, and infotainment system have all undergone initial fitting.

The first impression it gives is that it's huge!
It has a large exterior and a large, spacious interior!
The interior features six seats in two rows, arranged in an aisle layout.

The seats are also self-developed by Xingchen, and each seat is equipped with a soft air headrest. Combined with the thick design, it really feels like a big sofa.

"Mr. Xu."

Several key members of the technical team are also present. Today, the prototype vehicle rolled off the production line, marking a day of verification for internally developed and supply chain integrated technologies.

"The first version of our self-developed engine is already in use, with an overall thermal efficiency of 39.5%. We've also conducted multiple rounds of field tests on the control system, and it's now installed on the vehicle. However, there's still room for improvement in overall vibration and NVH, including thermal efficiency..."

"Well, I think I'll round it up a bit."

Chen Zhou, along with Wang Jingming, Sun Pengfei, and others, surrounded the car body, and he spoke first.

The group was dressed casually, their hair was unkempt, and the surrounding environment was rather messy and disorganized.

Of course, that's not the point.

Xu Yi sensed from this statement that the engine's overall thermal efficiency could exceed 40%!
I thought it would be incredibly difficult.

But to everyone's surprise, they still managed to do it.

(End of this chapter)