Three-cylinder engine can't improve China's auto industry technology

When you let go, you will die. This is a market cycle and a car disease.

China is not willing to lag behind in technology abroad. In Europe, the United States and other countries to develop a series of stringent emission policies, China has also introduced vehicle emission standards. In 2012, the State Council issued the “Energy Conservation and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan 2012-2020” (hereinafter referred to as “development plan”), the double-points policy, and the launch of new energy vehicle development plans.

Technology is further behind

But as you have known, this series of policies has a clear goal. The "Development Plan" clearly states that this policy will promote the optimization and upgrading of the automobile industry, improve the ability of innovation in energy-saving technologies, and realize the transformation from a big automobile industry to a strong country as the guiding ideology for the development of China's automobile industry in the next decade.

To put it bluntly, it is to use policy restrictions to force the upgrade of automobile technology. While reducing carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, the country is more concerned about improving the technical level of China's automobile industry. We must know that China's automobile manufacturing industry has gone through 40 years from the start to the present.

Forty years of development in the automobile industry, but the practice of the three-cylinder engine.

Three-cylinder engine - is one engine less than a four-cylinder engine. Although there is one less cylinder, the horsepower and power are far stronger than the four cylinders; not only the manufacturing cost is low, the technology has advantages, but also low carbon and environmental protection. The above statement seems to be very good.

But does the introduction of the three-cylinder engine represent China’s transformation from a big automobile industry to a strong country?

Three-cylinder engine is not the savior

In order to simply meet the automobile emission policy, we want to bring China into the era of three-cylinder cars. After all, it is the disappointment of the Chinese auto industry that will die in one tube. Three-cylinder engines have long been available, and it is the choice of cheap cars, just to save costs. It is true that foreign cars are also equipped with three-cylinder engines, but they are basically small cars and cheap cars.

But when it comes to China, the three cylinders have almost become the savior of the automotive industry. BMW, Honda, Ford, Buick, etc. are all equipped with three-cylinder engines, and domestic brands Geely and Lectra are equipped with three-cylinders. But ask, the three-cylinder engine is to reduce one cylinder on the basis of the original four-cylinder. Where can it be?

The three-cylinder engine is unreliable, has abnormal jitter, and has a limited service life. However, it has not contributed much to energy conservation and emission reduction. There are buyers of Buick three-cylinder owners said: "7L fuel consumption per 100 kilometers, this is not energy-saving." China's development plan proposes that by 2020, the average fuel consumption target of new passenger cars is 5L/100km.

The EU issued the first mandatory standard for carbon dioxide emissions from new passenger vehicles at the end of 2009, which sets the linear standard curve based on the quality of the preparation, and the average target value of the entire fleet for 2015 and 2020: 130 g/ Kilometers and 95 g/km.

It can be seen that the three cylinders have not improved the technical level of the automobile industry and narrowed the technological gap with the developed automobile market in the West. On the contrary, due to backward technology, foreign automakers simply chose a three-cylinder engine that is naturally disabled to meet policies and reduce costs. China should not blindly follow.

Real emission reduction depends on technological progress

China's energy-saving and new-energy automobile industry plan clearly stated that it will improve the technical level of the automobile industry, narrow the technological gap with the developed automobile market in the West, and upgrade the industry as the main target before 2020. Instead of simply introducing a three-cylinder engine, it achieves small displacement, energy saving and environmental protection.

If you can do the following, you can also meet the emission policy:

1. All-round improvement of mainstream gasoline engines. For example, the application of miniaturized direct injection engines, multi-gear transmissions, car and light trucks with a certain proportion of weight reduction, equipped with low rolling resistance tires, optimized aerodynamic design and application of energy-efficient car accessories.

Part 2 relies on traditional hybrid technology, and is mainly medium and weak hybrid, with less use of strong hybrid power.

Some people have said that for the combination of engine, transmission, accessories and weight reduction technology, it is possible to achieve China's 5 liters/100 kilometers standard without relying on electric technology and using only some technical improvements. Next, the application of hybrid technology can further reduce fuel consumption by 10-15% and reduce absolute fuel consumption.

If electric technology is applied, emissions pollution can be further reduced. But at present, the contribution of battery-powered vehicles is minimal. The EPA expects that their market share will be as much as 1% in 2021 and as much as 2% by 2025.

Of course, the most important thing is that China's automobile industry can't manufacture a small-displacement engine that is more reliable and environmentally friendly than the three-cylinder. So, will you still listen to them to brag about the three-cylinder engine?