Automobile information platform Know Car Emperor was “attacked” by leading car companies. On December 11, Great Wall Motors’ official blog announced that it would hold a communication meeting to question the winter test standards in Beijing at 15:00 on December 14. On the same day, Geely Holding Group Senior Vice President @杨学梁Victor issued a statement bluntly stating that he disagreed with the evaluation results of the pure electric range achievement rate of hybrid models in the "2023 Dongchedi Winter Test" released by Dongchedi.
Just one day ago, Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Smart Car Solutions BU, expressed his position on the WeChat Moments on the test results of the Wenjie M7 participating in the "2023 Understand the Car Emperor Winter Test": a deceptive test that misleads the public! Science and rigor are the basic rules that should be followed.
On the afternoon of December 11, Dongchedi responded that this test was a full-load endurance test in extremely cold weather below -20°C. All participating vehicles drove in formation after preparation and set off, using unified standards, which is consistent with users' winter vehicle use scenarios, and there is no differential treatment.
The controversial "2023 Car-Knowing Emperor Winter Test"
According to verification by Whale Platform, the "2023 Undercar Emperor Winter Test" is a winter assessment launched by Undercar Emperor. In the "2023 Dongchedi Winter Test", Dongchedi tested the pure electric range attainment rate of hybrid models in severe cold conditions. About 20 models participated in the test.
Among them, BYD Yangwang ranked first with a battery life achievement rate of 85.08%, and Wenjie M7 Extended Range Edition ranked last with a battery life achievement rate of 31.6%. It was this evaluation result that triggered Yu Chengdong’s counterattack.
On the evening of December 8, AITO Automobile's official Weibo released "No Fear of Severe Cold, Official Interpretation of the Winter Test Performance of Wenjie Series Models" in response to the fact that Wenjie's new M7 ranked last in the plug-in hybrid group's pure electric range achievement rate in a media winter test.
The article stated that the "Plug-in Hybrid Group Unified WLTC4 Standard Pure Electric Range Achievement Rate" results published by the media showed that the pure electric range of the new M7 was 55.3 kilometers. AITO Auto said that it was confirmed by the test media that the vehicle was air-conditioned and heated for a total of 71 minutes before the official test. After the temperature inside the vehicle reached 24 degrees Celsius, the vehicle continued to be heated for another 40 minutes.
During this process, there were more than ten operations of opening and closing the doors and windows, the longest of which exceeded 3 minutes, which greatly increased the energy consumption of the air conditioner and caused a rapid decrease in power. Under severe cold conditions and continuous air-conditioning heating conditions, driving windows and doors for many long periods of time seriously deviates from the user's actual usage scenario.
In addition, the test started when the vehicle's battery power was only 74.9%, carrying the driver and four 60-kg sandbags. When the battery power reached 20.4%, the range extender started to activate, and the actual battery power consumption was 54.5%.
"I also believe that the evaluation process is unscientific and unrigorous, and the conclusions are unconvincing, which not only misleads consumers, but also hurts the credibility of the car emperor himself," said Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Geely Holding Group.
Yang Xueliang disclosed the data retrieved from the background:
During the preparation process before the test, the Geely Galaxy L6 idled in place for 70 minutes, during which the door was opened 4 times, and the longest two door openings lasted more than 10 minutes; the Lynk & Co 08 idled in place for 71 minutes before the test, and the door was opened 6 times during the period, with the longest door opening lasting 6 minutes and 39 seconds.
Yang Xueliang said that according to the evaluation rules announced in advance by the car expert, all vehicles must be prepared for the same amount of time before departure, and the actual power of all vehicles before departure must be recorded, but this is not the case in actual operation.
According to the descriptions of AITO Automobile and Yang Xueliang, the models tested this time, Geely Galaxy L6 and Wenjie Xin M7, both had nearly 70 minutes of in-situ idling.
How objective are the relevant evaluations in the eyes of third parties?
According to public information, the evaluation mechanism of Dongchedi is a basic evaluation of hot new cars in many dimensions such as performance, configuration, space, and fuel consumption. In addition, Dongchedi is the first customized video evaluation program in the industry. It designs exclusive evaluation scenarios based on the characteristics of different models and user concerns, providing consumers with more intuitive and practical car purchase reference information.
Third parties other than the parties concerned have expressed their views. Technology digital blogger @科技新一 said: The winter range attainment rate of new energy vehicles is really a very unpredictable project. It is related to various factors such as weather temperature, vehicle speed, number of people in the car, whether the air conditioner is turned on, wind speed on the day, etc. Even if you measure the same car twice under the same conditions, the results may be different.
As for the C-end customers who understand Chedi’s services, their praise and criticism of its evaluation content are inconsistent. Some netizens expressed their recognition of the value of the evaluation of car experts: "If I have data that I am interested in, I will take a look (evaluation)." Another consumer said, "I am more concerned about the stability of the car, the air conditioner, and whether it will float when the floor is slippery (my car is a bit high)..." "If electric cars lose power in winter, it will be a big negative if they are not explained properly."
Some netizens also questioned the fairness of the evaluation of the car emperor, and even called him the "recharge emperor".
Public information shows that KnowChedi has a PC web version and APP. It is a one-stop automotive information and service platform covering content, tools and communities.
The shareholder behind Understand Chedi is the "Byte Group". Public information shows that on October 18, 2023, Chongqing Dangchedi Technology Co., Ltd. was established. The equity panoramic penetration chart shows that the company is wholly owned by Beijing Dongchedi Technology Co., Ltd., which is indirectly wholly owned by Douyin Co., Ltd.
Disputes between car companies and evaluators intensify
In recent years, relevant departments have strictly rectified the chaos of "self-media". In the automotive industry, disputes between car companies and self-media have become increasingly fierce.
On August 25, Dongfeng Nissan announced that Dongfeng Motor won the second instance of its online tort liability dispute case against Beijing Cheqianli Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Cheqianli"). It is reported that the compensation of 5 million yuan "sets the highest self-media infringement compensation record in history."
Since 2023, many car companies have spoken out against the "chaos" of self-media in the automotive industry. This includes NIO's legal department announcing that the lawsuit against Internet celebrity Gu for infringement of reputation rights is proceeding normally, BYD's legal department's official Weibo saying it has decided to sue "Longzhu-Ji Che" and demanding a public apology and compensation of 5 million yuan, and Great Wall Motor's statement stating that it will initiate litigation proceedings against six self-media accounts.
In March, the Joint Conference of Chief Brand Officers of Chinese Automobile Enterprises under the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and its member units jointly issued a "Joint Initiative on Resisting Internet Trolls in the Automobile Industry." Participating car companies include China FAW, Dongfeng Group, Changan Automobile, SAIC Group, BAIC Group, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Jiangxi Automobile Group, Chery Automobile, Great Wall Motors, Geely Automobile, BYD, NIO, Xpeng Motors, Li Auto, etc.