Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD Group, once said that "DM-i super hybrid is BYD’s masterpiece, which will play the role of fuel vehicle disruptor". Now it’s only been more than a year since BYD’s super hybrid technology was released. A series of products equipped with DM-i hybrid technology have occupied an absolute dominant position in various market segments, killing a blue ocean in the Red Sea. How did it do it?
When the sword is drawn, it kills all sides.
In the past October, BYD’s sales once again exceeded 200,000 units, reaching an astonishing 217,800 units, setting a new record. What is the concept of monthly sales of nearly 220,000? FAW-Volkswagen, once the champion of domestic automobile brand sales for a long time, sold 165,000 vehicles. Tesla, known as the "originator" of pure electric, sold 71,704 units in October, and BYD was three times as big as it. In other words, BYD is now the most popular automobile brand in the global automobile market and a well-deserved leader.
Let’s go back to the question at the beginning of the article. Why can BYD become the overlord of the new energy automobile market in the highly competitive market? The author thinks that one of the most important reasons is the strong technical support behind it, especially the super hybrid technology released in 2021.
After the release of super hybrid technology, three models, Qin PLUS DM-i, Song PLUS DM-i and Tang PLUS DM-i, were listed one after another, which once caused a shortage of supply. Among them, Qin PLUS DM-i exceeded 50,000 units in just two weeks, and Song PLUS DM-i easily exceeded 20,000 units in just one month. Nowadays, in the monthly sales of the early 200 thousand, hybrid products have contributed.
Perhaps in the eyes of some people, super hybrid is a "new technology", and BYD can fly higher and higher because of the new energy. But in fact, as early as 2003, when he built a car across the border, Wang Chuanfu had the original intention and wish of "only producing new energy vehicles". In the field of plug-in hybrid vehicles, BYD started relevant research and development in 2004.
In 2008, BYD successfully launched the world’s first officially mass-produced plug-in hybrid car F3 DM. By June 2020, BYD released a dual hybrid platform, in which DM-p focuses on high performance and DM-i focuses on economy. Up to now, BYD DM technology has gone through more than ten years of evolution, and accumulated a lot of experience and patents. Its snowball-like technology accumulation and breakthrough of core technology are obvious to all.
In other words, in the field of new energy, BYD has foresight that other brands don’t have. The reason why BYD can seize the opportunity is that its technology for many years is more mature and reliable, and at the same time, it has mastered the core technology of Sandian, from the independent research and development of power batteries to the technological breakthrough of chips, and in the independent camp, it is also the first car company to lay out hybrid products. On the one hand, it is the background of battery technology, and on the other hand, it is the experience accumulated by traditional car companies, which is hard for any car company to match.
Real industry disruptor
In the past, everyone always said, "There are only two kinds of hybrids in the world, one is Toyota and the other is others". But this statement has long been out of date. Look at the market share and it is clear who is better.
Of course, from a technical point of view, BYD also has absolute right to speak.
First of all, the core components of BYD’s DM-i super hybrid include dual-motor EHS super hybrid system, Xiaoyun-plug-in special high-efficiency engine, DM-i super hybrid special power blade battery, vehicle control system, engine control system, motor control system and battery management system. These core components and key technologies are completely independently developed by BYD, which has formed certain barriers.
In addition, different from the traditional oil-based hybrid technology, BYD’s super hybrid system is mainly based on electricity, which has the advantages of realizing more electricity, less oil and efficient oil use. The fuel consumption of DM-i super hybrid compact car can be as low as 3.8L/ 100 km (NEDC working condition) in the power loss state.
When the power is sufficient, you can drive it as a pure electric vehicle, which is more than enough to cope with daily commuting. When the power is insufficient, the DM-i super hybrid is a hybrid vehicle with ultra-low fuel consumption, because in most working conditions, the role of the engine is to generate electricity in a high-efficiency speed range, drive directly at the right time, without dealing with complicated working conditions such as idling, starting and rapid acceleration, and the engine burden is small, so it can work in a very fuel-efficient range most of the time. Moreover, driven by high-power and high-efficiency motors, the driving experience will be infinitely close to pure electric vehicles.
However, the oil-based hybrid technology is different. In essence, it is still a fuel vehicle, such as Toyota’s THS hybrid system. Under most working conditions, the engine is involved in driving the vehicle. The motor is mainly used to adjust the engine working conditions and solve the problem of low-speed fuel economy, so that the engine can be locked in a high-efficiency range as much as possible. To put it mildly, the engine is too busy to concentrate on saving fuel.
So in contrast, BYD’s super hybrid has advantages in both performance and fuel consumption, which is the main reason why DM-i models are favored by consumers. It can be said that the arrival of BYD’s super hybrid has broken the dominant position of Toyota, which has dominated the hybrid market for many years. Whether it is market performance or product layout, BYD will come even stronger.
Butterfly effect brought by super mixing
After the explosion of BYD’s hybrid products, we also saw that domestic brands also joined the "melee". For example, Changan Automobile’s Blue Whale iDD hybrid system, Great Wall’s DHT hybrid system, Chery’s Kunpeng DHT hybrid system, and Guangzhou Automobile Chuanqi’s huge wave hybrid system can be said to be very lively. Of course, each family’s hybrid system also has its own advantages. However, we should know that these independent brands have only started to enter the market in the past two years. On the other hand, BYD’s technology accumulation for more than ten years, as a latecomer, is indeed less competitive.
Moreover, whether it is product layout or market sales, other independent brands are far behind, which just shows the leading and success of BYD DM-i technology, and it is not too much to say subversion.
By the way, when it comes to subversion, what I have to say here is the slogan "Fuel Car Subverter" of BYD Qin PLUS DM-I. Perhaps at first, everyone didn’t pay attention to it, but with the continuous increase in sales of this car in the market, it has gradually brought a certain sense of oppression to its own brands. Therefore, independent brands have launched hybrid systems, which seem to be active, but in fact passive. To put it simply, who can sit still when BYD’s hybrid products continue to eat away its share in various market segments?
Write it at the end
Frankly speaking, BYD’s DM-i super hybrid technology is the second, which really doesn’t dare to be called the first. First of all, Sandian technology is its strength, ultra-low fuel consumption is its strength, and the products equipped with hybrid system and sales volume are BYD’s moat, which completely breaks the monopoly position of Japanese brands in the hybrid field, and even leads several positions from the market point of view. We firmly believe that BYD will lead the China brand to run faster in the new energy vehicle market.
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