On the vast land of China, a brave team is facing a tough challenge. They will drive the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM from the “Shenzhou Arctic” in the north of China’s Mohe to the “Tianya Haijiao” in Sanya, the southernmost part of the mainland. This is a severe test covering 6000 kilometers and crossing a temperature difference of 70°C, aiming to test the reliability and stability of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM as a plug-in hybrid new energy vehicle in complex and variable environmental conditions.
This is the first hybrid car in the automotive industry to undergo a large-scale extreme test from north to south, starting from Mohe, crossing the vast ice and snow, passing through Hulunbuir and Qiqihar, and arriving at the popular “Harbin”.
The first challenge is extreme, the entire journey from Mohe to Harbin will cross China’s extreme cold area, with outdoor temperatures ranging from -35°C to -10°C. The snow depth here reaches 15 cm, posing higher demands on vehicle performance due to the exceptionally complex road conditions.
In icy and snowy conditions, the YaoGuang C-DM will face extreme cold tests on the battery and power system, as well as challenges in handling and stability when driving on snow.
The journey to Hegang and Qiqihar tested the team’s patience and technical skills. It was not just a test of the vehicles’ extreme adaptability to the environment, but also a test of the team’s coordination and ability to adapt.
The first ice and snow driving challenge of Xingtu Yao Guang C-DM kicked off the subsequent test drive journey, passing through Wuhan, Changsha, Hainan… through a City Drive, heading south, crossing four seasons, measuring China with wheels, and feeling the fireworks of different cities.
In 2023, China’s new energy penetration rate surpassed 40% for the first time, reaching a new historical high. PHEV models accounted for over one-third of this, with significant room for further growth. Undoubtedly, PHEV has become the hottest choice in the current new energy market. Despite the strong growth in the PHEV market, there are still many unresolved hidden pain points in the consumer market, such as product homogeneity, a large number of oil-to-electric products left behind, and poor iterative ability in intelligence, leading to a user experience far behind that of pure electric products.
Yao Guang C-DM, as a new product developed by Xingtu Full Stack, has some unique advantages in hybrid technology. First, its key technical indicators surpass similar products in Europe and Japan, with a high thermal efficiency of 44.5% for its 1.5T engine. Second, it adopts a “two-wheel drive dual motor, four-wheel drive three motor” design, providing users with a variety of driving options. During the test drive, Yao Guang C-DM’s three-speed DHT performs well in smoothness, whether driving on icy rural roads or snowy highways.
Let’s take a look at the appearance of the Xingtu Yao Guang C-DM. The front grille of the Xingtu Yao Guang C-DM adopts a diamond-shaped stripe design, with a borderless shape around it. The daytime running lights are connected to the LED headlights on both sides, and are designed with a downward extension at both ends, connected to the vertical flow channel of the body, showing the youthful and fashionable sense of the new car.
The C-DM’s sleek roof design on the side of the body gives the car a smooth and elegant look. The coupe style adds a touch of fashion to the appearance of the side of the C-DM.
The C-DM also uses hidden door handles on the side of the car to reduce drag and enhance its technological sense. The side window design follows the 0.618 golden ratio, showcasing the beauty of the design.
The rear design of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM highlights its sporty look, with a double fish fin-shaped design in the center of the top spoiler. The integrated taillights can change between 3 lighting modes in sync with the music, further enhancing the new car’s stylish and dynamic appeal.
At the same time, a large area of sports expansion kits is implanted in the bumper, and the exhaust adopts a dual-sided dual-out layout, with full visual impact.
The dimensions of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM are 4781/1920/1671mm, with a wheelbase of 2815mm. As a midsize SUV, it offers ample cabin space.
Upon entering the car, the overall interior design of the Yao Guang C-DM leans towards a simple style, and the dual-spoke steering wheel is also a mainstream feature.
At the same time, Yao Guang C-DM reduced some physical buttons, enhancing the sense of technology inside the car more effectively.
The horizontal air outlet design of the YG C-DM also enhances the visual effect inside the car, no matter which angle you look at, YG has a full fashion atmosphere in the car.
The rear space is spacious, the leather is soft, the seat cushion is long enough, and the overall support for the thighs is very good. The high-end model comes with heating, the backrest angle has two adjustable positions, and there is no protrusion in the center.
Especially worth mentioning is the 1000-kilometer ice and snow test drive. The queen co-driver of the Yao Guang C-DM gave the editor a sense of security. The co-driver space is very spacious, even without folding the second-row seats, the co-driver can be fully reclined at a large angle, ready to set up “a bed” at any time. It also features electric footrests and electric leg rests, providing full support for the legs and feet, greatly relieving fatigue in the waist and legs.
Both the driver and passenger seats offer exclusive aerodynamic back massages and heated electric seats.
The capacity of the trunk of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM is 660L in standard state, and the upper double-layer space can store luggage and organizing boxes, while the lower storage compartment can be used to store small items. Folding down the rear seats can increase the capacity to 1783L, suitable for transporting larger items.
The YaoGuang C-DM, as a plug-in hybrid model, is equipped with a hybrid system composed of a 1.5T engine and an electric motor. The fifth-generation ACTECO 1.5TGDI efficient hybrid engine, using Miller cycle, has a power of 115kW, a maximum torque of 220N·m, and a maximum combustion efficiency of 44.5%. Now let’s take a look at the performance of the YaoGuang C-DM on icy and snowy roads. During the test drive, the YaoGuang C-DM showed strong power output, especially when dealing with special road conditions such as snow. The vehicle’s engine responded quickly, providing drivers with enough confidence. These characteristics are particularly useful when needing to quickly pass through snow-covered sections or accelerate past other vehicles.
In some icy road sections with less snow cover, the editor moderately increased speed to feel the smoothness of the vehicle during acceleration, while also paying attention to any noticeable hesitation when the engine starts.
In actual testing, even in economy mode, the engine start-up still performs well when extra power is needed, thanks to the three-speed DHT used by the Yao Guang C-DM, which ensures relatively smooth power switching in different driving scenarios. Whether accelerating or decelerating on snow, the gear shifts are relatively natural and do not give the driver a noticeable jerky feeling.
Due to the replacement of snow tires, the tire noise of the Yao Guang C-DM has increased during winter test drives, which is also a normal phenomenon. The design of snow tires usually introduces some additional noise. When driving at speeds exceeding 80 kilometers per hour, there may be some faint wind noise on the right side of the driver’s seat A-pillar. However, this wind noise does not have a significant impact on in-car conversation and music enjoyment.
The steering feel of the Yau Light C-DM is light, making it easy to control. When driving on icy roads, do not turn the steering wheel sharply. Even when changing lanes, it is important to extend the distance and change lanes gently.
The test drive car is equipped with L2 level intelligent driving assistance functions and provides multiple active safety warnings. It is recommended to turn on all of these in rainy and snowy weather.
Speed limit assistance and intelligent speed control systems are very practical in scenarios with just fallen snow and slippery road conditions.
When the brake pitch control is activated, the CDC system carried by the Flying Fish Super Sense chassis adjusts suspension damping according to the braking deceleration using 5 body attitude monitoring sensors, 4 electromagnetic dampers, and 1 controller, suppressing brake dive phenomenon and significantly reducing nose dive during braking, enhancing the driving experience.
In severe cold, we observed the power consumption of the YaoGuang C-DM, as low temperatures often affect the range of electric vehicles due to the potential impact of temperature on battery performance.
We found that the C-DM’s power consumption remains stable in extreme cold conditions. Although the battery output may decrease in extremely cold weather, the vehicle has implemented a series of insulation and optimization measures to mitigate the performance decline of the battery in low-temperature environments.
Finally, let’s talk about fuel consumption. In extreme cold conditions, the average fuel consumption is about 7.8L/100km, with a combined fuel consumption of 7.9L/100km, as shown in the above figure. The next day, due to two hours of outdoor work, the outdoor temperature reached minus 30 degrees. During this time, the vehicle remained parked with the engine running, and the air conditioning heating was set to the maximum. The fuel consumption is shown in the following figure. It can be seen that the engine has been charging the battery all the time, with an average power consumption of -2.9kWh/100km, and the average fuel consumption has increased to 9.7L/100km. This kind of scenario is basically considered a very extreme situation, but the fuel consumption has not exceeded 10L/100km, showing the fuel-saving ability of the Star Way YG C-DM.
As we all know, the winter low temperature stability is a great test for new energy vehicles, which is also a key consideration for many users when buying a car. The first stop test drive from Mohe to Harbin mainly tests the performance of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM in the extremely cold winter climate of the Northeast. The Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM not only provides strong power, but also takes into account comfort, and the queen’s co-pilot seat adds a touch of warmth to winter driving. The L2-level active safety configuration and driving assistance functions of the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM enable the vehicle to adapt to various complex road conditions in the extremely cold winter climate, providing reliable safety protection for drivers.