In 2025, ZeroBeam Full Stack 3.0 will be fully implemented to support L3 autonomous driving

(May 24, 2024, Shanghai) At the "SAIC New Energy Technology Conference for the New Decade" held today, SAIC officially released a new generation of base technology for the "new track". Relying on the breakthroughs and applications of innovative technologies such as solid-state batteries, energy closed loop, efficient powertrain, intelligent chassis, full-stack software architecture, and new electronic architecture, SAIC's "seven major technology bases" have comprehensively leaped and upgraded into the 2.0 era.

On May 24, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping made an important instruction during his inspection of SAIC, "Developing new energy vehicles is the only way for my country to move from a large automobile country to a powerful automobile country", which pointed out the direction for the development of China's automobile industry. SAIC has kept in mind the earnest instructions of the General Secretary, adapted to the changes of the times, grasped the industrial trends, and vigorously developed new energy vehicles with independent innovation as the starting point. It has actively practiced the concepts of SAIC of science and technology, SAIC of quality, and SAIC of responsibility, and has accelerated its innovation and development in the new track of electric intelligent networking.

Seven major technical foundations, empowering the scientific and technological life form

With the profound changes in the automotive industry, a new species of intelligent technology with the ability of "self-learning, self-growth and self-evolution" - "new cars" has come into being. Based on the development trend of "scenarios create value, software defines cars, and data determines experience", SAIC is shaping the vehicle integration capabilities and innovative technological advantages from "chips, operating systems, software, motion control systems, and three-electric systems" to corresponding scenarios, creating a new "technological life form". In order to promote the new car to "be smarter in brain, stronger in body, and stronger in heart", SAIC has gathered global R&D resources to build three major vehicle platforms of pure electric, hybrid and hydrogen energy, as well as "seven major technical bases" of batteries, electric drives, super hybrid systems and full-stack solutions for smart cars, with industry-leading technical level.

The mass production and application of the first generation of "technical base" has laid the technical foundation for SAIC to participate in the competition in the new track market, fully supported the continuous breakthrough of independent brand business, and realized the product empowerment of joint ventures. In 2023, SAIC's new energy vehicle and overseas sales will be 1.123 million and 1.208 million respectively, setting a new record on the basis of taking the lead in achieving "double million" in 2022. Among them, the sales of new energy vehicles increased by 280 times compared with 2014, and the scale ranked first in the global industry; overseas sales increased by 13 times compared with 2014, and remained the first in the domestic industry for 8 consecutive years. In 2023, SAIC's independent brands accounted for 55.3% of the group's total sales, an increase of 18 percentage points from 2014.

Since the beginning of this year, the latest technologies such as solid-state batteries, smart car "central brain", and digital intelligent chassis have been put into mass production, helping SAIC's "seven major technology bases" to fully leap forward and upgrade into the 2.0 era.

A smarter brain to create a high-speed mobile intelligent robot

Focusing on the innovation of the "new car" product concept, SAIC systematically "deconstructs" the entire vehicle into "perception, cloud-based super brain, cerebrum, cerebellum and wire-controlled actuators", and then "reconstructs" the system according to a human-like intelligent architecture: integrating the perception architecture to digitize scene information; the "cloud-based super brain" deploys AI large models for self-learning and evolution; the learning results are distilled to the "smart brain" at the edge, which makes planning decisions based on the scenario; the "agile cerebellum" coordinates the real-time, reliable and stable movement of the wire-controlled chassis in three directions and six degrees of freedom; thus turning the smart electric vehicle into a high-speed mobile intelligent robot.

SAIC Zero-Beam Technology has already defined the roadmap for the cloud-pipe-end full-stack architecture of smart cars: Zero-Beam Galaxy smart car full-stack solution 1.0 realizes "domain concentration", focusing on L2++ smart driving, smart cockpit and OTA; full-stack 3.0 realizes "centralized + regional control", focusing on cost control and L3 autonomous driving; the future full-stack 4.0 solution will focus on intelligent human-like architecture, AI big model, AI OS, and support L4/L5 autonomous driving.

In 2022, SAIC launched the first full-stack technology solution for smart cars in the automotive industry - SAIC Zero-beam Galaxy Full Stack 1.0, which has now successfully evolved to version 3.0. On the one hand, the "brain" cabin-driving integrated central computing unit and the "cerebellum" vehicle central coordinated motion controller (VMC) are collaboratively developed in electronic architecture and software. As a regional controller, VMC becomes an important node of the full stack 3.0, which can fully share the signals of the vehicle's sensors and actuators. On the basis of realizing the centralized control of the vehicle body in 3 directions and 6 degrees of freedom, it can subsequently realize variable driving characteristics, driving and braking without slipping and other functions, bringing users an extremely safe, comfortable and energy-saving experience. On the other hand, the full stack 3.0 fully supports the end-side application of large models and supports L3 autonomous driving solutions for mass production. In addition, SAIC has joined hands with partners to launch the "Ecological Domain", expanding smart terminals such as mobile phones into a domain of smart cars. More and more brands of smart terminals will be connected to the Galaxy Full Stack to achieve an ultimate smart experience with continuous scenes. At present, SAIC's "Ecological Domain" has covered multiple mobile phone brands such as OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Apple.

In 2024, Galaxy Full Stack 3.0 is being gradually installed on vehicles and will be fully implemented in 2025. It will effectively reduce the low-voltage power consumption of the entire vehicle, reduce the number of controllers by more than half, increase data bandwidth by 5 times, reduce wiring harness length by 30%, and shorten OTA download and installation time to less than 30 minutes.

A more robust body, with comprehensive upgrades to Nebula, Mount Everest, and Galaxy

The "Nebula" pure electric exclusive series platform achieves coverage of a wider range of vehicle models, not only covering the luxury car and mid-size car markets, but also comprehensively upgrading the platform to meet the needs of users in the entry-level market. In terms of vehicle power consumption, the new Nebula platform challenges the industry-leading 12-kilometer target of "mileage per kilowatt-hour", which is more than 30% higher than the current level. In terms of user experience, the application of the wire-controlled chassis improves the vehicle's braking response time by 40% and the vehicle's driving stability boundary by 20%. Through four-wheel independent control, the vehicle's control is improved, the vehicle's endurance is increased by more than 3%, and the vehicle's weight is reduced by more than 3%. By achieving a low-speed steering angle of less than 180°, the steering wheel can be stored to improve the cabin space. In terms of vehicle safety, the new Nebula platform meets the European five-star collision safety standard, meets the requirements of global network data security regulations such as UNECE R155&ECER156 and GDPR, and innovatively applies the "intrinsic security" theory to product design, significantly improving the security of the network and data, and reducing the risks and losses caused by external attacks or internal vulnerabilities.

The new "Everest" mechatronic vehicle architecture achieves full coverage of scenarios. Facing all scenarios, all-weather, and global markets, the Everest architecture achieves full coverage of products from "engine-based drive" to "motor-based drive", from "oil hybrid" to "electric hybrid", and seamlessly links the transition from "oil" to "electric", with the highest oil-to-electric conversion efficiency exceeding 3.75kWh/L, significantly better than the level of mainstream competitive products in the industry. SAIC Motor will be the first Chinese automaker to achieve carbon emissions below 100g/km in Europe, and Everest architecture products will meet Euro 7 emissions.

The new "Galaxy" electric-hydrogen integrated vehicle architecture focuses on the use scenarios of hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars, and is the first to create an extended-range hydrogen fuel cell passenger car architecture solution, truly achieving "zero carbon and zero emissions". The extended-range hydrogen fuel cell solution refers to using hydrogen fuel cells as range extenders, and connecting power batteries and drive motors in series as the drive unit of the vehicle. SAIC has been engaged in the research and development and industrialization of hydrogen fuel cells for nearly 20 years. The technology level of mass-produced fuel cell stacks is leading the world, and the nationalization of core components and materials of fuel cell stacks has been achieved. The extended-range fuel cell stack P4M system has a rated power of 45kW, a common operating point efficiency of more than 50%, and a maximum efficiency of more than 55%. The research and development and industrialization of extended-range hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars are expected to further accelerate the promotion and popularization of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry.

A stronger heart, the world's first mass production of all-solid-state batteries

SAIC's all-solid-state battery, based on the polymer-inorganic composite electrolyte technology route, will be mass-produced in 2026. It has higher energy density, exceeding 400wh/kg, volume energy density exceeding 820wh/L, and battery capacity exceeding 75Ah; better safety performance, ensuring that the battery cell will not catch fire or explode in the case of needle puncture and 200℃ hot box; wider application range, solid-state battery low-temperature capacity retention rate exceeding 90%; lower material cost, based on the simplification and innovation of materials and processes, the unit cost can be reduced by up to 40% from the battery cell end to the PACK end.

In October this year, the Zhiji L6 equipped with Lightyear solid-state batteries will be officially delivered to users, with an energy density of more than 300Wh/kg and a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. In 2026, SAIC's all-solid-state batteries will achieve mass production and complete prototype testing, with an energy density of more than 400Wh/kg, more than double that of traditional power batteries; in 2027, Zhiji's new cars equipped with all-solid-state batteries will be mass-produced and officially delivered to users; subsequently, the energy density is expected to be further increased to 500Wh/kg.

The new "Blue Core" hybrid powertrain focuses on modular, integrated, and exclusive DMH super hybrid technology, and has achieved a performance breakthrough. The Roewe D7 DMH is equipped with a coaxial clutch with higher integration accuracy, a hybrid-specific engine with an efficient thermal efficiency operating range of up to 85%, and the industry's first PICU module that integrates engine, gearbox, hybrid strategy, thermal management, air conditioning and other controls. In actual tests, it has a maximum cruising range of 1,962 kilometers and a fuel consumption of only 2.8L per 100 kilometers. In the future, the assembly efficiency of the new generation of "Blue Core" will be further improved by 10%. Among them, the hybrid-specific engine has a thermal efficiency of over 46%, and the hybrid gearbox adopts a new configuration of the "dual coaxial solution". The new "energy control brain" will more accurately realize the conversion of thermal energy, chemical energy, electrical energy, and mechanical energy.

The new "Green Core" electric drive assembly has further improved its performance after technical iteration. The iterative NPC shaft uses the original grid oil cooling technology and the extremely lightweight design of the magnesium-aluminum alloy shell. The assembly weight is only 86kg, the highest in the same power range in China; the effective power density of the motor exceeds 9.5kw/kg, higher than the national 2035 planning target of 7kw/kg; the total power density is increased to 4.4kW/kg, leading the industry average by at least 40%.

In the new decade, China's automobile industry is completing the role transformation from "following" to "running side by side" and then to "leading". "Smart low-carbon transformation and building a strong automobile country" is the common mission of the industry; the development of electric intelligent connected vehicles is an important means to cultivate and expand new quality productivity. SAIC Group will always adhere to the concept of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win, carry out close cooperation with global partners, pool wisdom and strength, achieve complementary advantages, form deep integration in the industrial chain/value chain, jointly build a new industrial pattern, share new opportunities for change, and jointly write a new chapter of development.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.