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

Chapter 56 Engineering Prototype Rolls Off the Production Line – Starry Mini
"Cost-saving measures can be taken in other areas, but when it comes to essential housing needs, consumers should not be subjected to undue pressure."

These are Xu Yi's original words.

What is a "must-have configuration"?
Similar to "refrigerators without door closers" or "phones sold without chargers."

In fact, there are quite a few similar cases in the business world.

Both of them have generated phenomenal trending topics on the internet.

Any one of these points could be enough to prompt consumers to dig up the developer's family tree and hurl hundreds of pages of criticisms at the bottom of the post without repeating themselves.

As for new energy pure electric vehicles.

Being able to adapt to the DC fast charging function of State Grid charging stations is a unique "must-have".

If there is no DC fast charging port, it means that you can only charge it through the AC slow charging port, or use a 220V power strip at home for slow charging.

DC fast charging typically takes less than 1 hour.

However, AC slow charging often takes more than two hours, and home slow charging takes six or seven hours to fully charge.

Based on the current density of new energy charging stations, the number of DC fast charging piles is far greater than that of AC charging piles.

There is no DC fast charging.

Going on a long trip is basically equivalent to breaking a leg.

No matter what form a car takes, its most core feature will always be its function as a means of transportation.

If it can't even charge when you go out to charge, what's the difference between it and a piece of junk?
and so.

As we can see, after a few years of development, a large number of models such as "Wuling Mini", "Sticky Corn", and "Panda Mini" have emerged.

After a year or two of competition, manufacturers have quietly made the "DC fast charging" function available in mid-range price ranges, rather than making it exclusive to high-end models.

Although this part of the cost is relatively high.

However, no manufacturer dares to cut it down.

They even promoted it as a major selling point, highlighting that their fast-charging models were priced lower than other brands.

For Xu Yi...

Since DC fast charging is already approaching the price of vehicles priced below 80,000 yuan, and may even become a standard feature in new energy vehicles priced at 50,000 to 60,000 yuan in two years.

The person who was the first to release this information should be allowed to do so!
Back then, Lei Jun was able to single-handedly launch the first generation of Hongmi, driving the price of smartphones down from 2000 yuan to 800 yuan.

It has left a significant mark on the history of internet-enabled mobile phones.

And now.

Lei can go... so can he!

……

Ten days later.

With the completion of the final piece of the puzzle, the first batch of engineering prototypes finally reached the date of their rollout.

Xu Yi arrived at the research and development workshop.

Before everyone was a small, rounded, and exquisitely styled four-door car.

The development cycle this time wasn't as tight, nor was it as rushed as with the old man's car, so the exterior painting and interior assembly have already been completed.

Most entry-level new energy vehicles on the market today are boxy, imitating older models from Japanese brands and the Suzuki Alto.

Most of them are modified by imitating the platform of gasoline vehicles. Not only are the internal chassis reverse-engineered, but even the exterior is not changed much.

The short front and tall body not only create a disproportionate look, but also, in order to simplify the cost of stamping dies, even a right-angle transition is used, resulting in harsh lines and an ugly appearance!

Now look at the engineering prototype in front of us.

Although it is an entry-level car in the "A00" class and has a short front end, the wheelbase ratio is very harmonious after the new self-developed architecture significantly shortens the front overhang.

The transition from the front to the side of the car is smooth, and the closed front face design is simpler and more sophisticated. Paired with a pair of unique headlights, the half-open, half-dead eyelid design has an indescribable special beauty.

Due to mold cost considerations, the appearance is even worse than the original internal rendering.

Due to limitations in mold precision and production efficiency on the current production line, many curved surface details have been directly erased.

But the final product was still quite stunning.

Wang Jingming can confidently guarantee that after comparing all new energy vehicles priced below 80,000 yuan, those "boxy" designs are simply incredibly tacky!
"As our first model to be launched, let's call it 'Starry Mini'."

Xu Yi was very satisfied after seeing the actual car.

In terms of appearance, due to cost constraints, it is still obvious in many places that the quality is far inferior to that of high-end cars, and it has a cheap feel.

But that’s enough!
As long as it looks better than cars in the same price range, or even cars that cost 20,000 yuan more, that's enough.

There wasn't much hesitation regarding the naming.

The name was straightforward and simple: Starry Mini EV.

In fact, several naming schemes were discussed internally regarding this, such as animal-themed naming, crop-themed naming, food-themed naming, naming based on traditional culture, and so on.

But Xu Yi rejected them all.

Great simplicity!

For a startup car company, the most important thing is to gain recognition and brand awareness in the early stages.

How do you gain recognition and brand awareness?
We can only rely on dissemination and time.

Why does the naming convention of "brand name + model number" remain popular even after ten years?

There are reasons for that.

The name "Star Mini" allows consumers who purchase and receive advertising to quickly remember the Star Mini brand and become aware of the existence of such a car company.

There are no barriers to transmission.

Rather than nicknames like: pony, sticky corn, panda, ice cream, etc.

It is indeed very catchy and unique.

However, this can also easily lead to a problem: consumers may remember these nicknames but not necessarily the car manufacturer.

Car companies that have focused on lower-tier markets are more adept at this approach.

For example, "Wuling Mini EV" and "Wuling Sunshine EV" do not need to be modified at all.

Maximize the use of brand communication power.

"The parameters of the actual vehicle have been submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for registration, and the approval procedures have been issued."

Sun Pengfei spoke up.

As a vehicle that is to be sold nationwide and qualified for road registration, the approval process from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is a necessary step.

"In terms of acceleration, it uses our self-developed V2 motor, which can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 10 seconds."

"The top speed can reach 110 km/h."

"Internally, it uses the new A1 battery cell jointly developed with Vaillant, with a total package capacity of 13.4 kWh. After deducting the capacity locked by the SOC, the actual usable capacity is 12 kWh, and the range reaches 120 kilometers according to the CLTC standard."

"Other features, such as the large entertainment screen, the small compressor, and the interior design, have all been significantly improved."

"Thanks to the great success of the new three-electric architecture, the interior space is 20% larger than that of cars with the same wheelbase."

……

Each performance metric could be presented on its own page.

Because Xu Yi was setting the requirements based on a high-quality small car five years from now.

The Star Mini offers more usable space than other cars in its class, whether it's the driver and passenger seats, the rear seats, or the trunk, making extremely efficient use of space.

Many electric vehicles converted from gasoline cars on the market have extremely poor interior space utilization.

of course.

The most difficult problem to solve is actually the battery and battery life issue.

(End of this chapter)