318 National Highway and Sichuan-Tibet Highway Green Passage Connectivity Journey Closing Words

Abstract:

What kind of experience is it to drive an electric car along the 318 National Highway in Sichuan-Tibet Line?

Phoenix Technology's "Phoenix Auto Research Institute".

Hello everyone, this is the Phoenix Car Research Institute, and I am Brother Ji. Did everyone go out to play during the recent National Day holiday? Were you driving an electric car or a gasoline car? Currently, when people mention pure electric cars, one unavoidable term is "range anxiety." Before buying an electric car, various calculations are made, reviews are read online, the total cost of ownership is evaluated, and the optimal solution for battery capacity and range is selected. If conditions permit, installing a home charging pile would make daily commuting in the city no problem. But if there is no home charging pile, you will have to frequent charging stations. Besides daily commuting, electric cars consume more energy when running at high speeds than in urban areas, resulting in a relatively shorter range. To run at high speeds without anxiety, you need to plan ahead for charging stations. So, if running at high speeds is not a concern, how about a trip on the 318 National Highway to Tibet?

To solve the range anxiety issue of driving electric vehicles on the 318 National Highway in western Sichuan, it requires three elements: large battery capacity, ultra-fast charging, and multiple charging stations. With the development of power battery technology, the range provided by large batteries can now be comparable to the range of a full tank of petrol in traditional cars. Moreover, the increasing number of new vehicles adopting 900-volt architecture and the availability of ultra-fast charging stations enable electric vehicles to recharge at a rate of almost one kilometer per second.

Can that pure electric vehicle safely make a trip to Mount Everest via the Sichuan-Tibet Highway? Yes! At the end of September, we were invited to visit Lhasa and witnessed the moment when the entire 318 Sichuan-Tibet Super Charging Green Corridor was fully connected. The range anxiety for the Sichuan to Tibet section of the 318 National Highway can be said to have been resolved. Where there is a car coming to the mountains, there will be roads, and where there are roads, there will be charging stations.

On September 24, 2024, this global highest-altitude supercharge green corridor was officially completed, breaking the range anxiety of new energy vehicles on the Sichuan to Tibet section of National Highway 318. This time, I can proudly say that our country's new energy vehicle charging network is truly leading globally. Don't believe it? Just take a look.

The Super Charging Green Gallery has a total of 23 super charging stations, covering areas such as Tainquan, Zheduo Mountain, Kazi Laka Mountain, Litang, Sangdui, Lhasa, Nyingchi, Shigatse, Everest and other regions. The average altitude of the stations reaches 3658 meters, and all of them are equipped with Huawei supercharging devices.

Imagine that your car arrives here, the moment you plug in, it can enjoy a power package generated by 150kW photovoltaic power collection and stored in a 200kWh energy storage device, converted from the pure sunlight at the foot of Mount Everest at an altitude of 4900 meters.

However, the car is here, but the person may not be able to make it. You may end up like our photographer colleague on this trip, who just arrived in Lhasa and started breathing paid oxygen and receiving cold IV drips. Yes, don't forget, this is the plateau. High altitude, thin air, complex terrain and topography, and extreme and changeable climates make this place a forbidden zone for us and for gasoline cars, it's a forbidden zone for power. As for electric cars, it seems like the only problem to solve is charging.

Solving the charging problem in such extreme areas is not as simple as putting an elephant in the fridge. In high-altitude environments, the thin air is easily pierced, forming an ionosphere, which leads to abnormal current conduction between electrical structures, commonly known as arcing. Those who have experienced being shocked by electricity as children can raise their hands now.

In addition, there is the issue of low temperatures. The commonly-seen charging piles are air-cooled, which are designed to dissipate heat by blowing air as they are sensitive to heat. However, in high-altitude areas, the situation is the opposite, with extreme cold, wind, sand, and condensation corroding the inside of the equipment. Huawei has adopted an innovative full liquid-cooling design for this ultra-fast charging pile, and the core device liquid cooling module uses a 3000-ton automotive-grade die-casting process, which isolates it from the external environment and enables precise heat dissipation.

Even the charging piles are made of die-cast now, this is really impressive.

After talking about so many hardcore content, what about the actual charging experience? Taking the Everest Base Camp station as an example, using a 600 kW supercharging pile to recharge the WM Motor M9, it can basically achieve a recharging speed of one kilometer per second.

Behind the efficient and safe recharging experience, there are countless little partners working day and night to overcome challenges. At the same time, the Huawei supercharging piles on the 318 Sichuan-Tibet Ultra Charging Green Gallery match all vehicle models that can be charged from 200 to 1000 volts. Not only can our household vehicles be charged, but it is also perfectly compatible with some new energy commercial vehicles.

During the leisure time in Lhasa, the photographer guy suffered from severe altitude sickness, so our travel plans were completely ruined. However, we didn't waste time and instead, we found some owners of new energy vehicles at the charging stations around the city. We chatted with them to listen to their real thoughts and opinions as vehicle owners.

Aveita 12 (pure electric) local worker

I have charged several times here before. In the first half of this year, it was okay when I came out from Chengdu. There was a stretch of three to four hundred kilometers with no charging stations, which made me a little anxious at that time. I will be traveling to Chengdu in two days, and I am still a little anxious. I am thinking that I should charge once every three to four hundred kilometers.

BYD Dolphin (pure electric) self-driving tourist

I just roughly checked it out. If there is a charging station every one or two hundred kilometers, I dare to travel. I have done some research; otherwise, I wouldn't dare to come up here. I usually won't let my car reach a particularly low (battery level); I will charge it in time if possible.

BYD Song PLUS (hybrid) self-driving tour guest

This (Huawei supercharging pile) is quite good, very fast. I have been worried about charging all the way. Whenever there is charging available, I would quickly charge up. If there was no other choice, I would use fuel. When I arrived at this place, I saw that there was a charging (station), so I quickly topped up a bit.

Ask about the M9 (hybrid) local boss.

(Huawei liquid cooling super-fast charging) seems to be faster. My car goes from 30% to 90% charged in about 27-28 minutes here. My home is more than ten kilometers away from here, but I specifically come here to charge. Because at this location, although there are many taxis charging here, I feel that every time I come here, I can basically find a spot.

After chatting with the drivers, the word "焦虑" comes up again. Compared to the infrastructure network in mainland cities, Lhasa and its surrounding road networks still have a lot of room for development. Of course, this is closely related to its geographical location and climate conditions.

However, fortunately, we have taken the first step. The 318 Sichuan-Tibet Charging Green Corridor is now fully operational, solving the problem of lack of charging stations along the route. For the Sichuan-Tibet region, this can accelerate the transition to green energy and make it more convenient for the local people to travel. For the industry, Huawei's supercharging technology has solved the problem of charging in high-altitude areas, optimizing the charging experience in the plateau and high-altitude regions. As for you and me, at least the anxiety about battery life is no longer an excuse for not driving on the 318 National Highway in this lifetime. For those who are interested, please leave a comment with "road trip"!

This issue of Phoenix Motor Research Institute ends here. I sincerely wish everyone less anxiety and more peace in work and life. At the same time, thank you to the photographer Xiao Qi for contributing to this issue. See you in the next issue of Phoenix Motor Research Institute!

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