Better than Tesla?

With impressive sales and investment numbers, GAC Aion executives are talking big. Like the Wei Xiao Li brands, GAC Aion has its sights firmly set on Tesla, the benchmark for Chinese EV brands, whose executives regularly make claims that one of their new models is better than Tesla. So it was something of a rite of passage at January’s Guangzhou Auto Show when two GAC Aion executives made a “better than Tesla” proclamation. Their confidence was based not on past achievements but on what the company is about to unleash in the market.

In September 2022, GAC Aion launched a new high-end sports car brand called Hyper (Hàobó 昊铂 in Chinese), the first model of which is the Hyper SSR pure electric “supercar,” which will be mass produced from October 2023 and carry a price tag of 1.28 million yuan ($186,920). At the Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC Aion officially launched the second Hyper model, the pure electric coupe Hyper GT.

The GT will also be mass produced in 2023. Pre-sales will commence in April and deliveries in June, with the price expected to exceed 300,000 yuan ($43,605). According to GAC Aion, the GT will be able to accelerate from zero to 100 km/h (62 miles/h) in just four seconds.

At the Guangzhou Auto Show, Xiào Yǒng 肖勇, GAC Aion deputy general manager, made his Tesla claim about the Hyper GT:

In terms of performance, smart driving technology, appearance, and luxury craftsmanship, we have already comprehensively surpassed Tesla…We believe that we can win the favor of young and aspiring Chinese consumers. We have the confidence to say that we are more expensive than Tesla, but we believe they will choose us.

(In January 2023, the Tesla Model 3 was about 229,900 yuan / $33,400 in China, so the GT will be at least 70,000 yuan / $10,000 more expensive).



Talk is cheap, but how good is the tech?


Speaking at Guangzhou Auto Show, Gǔ Huìnán 古惠南, GAC Aion general manager, also oozed confidence, saying: “The key advantage is to have the best, most original, and exclusive technology.” GAC Aion has it, Gu declared, and he mentioned some specific examples: “We have the three-in-one electric drive, the magazine battery, autonomous driving, the Xingling electronics architecture, and more, and all of this technology is world class.”

But how good is GAC Aion’s tech really? As Lei Xing put it, “GAC likes to talk the talk more than others. I think they do have some unique technology but it’s just that they are sometimes too provocative in their marketing messages.”


Batteries

On March 29, a video was posted online of what was reported to be a Hyper GT that had caught fire and spontaneously combusted at a charging station in Guangzhou. The next day, GAC Aion held a press conference to announce the release of its Magazine Battery 2.0 (so called because it has the appearance of an ammunition storage magazine, 弹匣 dànxiá). GAC Aion announced the results of a live gunfire safety test (to simulate a serious accident) in which a rifle bullet was fired into the Magazine Battery 2.0 as well as a mainstream lithium-ion battery (i.e. non-GAC Aion) from a distance of 15 meters (49 feet). The GAC Aion battery emitted smoke for 6 minutes and 36 seconds, but there was no fire or explosion; the mainstream battery, on the other hand, caught fire and combusted. According to GAC Aion, the Magazine Battery 2.0 has an ultra-stable electrode interface, heat resistant materials, and a battery fire extinguishing system that it calls a “miniature fire brigade.”

In October 2022, the company established Yinpai Battery Technology 因湃电池科技 with an investment of 10.9 billion yuan ($1.58 billion). Construction of a factory commenced in late 2022, and the site is expected to be in full operation by the end of 2025 with production of 36 GWh annually, which will be enough batteries for 600,000 EVs every year.


Electric drives

The “three-in-one electric drive” (encompassing “electric drive, electric control, and differential reduction”) mentioned by Gu refers to technology released by GAC Aion in 2018 and fitted to all its previous models. In 2020, GAC Aion released a “four-in-one” electric drive consisting of an integrated two-speed dual-motor, controller, and reducer. The Hyper SSR will be equipped with the four-in-one drive and will be able to generate horsepower (hp) of 1,225, exceeding the 1,020 hp of the Tesla Model S.

In March 2023, GAC Aion released the Quark Drive 夸克电驱, a “palm-sized” electric motor that it claims is able to generate more horsepower than a V8 engine. GAC Aion has established Ruipai Power Technology 锐湃动力科技 to build electric drive systems with an investment of 2.16 billion yuan ($320 million), and the plant is expected to be fully operational by 2025 with production of 400,000 electric drive systems and 100,000 electric motors annually.


Electronics and software

In November 2022, GAC Aion released the Xingling Electronics Architecture 星灵架构 navigation system that includes infrared remote sensing technology, second generation intelligent zoom lidar, aerospace-grade satellite-based positioning, and other smart driving technologies. The system has a range of 200 meters (218 yards) and coverage of 360 degrees, and can distinguish obstacles at night and in all weather scenarios.

The Xingling system includes three core computing unit modules and four regional controllers, and the system can reportedly reach a maximum computing power of 2,000 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS). If it can indeed reach a level of 2,000 TOPS, this would be very impressive: In September 2022, Nvidia announced its new groundbreaking Thor system-on-chip (SoC) integrated circuit (integrating most or all components of an electronic system) that is expected to deliver 2,000 TOPS — but Thor is only going to start appearing in applications by 2025. GAC Aion has established a research laboratory with the China National Space Administration, and the company now has 2,000 software engineers, accounting for more than 50% of the whole research and development team.