Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

In the early 20th century, cars did not have keys.

At that time, the car still needed human power to start. To start the car, a crank was needed.

Start the engine by turning the crank.

Today, there are still many tractors and agricultural equipment in vast rural areas that retain this original starting method.

This is also the earliest prototype of the car key.

However, this kind of domineering key is not used by ordinary people, especially female drivers.

Because to activate this "key", you must first have enough arm strength.

If you are not careful, this "key" will fly up and break your front teeth.

This period has been quite long, and there have been some changes in the middle. Finally, in 1980, the convenience of car keys was further improved.

At that time, the "remote key" technology adopted by Ford for the first time allowed the vehicle to be unlocked remotely by simply pressing the button on the key.

At present, 99% of the cars sold in China use this type of key.

Obviously, as a high-end luxury car, Star Auto cannot continue to let the key stay at this stage.

The ubiquitous smart key and one-button start function of the engine in the later generations are the equipment that Cao Yang personally determined.

Regardless of whether the development team can complete the development by itself, it needs to be used.

Because this kind of smart key that can automatically unlock and lock has appeared in 1998, and it was first used on Mercedes-Benz.

As long as the key is on the body, the vehicle can be unlocked and started without taking out the key. For people of this era, it seems very classy and dignified.

Afterwards, luxury brand models such as BMW and Audi naturally followed suit.

However, it is only used on their respective high-end models, and the entry-level low-end models are still traditional keys.

"Mr. Cao, according to our current investigation, Bosch, Continental and Denso have relatively rich accumulation in smart keys. If we directly find them to develop together, the schedule is expected to catch up with the launch of Xingchen 1."

"After we have enough time and accumulated relevant technologies, we will consider independent research and development."

Zhou Zhichao, Minister of Electrical and Electronics Department, is the most stressed among several ministers.

As high-end luxury models, many special equipment are related to them.

Just like the smart key discussed now, as well as the navigation, adaptive cruise system under development, and the headlight design that always fails to satisfy Cao Yang.

These are all parts under the responsibility of the Electrical and Electronics Department.

"Among the many trendy electronic devices on the car, the smart key system is very eye-catching."

"The keyless entry technology brings excellent convenience, and the one-button start brings a full sense of technology."

"But just the change from turning the key to pressing the button is enough to make many bosses spend a lot of money."

"This technology will definitely be a selling point in the future, and it can be continuously improved."

"We can't hand over such key things to external suppliers."

When Cao Yang said this, he couldn't help but think of the line "Engine Start" of the Bentley in the critical moment in the movie 2012.

At that time, it is completely possible to consider implanting some movies, and even to improve the style of Xingchen 1, it is not impossible to directly invest in some movies and TV series.

He is worried about handing over such an important function to manufacturers such as Bosch, Continental and Denso that have a strong competitive relationship with Nanshan Group.

Let's not talk about whether people will make some troubles for you. In terms of price alone, these factories will definitely form a very good tacit understanding, and they will cheat Xingchen Automobile.

Anyway, there is absolutely no manufacturer in China that has the production capacity for parts such as smart keys.

"Mr. Cao, your analysis is very reasonable."

"The keyless entry system not only provides sufficient convenience, but also ensures safety. It is a high-end configuration that is very popular with consumers."

"But although the smart key seems to be a small part, it takes a lot of time to develop, and the technical threshold is not low."

"In principle, the smart key uses RFID, that is, radio frequency identification technology, and there is a verification action in the process of opening the door."

"When the vehicle is locked, there is a constant signal going out."

"When the smart key appears within the signal range, there will be a response to complete the check mark behavior."

"When consumers walk up to their car and reach out to touch the door handle, the door locks will automatically open."

"After entering the car, as long as the key is in the car, the driver only needs to step on the brake pedal and press the start button, and the engine will start automatically, eliminating the trouble of looking for the car key."

"However, in order for the smart key to fully meet the functional and safety requirements, the requirements for chip design are very high, and data communication with the ECU is also required to ensure reliable performance."

"Although we have established a semiconductor joint venture with BYD, we also have technical cooperation with Huawei, and even have a semiconductor business department in the research institute."

"But our work is just in its infancy, and there is no way to complete the chip design of smart keys in a short period of time."

"At that time, there will be a bunch of programming failures, or unresponsive or even wrong situations, and the gains will outweigh the losses."

Zhou Zhichao obviously does not have the confidence to develop smart keys by himself.

This thing looks like a small thing, but the technical content is still very high.

Each OEM is basically a partner with its own fixed traditional key or functional key.

For example, Mercedes-Benz cars basically use Bosch's key system.

In the case of Toyota Motor, it must be Denso that provides these parts.

For Honda cars, it also has its own Honda locks to provide.

If this technology is mastered by other third parties and accidentally used to steal cars, it will be a big deal.

In 2004, it was not like later generations, there were surveillance cameras and cameras everywhere.

Car theft is still a common occurrence in this era, and vehicle theft and rescue are still a separate insurance.

"If the chip design of the smart key can be done, can your electronic and electrical department complete the design of the smart key on time?"

Zhou Zhichao said many things, and it cannot be said that what he said was unreasonable.

However, Cao Yang obviously didn't want to hear it.

Isn't he staying at the Xingchen Automobile Research Institute every day to help "solve" these bottleneck issues?

"If there is no problem with the design work related to the chip and programming, then the design of the smart key is not difficult, and we can definitely complete it by ourselves."

Zhou Zhichao didn't even think about it, and immediately said that it could be done.

As the head of the Electrical and Electronics Department, he still has the ability to make judgments.

"By the way, how do you plan to fix the small battery on this smart key?"

It stands to reason that this question should be asked to the purchasing department, and it should be a supply issue.

But in fact, many of the work done by the procurement department has already been done by researchers in the development stage.

Obviously, specifying which type of battery is a matter that requires technical verification during the development phase.

Otherwise, one of your smart keys will run out of power in two months, and consumers must scold you to death?

"The small battery is currently prepared to use the battery provided by Panasonic."

"Of course, we are also communicating with BYD. If they also produce this kind of battery in the future, it will be no problem to switch to their battery."

"However, their current battery business department is mainly engaged in mobile phone batteries and computer batteries. This small button-like battery is not their focus yet."

"Our Xingchen 1 only plans to produce 10,000 units, and it will not use many batteries in total."

When Zhou Zhichao said this, Cao Yang felt that he had found a good entry point.

Batteries!

People today are not fully aware of its importance.

Can Cao Yang still not realize it?

One of the previous cooperation projects between Nanshan Group and BYD was the research and development of batteries.

But so far, it seems that no specific products have come out.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a battery factory was set aside in Nanshan Auto Parts, which is responsible for the production of button batteries.

Starting from the button battery of the smart key, it can be sold externally at the same time, providing button batteries for various remote controls.

After accumulating for a period of time, further consideration will be given to the development of batteries used in automobiles.

Whether it is FHEV battery, PHEV battery or BEV battery, it will have broad application prospects in the future.

Especially in the short term, FHEV batteries can be considered to be combined with Star Motors to launch FHEV models.

It does not need to be charged, and it can provide strong enough power when starting, so that the quietness of the car can also be improved to a higher level.

Toyota's Lexus has gone this way.

"Panasonic's batteries can be used as an alternative. Anyway, there are only 10,000 of them. Even if you buy them back and don't use them, it won't have much impact."

"But taking this opportunity, I will ask Nanshan Auto Parts to start researching and producing button batteries by itself."

"In the follow-up, our smart keys will be equipped with Nanshan's own batteries as much as possible."

Zhou Zhichao was a little surprised by Cao Yang's decision.

Although he had already seen how powerful Cao Yang was, he couldn't help reminding him about this matter: "Mr. Cao, although the battery on the smart key is small, its technical content is not low."

"To maintain sufficient power, you need to use lithium batteries, but lithium metal is very active. To make the performance of lithium batteries stable enough, you need to make a series of choices on the selection of positive and negative electrode materials, electrolytes, diaphragms, etc. test."

"And it is best to import large-scale automated equipment for production in order to ensure the quality and stability of the product."

"In this way, the investment is definitely not small, and the final cost may be higher than buying directly from Panasonic."

"Although it is a very correct general direction to hand over key components to the group's brother manufacturers as much as possible."

"However, some parts inevitably need to be handed over to other manufacturers for production, including batteries. There are already various mature manufacturers on the market, and we also plan to directly adopt their mature products."

Taking this opportunity, Zhou Zhichao directly talked about the battery.

After all, the car now only has the battery and the button battery on the smart key.

No other batteries are present.

Cao Yang attaches so much importance to the matter of the battery, Zhou Zhichao is also worried that it will be too late to let the other party know about the battery, and he will have a bad impression on himself.

"The battery uses lead-acid batteries. This battery technology is very mature, and there is not much room for improvement."

"You directly choose the products on the market, I think there is no problem at all."

"But button batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which is the most promising category in the battery industry."

"It is also the technology involved in our current battery cooperation project with BYD, so even if the current usage is small, it is worth spending time and manpower to accumulate this technology."

"Maybe in ten years or so, electric cars will be popular."

"We have to plan ahead."

Cao Yang gave a very resolute reply.

Regarding this, Zhou Zhichao naturally would not refute it.

He just analyzed the problem from his own standpoint and then offered advice.

If the boss thinks there is a better plan, he will naturally follow the boss's plan.

"Mr. Cao, if this is the case, then I think that after the investment in the battery production line, besides button batteries, what other products do we need to produce?"

"Mobile phone batteries and laptop batteries, which are currently produced by BYD, are definitely not acceptable."

"This was specifically emphasized in the previous cooperation agreement between the two parties."

"If you simply rely on providing batteries for each remote control, the market capacity is very small, because most remote controls do not use button batteries now."

Zhou Zhichao can be regarded as conscientious.

Obviously the person in charge of development, but he started to think about problems for the market.

"The penetration rate of mobile phones is getting higher and higher now, and mobile phone batteries are a big market, although we have no plans to do so."

"But in the early stage of development, you can consider making a power bank to pull the load on the battery production line."

Cao Yang had an idea and gave an idea.

Charging treasures are too common in later generations.

Although the era of smartphones has not yet arrived, if the mobile phone battery is equipped with a universal charger, buying a few more yuan can also solve the problem.

But charging treasure is not without market.

"power Bank?"

"That's right, it's equivalent to a mobile power supply, which can be used to charge mobile phones."

"Mr. Cao, if you use a lithium battery as a power bank, the price may not be cheap, and the sales may not be very good."

Zhou Zhichao thought that he had replaced a mobile phone lithium battery some time ago, and it cost more than 100 yuan a piece, which was too expensive.

The size of the power bank must be much larger than that of the mobile phone battery. Wouldn't the price be even more exaggerated?

"Power bank is not the company's main business, nor is it even the future direction of development. It is just to provide a channel for the battery production line to digest production capacity."

"So for this business, as long as you don't lose money, the price should be kept as low as possible."

Cao Yang does not expect the battery business to make money for Nanshan Group in the next ten years, as long as there are products to support the personnel and production lines in this area.

The real outbreak period must wait until the launch of hybrid models and electric vehicles.

"If this is the case, you can give it a try. Then I will communicate with Mr. Dai of Nanshan Auto Parts."

The boss has taken the sales of batteries into consideration, so Zhou Zhichao naturally has nothing to worry about.

However, the news that Nanshan is going to invest in battery production lines must come out, and BYD is a little worried.

"Mr. Wang, I just got the news that Nanshan Auto Parts is planning to invest in a new battery production line and is already discussing cooperation with us."

Lu Faxiang, as BYD's vice president in charge of the battery business, is an old subordinate deeply trusted by Wang Fu.

Now rushing to look for Wang Fu, he obviously realized that something was wrong.

"Nanshan wants to make batteries?"

When Wang Fu heard this, he was also taken aback for a moment.

This information is indeed a bit surprising.

"Yes, the news has been confirmed."

"The battery business is currently the most profitable business of our company. If Nanshan also engages in it, it will have a huge impact on us."

"I think it's necessary to negotiate with them so that they don't violate the cooperation agreement between the two parties?"

Lu Faxiang's first reaction was that Nanshan was going to enter the field of mobile phone batteries and computer batteries, competing with BYD for the market.

This business is still relatively profitable.

It must be that after Nanshan figured out the situation, he became envious.

Well, it must be like this.

Thinking of this, Lu Faxiang became even more anxious.

The two parties have launched a cooperation in the battery business. Although it cannot be said that they have fully mastered all of BYD's battery technologies, they have learned something from the cooperative project team.

If you dig some people from BYD, then it can completely bring a huge threat to BYD's battery business.

"its not right."

"If Nanshan wants to compete with us, he must secretly build a battery factory, and he won't let you know at the beginning."

"Don't you think it's strange that they even discussed the cooperation business of the battery factory?"

Wang Fu also experienced a lot of turmoil. Although he was surprised just now, he calmed down soon.

According to his understanding of Cao Yang, the other party is not the kind of person who competes with BYD for food.

Otherwise, the positioning of Xingchen Motors would not be a high-end model.

"Although it is a bit strange, it is definitely true and reliable news that they are going to engage in the battery business."

Speaking of this, Lu Xiangyang just felt that something was wrong.

Nanshan wants to build a battery factory, but also wants BYD to help design the production line?

Is the other party being stupid?

"Did they tell you what type of battery they were going to produce?"

Wang Fu thought about it for a while, and felt that it was better to make sure.

In order to avoid any misunderstanding between the two parties after calling Cao Yang directly when the time comes.

For BYD, Nanshan is now an indispensable supplier, and they cannot afford the consequences of breaking up with Nanshan.

"Lithium-ion batteries, they invested in the production line of lithium-ion batteries as soon as they opened their mouths, so I was in a hurry."

Gradually, he realized that he had come to look for Wang Fu so quickly, which seemed a bit ill-considered.

Lu Faxiang's voice became slightly softer.

"The business of Nanshan Group is basically developed around the automobile industry. Whether it is parts or equipment, or Xingchen Automobile, it is the automobile industry."

"I don't think they invest in battery production lines because they want to enter consumer electronics batteries."

"They have always advertised that they rely on technology to take orders, and they should not compete with us for the cost."

"Besides, based on our technical background, even if they want to produce batteries for consumer electronics, the cost cannot be lower than ours."

"In this case, it is impossible for Mr. Cao to agree to the mess with the people below."

After Wang Fu's analysis, Lu Faxiang couldn't help but nodded.

The truth is indeed this truth.

"That……"

"Mr. Wang, does Nanshan Group want to produce car batteries?"

Lu Faxiang knows that BYD has now started researching batteries for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Even BYD's semiconductor business was invested because of this demand.

"I have always admired Mr. Cao's vision."

"Although it is still the era of fuel vehicles, I think electric vehicles will be a direction in the future sooner or later."

"Especially with the continuous increase in China's auto production, the dependence on imported oil will become higher and higher."

"But these oil resources are basically in the hands of others, and we have no pricing power."

"So in order to reduce the dependence on imported oil, China will definitely support the development of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles in the future."

"Then, the battery business will have an explosive growth."

"It is likely that Mr. Cao is also aware of this, so he started to lay out car batteries to prepare for the future."

The more Wang Fu said that, the more he felt that it should be like this.

"Then Mr. Cao and Mr. Wang have thought of going together?"

Lu Faxiang now also feels that what his boss said makes sense, "Sure enough, heroes see the same thing."

"But the Nanshan Group is too scary, right?"

"While it has developed so well on traditional gasoline vehicles, it has already considered the business of electric vehicles in the future."

Although these words are suspected of being flattering, they are indeed from Lu Faxiang's heart.

His own research and development of electric vehicle batteries was done according to Wang Fu's instructions, not on his own initiative.

Now Nanshan Group has made a similar decision to Wang Fu.

Then the possibility that this direction is correct is very high.

"These are just our guesses. I'll call Mr. Cao later and ask."

"The relationship between us cannot be deteriorated because of a battery business."

Although he is very optimistic about the future of car batteries, Wang Fu also knows that at least three to five years, this one will not make money.

If it breaks up with Nanshan Group because of this, BYD itself will suffer the most.