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

Chapter 245 800V Architecture, Acquisition of Wafer Fab, Star Semiconductor...

The design of the Heaven and Earth Gate is not complicated.

But it works very well.

It's the kind of configuration that's both stylish and practical.

No one in the domestic car industry has ever driven this car before.

The biggest reason is that it can't be suppressed.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to say – "I lack that confidence."

While it's good to have features comparable to million-dollar luxury cars, if the brand can't keep up, it can easily look awkward and be ridiculed.

If car owners who have already purchased a vehicle are also subjected to similar attacks, then it will have the opposite effect.

"Won't our design for the Heavenly Gate be suspected of being copied or similar to other designs...?"

Someone immediately spoke up.

"Hey—that's called a tribute!"

"What tribute? That's called respect!!"

"No one understands respect better than us at Starry Sky!!"

……

soon.

The sounds rose and fell, and people were completely unaware of what the world was like.

Xu Yi's lips twitched slightly.

This joke is so overused...!
"cough……"

He coughed lightly, and everyone present immediately fell silent.

The way they looked at President Xu was full of respect, as if the scene that had just happened had never occurred.

Wang Jingming suppressed his smile and offered a new perspective from a technical standpoint: "That's right, imitation and collisions aren't scary; whoever is worse off is the one who's embarrassed."

If we come up with a poorly designed Heaven and Earth Gate system without any core elements of our own, we will inevitably face gossip and criticism.

The Xingchen L9 has its own core selling points, with its electric drive system and powertrain undergoing iterative upgrades.

Regarding the self-developed Starry Sky Gate technology.

We have embedded sensor radar to achieve 360-degree anti-pinch function with no blind spots, and it can also bear a maximum weight of 240kg. The hydraulic rods and hinges of the upper and lower doors are more integrated, with stronger sealing, and they do not take up trunk space. Even compared with the 1.5 million RMB Land Rover Range Rover, the overall experience and performance are superior..."

The conference screen displayed a disassembled view of the roof and sill structures of the Range Rover and Cullinan.

This includes structure, performance parameters, and so on.

For example, in terms of load-bearing capacity, the official data for these two cars is 150kg. The lower half of the door with a top and bottom hinge needs to have built-in hinges, locking mechanisms and load-bearing structures, which will naturally occupy the bottom space of the trunk. In this respect, the Starry Sky's integrated built-in hinge structure occupies less space and is lower, making it almost imperceptible compared to a regular trunk. These are all considerations in terms of underlying technology.

"We are currently studying the design and development of the Brilliant Series vehicles. That vehicle will adopt a fully automatic door design, with doors that open in opposite directions and an extra-large hatchback design. We have put a lot of effort into the electronic door opening and closing technology. The tailgate is also something we developed incidentally while utilizing our resources."

Wang Jingming added another sentence.

These words immediately drew everyone's attention.

A dazzling series?!
"Brilliant...a constellation of stars..."

"To date, we have registered approximately 10800 patents, of which approximately 3200 are in the three-electric technologies, including 1800 battery patents, 800 motor patents, and 600 electronic control patents."
Body and chassis patents: approximately 1800;
Intelligent technology: Approximately 1200 items;
Safety technologies: Approximately 1360 items;
Design patent...

More than 300 core confidential patents remain undisclosed…

If all of these elements were integrated into a single car, it would be no exaggeration to call it a constellation of stars, dazzling and radiant.

……

"The Brilliant Series will be equipped with the third-generation Polestar battery pack and our third-generation motor and electronic control system, including a brand-new 800V architecture, 800V battery pack design, 800V silicon carbide motor controller, ultra-high voltage wiring harness, wheel-side motor technology..."

"By then, this car will be able to perform a lot of powerful functions!!"

...

Xingchen is a car manufacturing company driven purely by technology, so its product planning meetings focus more on discussing and demonstrating projects that have already been initiated and developed, and what technologies can be broken through and used in the next generation of cars.

to be frank.

In terms of current R&D intensity, things like rear-wheel steering don't even rank high.

The internal components, such as the third-generation 800V Polestar battery pack, 800V silicon carbide motor controller, and wheel-side motors, would truly give traditional automakers, who are still hesitant about fully committing to the new energy vehicle market, a real shock.

???

They haven't even figured out 400V vehicles yet, and Xingchen is already working on 800V?

of course.

At present, these technologies are still in the exploratory stage, and it is too early to produce results. There are many research and development challenges to overcome.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Song Guoqiang from the design department released 3D renderings of the entire vehicle, which had been revised countless times.

"Based on Mr. Xu's planning and technical discussions, the first generation of the Brilliant model that we finally designed is aimed at ultra-high-end pure electric sports cars, featuring a futuristic sci-fi mecha style, which is a completely new attempt..."

The car's lines are sharp and angular, exuding a mechanical aesthetic. Instead of the family-style star-ring headlight design, it features a star-ring ISD light cluster covering the entire vehicle, along with suicide doors, a floating rear spoiler, and a triple-screen crystal cockpit...

After months of refinement, the final result is truly stunning!
If this gets released, it'll definitely be trending on social media again!
Although Jia Yueting's Faraday Future FF91 has gone overseas, news of its successful overseas financing has emerged. Not only that, it has also made it to the top of the trending searches and successfully fooled a group of believers.

This is enough to show that both the capital market and the consumer market are looking forward to the birth of a domestically produced supercar.

No domestic brand has ever produced a supercar.

Who can fill this niche gap is also a huge gimmick.

Supercar models are difficult to sell due to their high cost and small market.

But its high-class image and storytelling ability are undeniable!

For a car company's brand to truly move into the high-end market...

Technology is one aspect.

It often depends on the ability to tell a story.

A century-old car company, a philosophy of belief, a pursuit of perfection, sports car engineering, speed and passion, a symbol of nobility, fuel efficiency and durability...

By achieving remarkable successes and integrating them with the brand philosophy, these achievements resonate with consumers and ultimately solidify into a unique car-buying belief.

Xu Yi had to admit that these imported luxury brands had accumulated a lot of experience in this area over the years, and their resources were too substantial.

Even if they achieve a sales advantage in one model, they still have several, even a dozen, best-selling models, so their brand reputation and core customer base remain very stable.

"This design is very powerful and innovative," Xu Yi nodded in approval.

He provided the line drawings and ideas, but the subsequent refinement required the hard work and brainpower of dozens of employees in the design department.

Therefore, the final result was not a direct replica of his previous "HiPhi Z"; there were significant changes. How so?

It's more like a fusion plus version with a star-like theme.

Including the car's sharp edges and the distribution of color digital screens throughout the vehicle, the dynamic simulation makes driving feel like a flowing light, creating a more advanced and refined aesthetic.

Compared to HiPhi, StarCenter currently has excellent cash flow and ample time, enough for the design department to refine the design repeatedly, plus that 1% of occasional inspiration.

The final result on this car is a very special effect.

"The overall structure of this car is quite complex. The difficulty of molding it while considering wind resistance is probably the highest to date. We will try to build a prototype of the outer body first to verify it..."

without any exaggeration.

This unique mecha style is incredibly cool and stylish... it's seriously awesome!!
While he was handsome, he also brought many problems.

Having sharp edges and corners would increase the drag coefficient, and they didn't want to create a product that was just for show. A pure electric sports car with a supercar feel would lose its soul if it didn't have track performance.

"Let's keep tinkering with it. Under the current design, we can only compromise on the drag coefficient. If it really doesn't work, we still have four wheel-side motors as a backup..." Xu Yi nodded. If we want to achieve a drag coefficient of less than 0.2, it's not that Xingchen can't do it, it's just that it looks too ugly.

As is well known, the model with the lowest drag coefficient is the water droplet model.

But who would pay a high price to buy a "water drop" as a sports car?

It is an art to balance aesthetic design with wind resistance and high performance.

……

The next day.

Zong Jianmin, the CEO of Tianyue Advanced, led a team to Xingchen's headquarters to discuss plans for a joint venture to build a new wafer production line.

Also arriving was Wang Lei's team from Taike Tianrun. As Xingchen needs to further develop an 800V architecture, it will inevitably need higher voltage SiC modules. Although the price of SiC MOSFETs is currently 3-5 times that of IGBTs, their application in Xingchen L7 will significantly improve the overall vehicle energy consumption.

This benefit is difficult to replace by other technologies.

If silicon carbide modules are not used, then other methods must be adopted to reduce weight, or a larger aluminum alloy body can be used, which would be more cost-effective.

Moreover, the cost of SiC modules is not static. Now that the mass production process from six-inch wafers to SiC design and packaging has finally been established, Xu Yi's next task is naturally to reduce costs! To drastically reduce costs!!
Again.

The more you sell, the greater your production capacity!

The larger the production capacity, the lower the cost!
Lower costs mean higher production capacity!

……

Tianyue Advanced's orders in Q3 and Q4 almost exceeded its profit in the previous year. The reason is that Xingchen Automotive had previously cooperated with Wang Lei's team to develop automotive-grade IGBT chips, and also transferred the procurement of wafers used in the IGBTs of the whole vehicle to Tianyue Advanced's factory, which almost fully utilized the company's previously idle capacity.

Xu Yi led both teams on a tour of the fully operational car manufacturing plant.

"Mr. Xu, the sales of Xingchen L7 have broken the previous record for new energy vehicles. It has not only won a victory for domestic brands, but also brought new opportunities to us in the downstream supply chain. Before this, I'm afraid no one thought that this path would be successful."

Zong Jianmin's eyes were filled with admiration and emotion. He probably never imagined that the tentative cooperation back then would become the opportunity for his wafer fab to turn around. In 16, their internal business was in the transition from R&D to mass production. Due to the large R&D investment and the low gross profit margin of 4-inch SiC wafers, they even suffered a net loss of 1000 million yuan.

Needless to say, the research and development and production of 6-inch wafers were extremely difficult. With the yield rate not being guaranteed, only a few hundred wafers were ordered by BYD Semiconductor for research and development. The remaining scraps were supplied to cooperative research institutions such as the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shandong University for process verification. Profitability was almost hopeless. It was at this time that Xingchen Motors appeared, bringing them a ray of hope.

Xu Yi replied, "Actually, looking at the overseas market, Tesla has already proven itself. However, domestic new energy vehicles cannot be sold at such high prices, so they naturally cannot afford the high costs of the three core components (battery, motor, and electronic control system)... The price of BYD Tang and Denza should be the most promising, but they did not take this path."

"Mr. Wang from BYD recently consulted me about the procurement of six-inch wafers," Zong Jianmin said honestly.

In the fields of electric drive technology and power semiconductors, BYD was originally a pioneer and was the first to purchase 6-inch wafers for research and development, but now Xingchen Auto has taken the lead in mass production and use them.

"The large-scale use of SiC modules in new energy vehicles is a major trend, so Mr. Zong, your production lines need to be accelerated."

Wang Lei interjected with a smile, saying that Taihua Tianrun is responsible for the design, development, and packaging of SiC. The more widely SiC is used in the fields of new energy vehicles and charging piles, the greater their prospects will be. Moreover, after being acquired by Xingchen, they have received continuous support in terms of R&D funding, and they are now much better off than before.

Zong Jianmin responded repeatedly: "We are also working hard. With the orders from Xingchen, we have to put the BYD orders on hold for the time being. I have also shown the production line situation to President Wang. Now that a new production line has been opened, we have to focus on both the yield rate and the process to ensure the supply of Xingchen L7!"

It shows a very loyal attitude.

Although we had cooperated with BYD before, that's all in the past.

I've never felt so happy working with the stars.

Xu Yi found it amusing.

He didn't know what Wang Chuanfu was thinking, but he guessed he was a bit frustrated. BYD's previous contact with Tianyue Advanced must have been motivated by a desire to cultivate a local supply chain.

Although we are not yet at the stage of global semiconductor supply shortage.

But it must be said that Mr. Wang has this strategic vision.

Unfortunately, BYD cannot apply SiC modules to any of its current vehicles for the time being, and this matter will have to wait until next year. Xingchen Auto took advantage of this opportunity to monopolize the six-inch wafer production capacity from collaborative R&D to mass production. Now, it is impossible to insert them, as the production capacity is full.

Xu Yi then suggested, "Why don't we open two more? We at Xingchen can continue to invest, as the demand is quite high in the future."

Xingchen Automotive will not only use SiC in one car, but also in its planned supercharging stations and other models. All of this is inseparable from the supply of wafer fabs.

Of course, Xingchen also has a share of import procurement, otherwise Tianyue Advanced alone would not be able to meet the huge demand of Xingchen Motors. What Xu Yi plans to do is to further conquer the field of automotive-grade semiconductors, including not only power semiconductors such as SiC and IGBT chips, but also control chips, sensors, and power management.

For example, automotive-grade MCUs control seats, windows, lights, suspension, brakes, etc.

Most of these automotive-grade control chips use 28nm, 45nm or even older process technologies. After all, cars have a larger interior space, and the requirements for chip size are not as stringent as those for consumer products such as computers and mobile phones.

When control and other components are working, the computing power requirements of the chip are not high.

The profits involved are substantial, but the risks of being held hostage by technology are also significant.

Currently, over 95% of automotive chips in China rely on imports. If there are fluctuations in market conditions or changes in the overall environment, these previously overlooked low-process chips could see their prices increase several times or even dozens of times.

Xingchen Automotive may not be able to handle 14nm and 7nm high-end chips for the time being, but it can lay the groundwork for the automotive-grade chip market with 40nm-80nm process technology.

of course.

Automotive-grade chips also have their own thresholds and difficulties. The requirements for stability and safety are almost extremely stringent. To put it simply, the acceptable defect rate for mobile phone chips is 0.02%, while the defect rate for automotive chips cannot exceed 0.01%. The temperature range they need to withstand is generally between -40°C and 150°C.

After all, if your phone crashes while playing a game, you might just get yelled at by your teammates, but if a car's chip malfunctions while driving, it could be fatal.

Zong Jianmin was slightly taken aback. When he met Xu Yi's gaze, he realized that the other party was not joking. Xingchen was actually going to make a big push into the semiconductor field. Was it going to buy their entire wafer fab?

This is a new energy vehicle manufacturing company.

hiss.

This is too...

Of course, that's not the key point.

"President Xu, you have such high hopes for us, and for domestically produced wafers and semiconductors..." Zong Jianmin said in disbelief.

To be honest, he doesn't think domestically produced six-inch wafers have a significant advantage. Moreover, there are still many technological challenges and equipment bottlenecks. It's truly fraught with difficulties and dark clouds looming over the sun.

Well, before that, it was more like fighting a lone battle.

Given the option of imports, few choose domestic products, resulting in a persistent disadvantage in terms of orders.

Xu Yi's bright eyes made no attempt to hide his feelings. "President Zong, the future market is huge. Only by working together can the entire industry move forward faster and more steadily. As for us at Xingchen, we just want more room for progress..."

(End of this chapter)