Great Wall BMW is also developing hydrogen fuel power cells, and the research and development in the new energy field is still progressing
Although the joint production of MINI pure electric vehicles by Great Wall Motors and BMW is only an announcement of a letter of intent, the two parties are actually carrying out more in-depth cooperation.
Great Wall BMW cooperation, hydrogen fuel cell
According to reliable sources, Great Wall Motor and BMW have basically locked in two targets in the selection of the joint venture base. Moreover, the two parties have not only cooperated on the whole vehicle, but based on the common judgment on the future energy trend of automobiles, the two parties have begun to cooperate in the field of hydrogen fuel cells and joint research and development.
Choice of two production bases
Since February of this year, Great Wall Motor and BMW both announced that "the two sides have signed a letter of intent for cooperation", the location of future production bases has become one of the focuses of public opinion. identified.
However, as one of the priorities of the work of both parties in the future, the location of the joint venture production base is gradually narrowing with the construction of Great Wall Motor's Yongchuan base in Chongqing.
Recently, according to reliable sources, the two parties have basically locked in two locations, one is the new base in Yongchuan, Chongqing, and the other is the third-phase factory of the former Great Wall Motors in Baoding. The final location will be selected between the two.
Among them, the new base in Yongchuan, Chongqing just started construction in March this year and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The base is also the first automobile production base of Great Wall Motors outside the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It is estimated that the total investment will be about 4.5 billion yuan. When completed, it will produce 160,000 sets of complete vehicles and supporting parts. It can achieve an annual output value of 24.9 billion yuan.
The original third-phase factory in Baoding is located near the headquarters of Great Wall Motors in Baoding. The base covers an area of about 1,000 mu, with a total investment of 2.8 billion yuan and a designed annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. The initial production was dominated by passenger cars such as Great Wall Genie and Dazzling. At present, only one sedan such as Great Wall C30 is left.
Lock down hydrogen fuel cells
In an era when the world's most competitive industrial chain is shifting to China, the cooperation between Chinese and foreign auto companies is no longer limited to the whole vehicle, but all-round cooperation, as is the case with Great Wall Motors and BMW.
According to the above-mentioned reliable sources, Great Wall Motors and BMW are conducting joint research and development in the field of hydrogen fuel cells, the next-generation vehicle energy that both sides are optimistic about, and the related products are currently in the experimental stage.
Although the current lithium battery vehicle market is very hot, many energy experts believe that hydrogen fuel cells are actually the truly environmentally friendly new energy materials. Great Wall Motors has determined that hydrogen fuel cells will gradually become the mainstream of automotive energy in the next 30 years, so it announced last year that it has been conducting research and development of hydrogen fuel cells.
At present, Great Wall Motors is conducting research and development in three directions in its Baoding Battery Technology Center: PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) plug-in hybrid vehicle; BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) pure electric vehicle; and FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) fuel cell vehicle.
The international community has also not given up on the research and development of hydrogen fuel cells, including Japanese companies dominated by Toyota, Korean companies dominated by Hyundai and German companies dominated by BMW are all carrying out related projects. BMW, in particular, showed off hydrogen fuel cell prototypes based on the BMW i8 and 5 Series GT models in 2015. At that time, the relevant person in charge of BMW publicly stated to the media that the hydrogen fuel cell power parts that BMW is developing may be applied to vehicles that will be put into production in 2020.
In this way, while the two parties have reached a joint venture project for new energy vehicles, it is also logical to jointly develop the jointly approved hydrogen fuel cells. Just in mid-March this year, Great Wall Motors became the first Chinese car company to enter the International Hydrogen Energy Committee, and BMW is among the important car members of the Committee. I believe this is no coincidence.
