As a star scholar, Ouyang Minggao enjoys a high reputation in the industry. This reputation benefits from the research fields that match the needs of government and market development. With the continuous improvement of China’s auto industry’s status in the national economy, as the leader in basic technology research, the Department of Automotive Engineering at Tsinghua University, led by Ouyang Minggao, has become the most dazzling pearl in the lengthy chain of the automobile industry. Whether it is the government's relevant departments of industrial development planners or a large number of automotive companies, they are willing to serve as guests.

Since 2007, Ouyang Ming Gao's time has become more hurried. Energy conservation and emission reduction have become the national policy. The value of the State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy Conservation set up at Tsinghua University has become even more prominent; the new energy access policy has been formally introduced by the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Minister of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Wangang, who has been developing electric vehicles, has been promoted as “15th. The research areas of Ouyang Minggao, a member of the 863 (Electric Vehicle) major special expert group, were brought to the forefront. He disclosed to reporters that starting from 2008, the No. 1 technology research and development project that the Ministry of Science and Technology fully supported was battery technology.

The happiness of a scholar is the rhythm of the field where he excels at meeting the development of the times, and for the country and society. In front of the major opportunities for new energy vehicles in the world, the Chinese auto industry and the giants of transnational autos are on the same starting line. Ouyang Minggao has a rare pride. He told reporters: “In 2015, China will usher in the first new Energy industry peak."

Status Quo of the Automotive Industry - Energetic, Lack of Strength

Regarding the development status of the automotive industry in 2007, Ouyang Minggao concluded: “In the past year, China’s auto industry is still in a learning stage and full of vitality, but it also lacks strength, especially in terms of core competitiveness. "He thinks that a new phenomenon in 2007 is based on the digestion and absorption of previous years. Since last year, the automotive industry has entered a period of transition and it has begun to shift to the stage of pursuing efficiency, that is, the stage of development and growth." .

Ouyang Minggao said that in the past, we might have just done a good job of integrating stock resources, but now we may have more and more to start transforming, start nurturing our own strengths, and start paying more attention to brand gold content, not just sales. He said that the brand is nothing more than quality, taste and character. The improvement of intrinsic quality is the foundation of the brand, including the need for further improvement in technology, quality and service. In addition, as far as car brands are concerned, merely speaking about technology is not enough, and we must extend the value of the brand from a cultural perspective. The success of independent brands such as Chery is largely due to its unique taste. Character is the social responsibility of a company. Now it is safety, energy saving and environmental protection. Or it can be said that being a local company can promote the spirit of independent innovation. It is also a manifestation of social responsibility.

Regarding the status quo of the decline in the sales volume of self-owned automobile brands in 2007, Ouyang Minggao considered that it was only a phased decline. “In the past, we were led by sales, and now is equal to sales and benefits. This just shows that our autonomous auto companies started Entering the transition period, this is a sign of the maturity of the Chinese auto industry."

He believes that China's auto industry is divided into three stages. The first stage is the stage of learning and integration. Now it has begun to shift to the second stage - the stage of development and growth, that is, the stage of independent innovation. From the perspective of the world, China’s automobile industry is the most dynamic, but it still lacks strength. We cannot but admit that our core technological capabilities still lag behind other countries. After the introduction of energy saving and environmental protection standards and regulations, the first benefit is foreign cars. This is the reality we have to admit.

He said that on the basis of self-determination, through the process of competition, it will finally reach unity. If it can make it fully competitive, the final alliance is a large fleet. "I believe that after 10 years, China will have large-scale automobile companies. Now the so-called '3+6' club in the world, because as long as our auto industry is full of vitality, we will have no strength, if we have vitality, we will accumulate strength, and when the quantity becomes qualitative change, the Chinese auto industry will enter the stage. The three stages - the overall upgrade and transformation phase. Now we must fully prepare for this stage. In this preparation, the first is to develop their own core competencies."

Core Competence - Overall Improvement, Key Breakthroughs

Ouyang Minggao said that the core competitiveness includes many contents, among which the key technology is the core technology. Judging from the laws of the development of automotive technology, the automotive industry in the world currently faces energy-saving and new energy vehicles.

At present, the world’s car ownership is about 800 million vehicles. It is estimated that by 2020, the global car ownership will reach 1.2 billion, with the main increase coming from developing countries. Statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that in 2001, 57% of global oil consumption was in the transportation sector (of which the United States reached 67%). It is estimated that by 2020, transportation oil accounts for more than 62% of the total global oil consumption. The US Department of Energy predicts that after 2020, there will be a net gap between global oil demand and conventional oil supply. The supply and demand gap in 2050 is almost twice the world's total oil production in 2000. At the same time, transportation energy consumption is also one of the major sources of local environmental pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, the world has reached a consensus: the transformation of transport energy is imperative.

In recent years, China's auto industry has developed rapidly. It is expected that China will become the world's largest automobile manufacturing country and major automobile exporter by 2020, and its vehicle ownership will reach 130 to 150 million vehicles. Corresponding to this, when China has just reached the threshold of the automobile society and the proportion of oil consumption for vehicles in the total oil consumption (below 1/3) is still much lower than the world average (more than 1/2), we have already felt it. The supply of oil is getting tighter. At the same time, air pollution and CO2 emissions from vehicle oil consumption are also becoming more and more serious. China has become the second largest CO2 emitter in the world. The oil security and transportation energy issues that China is facing are expected to be even fiercer, more influential, and more challenging. According to the development of the traditional transportation energy power system, it is not sustainable, and it is a general trend to realize the transformation of China's transportation energy power system.

Ouyang Minggao said that China has the advantage of realizing the transformation of the transport energy power system. The petroleum infrastructure in developed countries is complete, and consumption habits are difficult to change. The cost of implementing a transitional society is high and transformation is difficult. China's auto industry has just been developed and the popularity of automobiles is low. Therefore, there is more freedom in the development strategy of the automotive power system. Compared with conventional automobiles, China has comparative advantages in R&D and industrialization of new energy vehicles. If the policy is right, it can take the lead in the world to achieve transformation.

He said that in order to implement this transformation strategy, there are three technical paths that can be taken: the first road is the internal combustion engine and the final development is the hybrid vehicle; the second road is the fuel vehicle based on clean fuel; the third road It is an electric-based electric car. There are four types of vehicles in the middle: diesel cars, hybrid cars, pure electric cars, and gas cars. This is currently the four models that should be developed from a technical perspective. Around these four models, from the perspective of the technology platform, there are five types of technologies, namely, energy diversification technology, hybrid power technology, chassis electrification technology, body weight reduction technology, and car battery technology.

Ouyang Minggao said that the hybrid model is the ultimate version of a traditional internal-combustion engine and is not strictly a new energy vehicle. In his view, the most promising Chinese car is still the world's leading electric car. "There is not much support for the spontaneous formation of electric bicycles, has formed a huge market, the amount of up to 50 million, has laid a good foundation for the upgrade of electric cars. This is also a main road with Chinese characteristics, because our energy is It is based on coal. The breakthrough of Chinese autos is also here.”

Transition and Transformation - Electric Vehicles Are the Breakthrough to Overtaking

On the bookcase glass of the Ouyang Minggao office, a newspaper clipping was affixed, titled "Electric Vehicles Enter Township Homes." He believes that as a transition of electric vehicles, China's hybrid vehicles should be differentiated from the Toyota Prius, and should develop rechargeable hybrid power to wait for a breakthrough in battery technology.

He said that the core technologies of electric vehicles include three aspects, namely, batteries, electrodes and electronic control, the key point of which is the battery. At present, the technology of nickel-metal hydride batteries has achieved breakthroughs, but it is not applicable to power batteries. The development of electric vehicles still requires technological breakthroughs in lithium batteries. "Battery technology will surely achieve breakthroughs in the next three years, and the battery will be ranked first in numerous technology R&D projects re-established by the Ministry of Science and Technology."

Ouyang Minggao predicts that around 2015, China will usher in the peak of the first new energy industry. The basis for this conclusion is that it takes about three years to break through the battery technology, and then three to five years after the introduction of the product. Eight years later, new energy vehicles with electric vehicles as the breakthrough point will enter the industrialization stage.

He said that the current urban traffic congestion has become a worldwide problem. Taking Beijing as an example, 20% of car owners occupy 80% of the transportation resources. With the increasing size of cars and the acceleration of car consumption, this ratio is still tilting. According to Ouyang Minggao, the dual social structure that originated in China, the traffic pattern should be divided by points, lines, and surfaces. The point is the city, with electrified traffic as the mainstay. The cars are mainly electric vehicles and can fully meet the needs; the line is the transport between the city and the city at a distance of more than 500 kilometers. It is mainly airplanes and trains; the area is the vast townships and rural areas. Mainly electric bicycles and agricultural vehicles.

Ouyang Minggao said that the automotive industry in developed countries in Europe and America has been developing for 100 years and has an absolute advantage in the traditional technology field. The competition between Chinese cars and foreign cars is not equal, and there is a big gap between them. He said that Japanese cars are later than European and American, and they started to catch up, and then followed. Such as Corolla, Crown and other models can basically compete with European and American cars in quality, but Japanese cars surpassing European and American cars are not in traditional technology areas, but through Prius. The hybrid technology has surpassed.

He believes that Chinese cars must go on a similar path to Japanese cars. We are still catching up and it is not difficult to follow the stage. It is just a matter of time. However, if we want to achieve transcendence and establish ourselves as a strong country in the automotive industry, we must find a breakthrough in technology. In Ouyang Minggao's view, this breakthrough in realizing surpassing in this marathon race is electric vehicles.