What you'll learn:
- Statistics revealing EV growth in China.
- The latest electric-vehicle advances from multiple manufacturers.
The 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition is an in-person exhibition open to the public at the National Convention and Exhibition Center in Shanghai, which kicked off April 21 and runs through the 28th. Although the global market is still affected by the pandemic, in the first quarter of 2021, China's market for new vehicles has grown substantially. From January to March 2021, car sales rose by 76% to 6.484 million vehicles compared to the same period in the previous year (due in part to the pause created by the first COVID-19 wave at the beginning of 2020).
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) predicts that total vehicle sales in 2021 will increase by 4% year-on-year to 26.3 million units. The growth rate of new energy vehicles is expected to reach 40%, with total sales climbing to 1.8 million units.
This year's exhibition covers a total area of 360,000 square meters in 12 halls at the Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center. It contains a number of debuts of new EVs, presented below in alphabetical order.
Audi, with FAW and SAIC
Audi shared the spotlight with its Chinese partner companies FAW and SAIC this year. The companies presented four world premieres, including the Audi A6 e-tron concept vehicle and an SUV study named Audi concept Shanghai.
The A6 etron concept is built on Audi’s “Premium Platform Electric,” or PPE platform, reserved exclusively for e-automobiles. It will be the underlying architecture for its C- and B-segment production cars beginning in late 2022.
With a 100-kWh battery producing a range of more than 700 km (according to the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, or WLTP, standard), the future series will be built in Europe and China, and it’s intended for sales worldwide. The 800-V technology on board is said to enable fast charging—it takes no more than 10 minutes to recharge enough energy for 300 km.
Cadillac
At Auto Shanghai 2021, Cadillac revealed its show car named LYRIQ. It’s Cadillac’s first all-electric SUV model built on GM's BEV3 platform. LYRIQ is positioned as a mid-size all-electric SUV, equipped with GM's Ultium batteries, the industry's first wireless battery-management system that’s said to save up to 90% of the wiring. Also, the battery system can receive new features as they become available, with support for over-the-air (OTA) updates provided by its Vehicle Intelligence Platform.
As of now, every new Cadillac that’s introduced in North America will be fully electric, the automaker said. The LYRIQ goes on sale early next year with a sticker price of $60,000 and a range of 300 miles.
Genesis
The Genesis Electrified G80 made its global debut at Auto Shanghai 2021, as did the Genesis X Concept, an EV-based Gran Turismo (GT) concept car.
The Electrified G80 is Genesis’ first EV model. Based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) standard, its estimated maximum range per charge is more than 500 km (based on the Korean EV certification system; the estimated number is 427 km). Meanwhile, 350-kW rapid charging enables the battery to charge from 10% to 80% in just 22 minutes, according to the company.
The Electrified G80 is available only as an all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicle. It delivers 272 kW and 700-Nm torque by applying motors with 136 kW and 350 Nm to the front and rear wheels. This allows for 0- to 60-mph acceleration in just in 4.9 seconds (sports mode, source: Genesis R&D Center).
The Disconnector Actuator System (DAS) built into the Electrified G80 can automatically connect or disconnect the motor and drive shaft based on various driving conditions, including vehicle speed and driving mode. This enables switching between 2WD and AWD to reduce unnecessary power loss and increase efficiency.
The Electrified G80 features a 400-/800-V multi rapid-charging system, allowing customers to use various charging infrastructures. Its driving motor and inverter can boost the level of voltage from 400 to 800 V for more stable charging. Customers can use the 800-V rapid charging system without an additional converter.
Geely Holdings
Geely Holdings is the parent company of brands Polestar, Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co, Geometry, and the new Zeekr brand, all of which brought EVs to the show. Geely launched the new extended-range version of its Geometry A vehicle. The Geometry A Pro comes with a 150-kW battery and can travel 600 km (372 miles) on a single charge.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes showed off several all-electric vehicles at the Shanghai Auto Show, notably the EQS and EQB. The EQS is the first model in the Mercedes-EQ family to be based on the company’s modular architecture for luxury electric vehicles and is slated to arrive at U.S. dealerships this summer.
The focal point of the EQS, which provides an estimated 478 miles of range and 516 hp, is the MBUX Hyperscreen. The single, 55-in. surface extends from the cockpit to the passenger seat and runs on the NVIDIA Drive for AI processing and graphics.
The EQS will be capable of level 3 automated driving with Mercedes-Benz’s DRIVE PILOT. For times when the driver’s attention needn’t be on the road, the MBUX Hyperscreen provides graphics as well as an intelligent voice assistant for convenience. It can display battery capacity, weather conditions, and topography into route planning, suggesting charging points along the way. Front-seat passengers also get a dedicated screen for entertainment and ride information that doesn’t interfere with the driver’s display.
The vehicle is able to recognize the driver either using facial recognition or a fingerprint scanner and adjust seating and climate settings to personal preferences.
Joining the EQS flagship sedan is the Mercedes-Benz EQB, an SUV with seven seats and AI features. Scheduled to go on sale in Europe and China later this year, the EQB will make its way to the U.S. in 2022. It will be offered with all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive in Europe. When it goes on sale there later this year, the electric SUV will utilize a 66.5-kWh battery, yielding a range of about 260 miles in the WLTP cycle.
Mercedes is also planning what it calls the “me Charge” network comprising over 500,000 charging points, of which over 200,000 are in Europe.
Marelli
Marelli announced a Master Cooperation Agreement with the Chinese company WHST (Wuhu SensorTech Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.) for radar solutions aimed at ADAS and autonomous-driving applications. This partnership will be first aimed at the Chinese market and then opened up to the rest of the world. It will allow Marelli to integrate 77- and 79-GHz applications for 4D radar into headlamps, rear lamps, and smart grilles.
Marelli’s Micro-LED is a second-generation, high-resolution projection system with 20k to 40k pixels engineered for volume markets. It’s aimed to be in production in the next couple of years. In terms of electronics devoted to the control of LED lighting solutions, Marelli’s Automotive Lighting supports the transition from single electronic control units to centralized domain control units. The next step is the centralization of complete vehicle lighting control for front, rear, and interior lighting into one domain control unit.
NIO
Making its auto show debut was the NIO ET7, the first vehicle that features NIO’s Adam supercomputer. Adam leverages four NVIDIA DRIVE Orin processors to achieve more than 1,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS).
The NIO ET7 flagship vehicle has more than 600 miles of battery range according to the company and point-to-point autonomy. It uses 33 sensors and high-performance computing to expand the domains in which it operates, from urban to highway driving to battery-swap stations.
SAIC
SAIC Roewe's new SUV, named Jing, made its debut at the show. "Jing" stands for whale—the front grille vaguely resembles a whale mouth. As the first product of the new series of Roewe, the Jing will assume the responsibility of accelerating the process of brand rejuvenation, personalization, and promoting brand upgrading.
Toyota
Toyota said it will introduce 15 all-electric vehicles, including seven Toyota bZ branded models, globally by 2025. The new bZ brand debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show. Toyota’s bZ brand—bZ stands for “beyond zero”—will have a dedicated underlying platform that can be used with multiple variations in terms of size and design. Toyota plans to produce the Toyota bZ4Z in Japan and China and said it hopes to begin worldwide sales of the model by mid-2022.
ZF
Global supplier ZF displayed the latest iteration of its ProAI Supercomputer. With NVIDIA DRIVE Orin at its core, the scalable autonomous-driving compute platform supports systems ranging from level 2 capabilities all the way to full self-driving, with up to 1,000 TOPS of performance.