Plug-in hybrid or extended range? Stop arguing! Volkswagen CEO has given the answer: plug-in hybrid models will be launched

Li Xiang, founder of Ideal Auto, recently pointed out on social media that "automakers that are still insisting on plug-in hybrids will switch to extended-range technology in the next one or two years. This judgment can be verified by 2025."

First of all, let me explain what is a plug-in hybrid, which means a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV for short. The extended-range model that Li Xiang mentioned is the technology used in its products.

Li Xiang clearly stands for the extended-range technology, and his motive is obvious. All the products under Ideal are extended-range. What is subtle is that before this sentence, he also gave it an attribute "Chinese independent brand".

The story becomes very interesting at this point, because just 24 hours after Li Xiang's words were spoken, Volkswagen China CEO Meng Xia revealed in an interview at the CIIE that Volkswagen will also launch a plug-in hybrid model, and it will be a "better plug-in hybrid product" with a pure electric range of 100km.

Meng Xia said, "New energy vehicles include not only pure electric vehicles, but also plug-in hybrid vehicles. Volkswagen has been slow in the field of plug-in hybrid vehicles. In China's new energy vehicle market, plug-in hybrid vehicles are an extremely important part, and Volkswagen must speed up its pace in this regard."

Although Volkswagen has been deeply rooted in China for more than 30 years and can be considered a half-Chinese brand, strictly speaking, it is indeed not a Chinese independent brand. In other words, despite Li Xiang's big talk, his "extended-range model by 2025" law is obviously still valid.

Regarding the technical route of extended-range vehicles, the industry has formed two distinct factions. One faction is firm in its support and will support any company that has such a product. In addition to Li Xiang, there is also Huawei's Richard Yu, who publicly supports it. The other side is the supporters of plug-in hybrids, such as Weipai CEO Li Ruifeng, who wrote an article specifically pointing out that "extended-range hybrid technology is lagging behind is an industry consensus."

In fact, whether it is extended-range or plug-in hybrid, the advantages and disadvantages of both are very obvious. It is meaningless to judge their technical level, because both are transitional routes, and the future will be dominated by pure electric vehicles. In fact, everyone knows this, but in the current Chinese policy and market environment, these two routes still have huge room for survival.

On this point, Volkswagen China CEO Meng Xia, a pure crooked Nuts In fact, we can see very clearly that he is more flexible than many of our netizens. He pointed out that Volkswagen wants to launch plug-in hybrid products only because "Volkswagen is a highly 'Chinese' brand, and we must have the ability to adjust and change quickly."

Extended range or plug-in hybrid, the debate surrounding it can really be put to rest. Just like the Chinese 3G standard TD-SCDMA, whether it is good or not, there is no conclusion so far. It can only be said that China Mobile, which adopted this standard, complained bitterly. However, if it has accumulated technical precipitation, how can China's 5G standard soar to the sky?

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.