Aion Evolution | 340 million/㎡, why is this platform so expensive?

Aluminum has long been used in aircraft manufacturing and aerospace due to its advantages such as light weight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and strong shock absorption. In recent years, aluminum has gradually been adopted by the automotive industry and is considered the best material for building automotive platforms.

(GEP2.0 all-aluminum pure electric exclusive platform)

Although the all-aluminum platform has completely crushed the traditional steel platform, it has to be said that it has another outstanding feature, that is, it is expensive! This is also the reason why only a few luxury brands use the all-aluminum platform.

R&D is expensive— "3 billion is just to provide a bottom line"

Although new energy vehicles have been developed for some years, to this day, the "oil-to-electricity" model is still the model that many car companies stick to, and the reason is naturally cost.

Since its inception, Aion has insisted on building a pure electric platform, completely breaking away from the technical shackles of "oil-to-electricity" and creating pure electric vehicles with ultimate performance. Of course, it has also paid a huge cost for this.

As one of the only two automakers in the world with a pure electric exclusive platform, GAC New Energy has mastered many years of rich experience in fuel vehicle platforms. However, in the face of the particularity of pure electric platforms, it is necessary to fully consider the layout of batteries and electric drives, safety, stability and ergonomics. At the same time, the platform uses all-aluminum alloy materials, which have huge differences in material properties and manufacturing processes from steel. After a lot of data analysis and actual vehicle verification, the GEP2.0 all-aluminum pure electric exclusive platform has become the highest level of platform technology representing China's pure electric vehicles. The total R&D investment exceeds 3 billion yuan! What follows is the Aion family's super-long battery life, super-fast acceleration, super-large space, and super-high safety technology experience. For the Aion V, which is 4.58 meters long and 1.92 meters wide, the 3 billion investment is converted to 340 million yuan/㎡, which is "expensive"!

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Aion Encyclopedia

Ø Aluminum has a lower density than steel, is a better conductor of electricity, conducts heat faster, and resists corrosion better.

Ø Aluminum has good ductility and can be easily made into various profiles.

Ø Aluminum easily forms an oxide film to prevent metal corrosion. It is corrosion-resistant and not easy to rust, but it poses a higher difficulty to car body manufacturing.

Ø Aluminum has good light reflectivity and shock absorption. It can be used to make high-quality reflectors or to improve sound effects.

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Aluminum is expensive. "Awesome! The bottom of the car is all aluminum alloy"

The price of aluminum parts is mainly composed of raw aluminum price + processing costs.

The production process of raw aluminum is complicated. It takes more than 10,000 kWh of electricity to produce one ton of raw aluminum. In addition, in order to ensure the performance stability of aluminum alloys, an expensive air cushion continuous annealing process must be used (interested friends can search for it). The current market price of raw aluminum is about 15,000 yuan per ton.

The processing cost of automotive aluminum parts depends on the form. Because the all-aluminum platform has special requirements for the collision energy absorption, dimensional accuracy and connection adaptability of aluminum profiles, the workload of profile machining alone is much greater than that of steel. In the die-casting process, aluminum profiles have undergone two "big reversals" - heating first and then cooling, and deformation first and then correction. During heating, vacuum is also required to eliminate hole defects, and the deformation caused by heat treatment also increases the complexity of the subsequent correction process. Therefore, a good aluminum profile can be said to be tempered a thousand times, and it is naturally expensive for a reason!

The current price per kilogram of aluminum parts for automobiles is about 45 yuan/kg, which is about three times the price of steel parts of the same shape. In addition, aluminum alloys are also divided into grades. For example, the most common 6-series aluminum alloys (Al-Mg-Si, mainly magnesium and silicon) and 7-series aluminum alloys (Al-Zn-Mg, mainly zinc) in automobile manufacturing are priced about 8 yuan/kg higher than 6-series because 7-series is stronger than 6-series.

Previously, many professional media friends have deciphered the all-aluminum platform of GAC New Energy Aion LX and found that the front bumper of Aion LX is made of 7-series aluminum alloy with a thickness of 2.89mm. In addition, aluminum alloy is widely used in key chassis parts including rear bumper, frame subframe, wheel frame, front and rear suspension, longitudinal beam and body connection. In particular, the all-aluminum five-link rear suspension, which is only used in luxury brand models, also appeared on Chinese brand models for the first time. Faced with such an all-aluminum platform, one can only exclaim, "Aion is really arrogant!"

(Excerpt from the comments of Mr. Xue Junfeng from "Big Speed ​​Racing")

(Excerpt from the comments of Mr. Zeng Yingzhuo from "Da Jia Che Yan Yu")

Aluminum alloy technology is not simple—— "Use the technology of building airplanes to build cars"

9 connection processes: Steel parts can generally be connected by spot welding, but aluminum parts are completely different. For example, the oxide film that is easily formed on the surface of aluminum is a gap that is difficult to cross with ordinary spot welding. It is necessary to adopt the same new connection process as aircraft manufacturing. Specifically, there are 9 connection methods: SPR self-piercing riveting, FDS flow drill screws, aluminum spot welding, structural adhesives, screw connections, steel spot welding, pull rivets, MIG melting electrode argon arc welding, carbon dioxide shielded welding, etc. The processing of an automotive aluminum part often requires the use of multiple connection processes at the same time, which makes production extremely difficult.

(Physical demonstration of aluminum connection process)

Welding equipment is expensive: Because the thermal conductivity of aluminum alloy is three times that of steel, the heat input for aluminum welding is 2-3 times greater than that for steel welding. This requires the transformer to have sufficient power, and a concentrated, high-power heat source must be used, and even preheating is required. Because the linear expansion coefficient of aluminum is twice that of steel, thermal cracks or deformation are easily generated during welding, and sufficient welding pressure must be provided to ensure the quality of aluminum parts. This has led to the price of aluminum welding equipment being more than twice as expensive as steel welding. So, how "expensive" is the airplane, and how "expensive" is the Aion!

Bring down the price of the all-aluminum platform—— “It’s worth buying the all-aluminum platform alone”

Research and development is expensive, aluminum parts are expensive, and production equipment is also expensive, making the all-aluminum platform "inevitably expensive."

But laymen look at the price, experts look at the technology. Having money does not necessarily mean you can build the best all-aluminum platform. Take the Aion LX as an example. Although the body is made of steel on top and aluminum on the bottom, the Aion LX weighs only 2 tons, which is lighter than various all-aluminum body models of the same level. It also enables an SUV to accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers in 3.9 seconds, becoming the fastest car in China. The wisdom and technological strength here cannot be measured by money, and it is more "expensive" than anything else!

Today, the Aion V, which starts at RMB 159,600, is equipped with an all-aluminum platform as standard, becoming the only model in its class with an all-aluminum exclusive platform. This makes the saying “the swallows in the halls of the wealthy and the wealthy now fly into the homes of ordinary people” come true. No wonder experts and media say: “The price of the Aion V is over RMB 100,000, and it is worth buying the all-aluminum platform alone!”

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.