Changan Qiyuan, born this summer, has already launched four models and achieved impressive sales in its segment. The attractive appearance, quality cabin layout, and spacious driving space are reasons for consumers to choose it. However, the core factor is its power level, named “Smart AI Electric Drive” by Changan Qiyuan, which is available in different models and is considered a cornerstone of value. On December 1, Changan Qiyuan officially launched the “Changan Qiyuan Challenge,” featuring the A05, A06, A07, and the upcoming Q05 models. I will personally explore the secrets of the popular Qiyuan family. Changan Qiyuan released the benefits of the “Double Twelve Car Purchase Festival” for its three models before the event.
Changan Qiyuan A06 enjoys up to 32,000 yuan (4480$) in benefits, including cash gifts, quality assurance gifts, maintenance gifts, charging gifts, boutique gifts, financial gifts, and other car gifts. This includes a purchase bonus of 1,999 yuan (280$) to a maximum of 10,000 yuan (1400$), a lifetime quality assurance worth 4,000 yuan (560$) for three electric vehicles, free upgrade of the whole vehicle quality assurance to 6 years or 200,000 kilometers, a 1,999 yuan (280$) upgrade worth 7,999 yuan (1120$) for the whole vehicle lifetime quality assurance, 999 yuan (140$) to enjoy a 6,000 yuan (840$) lifetime free basic maintenance, a 3,000 yuan (420$) charging pile including installation, a 1,000 yuan (140$) boutique gift, up to 4,000 yuan (560$) in subsidies, and a promise to deliver the car within 30 days from the date of ordering, with a red envelope of 120 yuan (20$) per day for any delay.
Changan Qiyuan A06 starts at 11.39 million yuan, and the official has launched a total of 6 equity policies, including cash gifts, quality assurance gifts, financial gifts, renewal gifts, maintenance gifts, charging gifts, and delivery gifts. This includes 1999 yuan (280$) to a maximum of 10,000 yuan (1400$) for car purchase, a lifetime warranty worth 4000 yuan (560$) for three electric vehicles, free upgrade to a 6-year or 200,000-kilometer whole vehicle warranty, 1999 upgrade worth 7999 whole vehicle lifetime warranty, enjoy a 24-month 0-interest subsidy worth 5000 yuan (700$), enjoy a 2000 yuan (280$) cash subsidy for all brand replacement/purchase, 999 yuan (140$) to enjoy a lifetime free basic maintenance worth 6000 yuan (840$), and a free charging pile worth 3000 yuan (420$) including installation.
Changan Qiyuan A07 offers a limited-time maximum discount of 40,000 yuan (5610$), including cash gifts, quality assurance gifts, maintenance gifts, charging gifts, boutique gifts, financial gifts, and mystery box gifts. The intelligent AI electric drive system of Changan Qiyuan has high integration, high efficiency, and high intelligence, including intelligent electric drive, Blue Whale hybrid engine, safety battery, and AC/DC charging system.
One of the foundations of the hybrid system is the 1.5L Blue Whale hybrid engine, which uses Blue Whale AGILE agile combustion technology. In addition to using a high cylinder diameter stroke ratio, high compression ratio Atkinson cycle, wide range cooling EGR, 120mJ high-energy ignition, and 350bar cylinder direct injection technology, the engine efficiently covers over 90% of the vehicle’s operating conditions.
Flat wire oil-cooled motor is the mainstream of the market motors today. The most mainstream in the industry is the 6-layer winding, and a small number of mid-to-high-end vehicle models use an 8-layer winding. The Changan Qiyuan Smart AI Electric Drive, on the basis of miniaturization and lightweight, is equipped with 10-layer Hairpin flat wire oil-cooled motor technology, thereby achieving an efficiency of 97.8%.
The system uses an electric constant temperature control system and achieves internal and external circulation through intelligent temperature control valves, precise temperature control, and rapid temperature adjustment, keeping the oil temperature in the efficient zone of 60℃ and fully exerting the performance of the 10-layer motor.
In addition, engineers have equipped it with a four-core high computing power chip as the main chip, which increases the computing power by 50% compared to the two single-core chips of competing products, with an efficiency of over 90% in more than 90% of the area. This chip and algorithm solidly bring “number” and “intelligence” to electric drive. The original iEM intelligent driving management mode enables every product of the Chang’an Qiyuan family to have four scene modes: long-distance, emergency, mountain and parking charging.
In the battery section, the safety of lithium iron phosphate battery cells is naturally higher than that of similar ternary lithium batteries. In order to suppress possible thermal runaway, the battery pack of Qiyuan uses new thermal insulation materials, with a 30% improvement in thermal insulation performance compared to the industry standard, achieving 100% thermal suppression, and raising the temperature by more than 200°C compared to conventional materials. When installed in a vehicle, it will also be equipped with cloud-based big data real-time calculation, constantly monitoring the battery pack situation.
To demonstrate safety visually, the organizers arranged the “hot pot battery dunking” challenge, also known as the water immersion challenge. However, this time, Changan made the test environment for this “golden bell” battery more harsh and interesting. The test method is to place the entire power battery pack with wiring harness in boiling water, and keep it submerged for 1 minute. For added fun, the organizers also added a large bag of dried chili peppers to the boiling water, making this extra-large special “Chongqing spicy hot pot” irresistibly amusing.
The final power battery withstood the challenge, the hot “battery hot pot” came out, no liquid entered the battery pack, and the battery did not short circuit, catch fire, or explode. It can be seen that the sealing and heat resistance of the battery pack are indeed in place. Although the test is somewhat “amateurish,” it can indeed encourage users to have a reassuring driving experience. Can the advantages of the parameters on paper truly improve the driving experience in practice?
The organizers officially launched the “Main Science” dynamic arena challenge at the professional testing site in Dianjiang, Chongqing. Unfortunately, the weather was bad, with rain and a drop in temperature making the track extremely slippery and with standing water. We even had to turn on the car’s air conditioning for heat. Despite the difficult challenge, it became more meaningful. The 100-kilometer acceleration test.
In this segment, we used the Changan Qiyuan A05 to experience the sport mode, and also turned on the hot air conditioning at the same time, and started the much-anticipated acceleration test. The instant full power output of the motor under “floor power” helped a lot in its starting. Throughout the entire start, the car did not slip on the wet and slippery road. Although there was no typical dizziness sitting in the car, there was a strong sense of speed, and as the four-wheel grip improved, the vehicle’s G-force also quickly increased.
After several acceleration tests, the performance of the Changan Qiyuan A05 remained stable, with a consistent time of 7.59 seconds. In these road conditions, this performance has reached the top level of compact sedans.
The braking system of the car has a European-style tuning, but it shows consistent braking force output throughout. ABS works actively on wet roads, accurately controlling the car’s final braking point.
The Kinetic Testing Project at the Golden Cana, made up of piles of barrels, includes right angles, arcs, hairpins, and slaloms. It not only tests power, but also the suspension and steering control. Here, the Changan Qiyuan A06’s center of gravity and power advantage are both added bonuses. However, due to the slippery road, our experience can only be limited, and speed cannot be increased too much.
The ground clearance of the Changan Qiyuan A06 is relatively low for a sedan, with a lower center of gravity, enhancing stability in corners. When in sport mode, the electronic system’s adjustments to the body are conservative, resulting in a stable posture.
When facing the snake-like winding road, the power matching of Changan Qiyuan A05 is very coordinated and absolutely smooth. You won’t feel the sudden need for acceleration, but the power of the car doesn’t come or comes too late. The power output of the whole car feels like a pure electric car. Apart from the instant small movements of the engine and motor working together, the cooperation between the motor and engine can be described as smooth, and the direct feeling is that the power output is very linear.
The steering wheel uses electronic power assistance, with a heavy and elastic overall feel. The steering system has a strong electronic feel, and the unique shape of the steering wheel gives a sporty steering ratio. When turning, the front of the car quickly responds to the steering, and because of its shape, extra attention is needed when passing through tight corners to avoid grabbing air when turning the wheel.
In the face of the super long circular area, the extreme G value still caused the tires to emit a slight squeal, but there was no lateral sliding at all. The suspension itself and the ESP software are working hard to ensure that the car does not easily lose control and the movement is smooth. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, making small adjustments is also no problem. Overall, the road shock absorption experience is excellent.
The style of suspension adjustment represents the control of Changan Qiyuan A07 over its target audience. It is, after all, a family car, so the quality is not extreme. The suspension adjustment takes into consideration more practical road conditions that are not so perfect.
In this segment, we secure a cup of water on the armrest and drive through a 4-kilometer route with broken roads, continuous washboard roads, speed bumps, and sloping curves. The suspension quality and driving skills are then assessed based on the remaining water level.
When driving on bumpy roads such as speed bumps and gravel roads, the suspension filtering ability and road feedback of this type of vehicle are quite satisfactory. It can also demonstrate a rare quality of suspension when quickly passing over large speed bumps. The front and rear independent suspension can stabilize on the ground immediately after crossing an obstacle, without any feeling of hitting hard or being unstable throughout the entire journey.
If you want the passengers in the car to ride comfortably, facing the bumpy and broken road, speeding up will make it smoother. The four wheels and suspension of the car are always in high-speed motion, and the “bang bang” sound from the bottom of the car has clearly been finely processed. The body of the car gives a feeling of floating in the air, and the posture can be controlled by the driver. Sitting in the car gives the driver confidence and a sense of security, and the comfort it provides is quite strong. Experience climbing hills
Climbing is not a difficult subject, but the slippery road adds a lot of difficulty. Dealing with the half-slope start and downhill on slippery roads, the power system of Changan Q05 applies power response to the wheels and distributes the driving force more quickly. In actual experience, as long as you don’t provoke the throttle, you almost don’t have to worry about not being able to climb or slipping and skidding on this 30-degree slope due to the slippery road.
When it comes to downhill driving, it’s as easy as pie. After activating the hill descent control, the Q05 we test drove kept its speed firmly at 15 km/h on steep slopes. As the drivers, all we had to do was to grip the steering wheel and keep the car heading in the right direction. In summary, the main challenge of this event was easily completed by all Changan Qiyuan models. Whether it was the on-site dismantling of the power system or the fun challenges like “hot pot for the battery,” it all vividly showcased the hardcore technology of Changan Qiyuan, demonstrating the brand’s advantages in mechanical performance, reliability, and ease of use. With the newly introduced benefits and timely promotional policies, the cost-effectiveness of the brand’s models has been further enhanced. It’s worth mentioning that this challenge is only the first stop of this series of events, and we can look forward to challenges in other cities in the future.